Music, Dance, Caroling and Snow When The Tucson Symphony Orchestra Celebrates The Magic of Christmas With The TSO Chorus, UA Dance Ensemble & Santa Claus

by Tucson Symphony

Holiday Magic for the Whole Family at Matinees December 16 & 17 at Tucson Music Hall

Half Price Tickets for Children & Active Military

(Tucson, AZ)—Join the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, TSO Chorus and the UA Dance Ensemble when it snows in the Tucson Music Hall at Magic of Christmas Saturday, December 16 at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 17 at 2:00 p.m.  Guest Conductor Michael Hall returns to conduct Magic of Christmas, leading a special holiday pops program featuring Tucson favorites  the TSO Chorus—Bruce Chamberlain, director, UA Dance Ensemble featuring choreography by Claire Hancock and, of course, Santa Claus. He will be in the lobby after both performances to accept Christmas lists.

Among the pieces featuring the TSO Chorus are the opener, John Williams’ “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas,” and the final work, “A Christmas Carol Fantasy,” a festive, elegant and bright piece that premiered in Paris in 2012 and has since taken Europe by storm. The Chorus will also lead the audience for “A Holly Jolly Sing Along.”  UA Dance will be showcased on Nutcracker Selections and a favorite from last year’s program, Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Márquez, one of the most popular and most frequently performed orchestral Mexican contemporary classical music compositions.

Maestro Hall, who has conducted seven of the last eleven holiday programs for the TSO, is the newly appointed Music Director of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra in British Columbia, Canada. He is also Music Director of the Kennett Symphony in Pennsylvania, a post he has held since 2014. Hall’s career includes guest appearances with the Houston, Toronto, Vancouver, Toledo and Windsor Symphonies, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Space Coast Symphony as well as the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. In Central America, Hall has worked with the Orquesta Sinfionica Nacional de Costa Rica. Hall was Music Director of the Southwest Florida Symphony from 2007 to 2012; prior to that for six seasons he was Associate Conductor with the Pacific Symphony in California. Hall holds a Master’s degree in conducting from the University of Michigan and a DipRAM from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he worked with Sir Colin Davis.

Formed in 2003, the TSO Chorus made its debut under the direction of Bruce Chamberlain when they performed Handel’s Messiah. The TSO Chorus has continued to perform Messiah each season in addition to works on other TSO programs.  This season, the TSO Chorus will be featured on Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, “Kaddish,” in January and on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to close the season.

Propelled by the work of internationally known faculty and guest artists, the UA Dance Ensemble has made 13 trips to Europe, Asia and South America. Other important engagements in the U.S. have included two dance festivals at the Joyce Theatre in New York, an invitation to perform for the Capezio Awards, also in New York, and performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

The Ensemble, with some 125 dancers, performs 35 to 40 times a year and has as its home the award-winning Stevie Eller Dance Theatre on the UA campus. UA Dance has presented, as part of its repertoire, the works of George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, José Limón, Jerome Robbins, Ann Reinking, and most recently in November of this year, performed Bolero, with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, former director of the Bolshoi Ballet and a MacArthur Fellow.  UA Dance is the top ranked dance program among all public universities in the U.S., (according to ZoomTens, 2014).

Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Southern Arizona VA Health Care System are partnering on “Seat for a Vet” again for Magic of Christmas. Tickets for prime seating (including wheelchair accessible) are available for $45. The Southern Arizona VA Health Care System will then provide the tickets to Veterans in need. Seats purchased are tax deductible. “Seat for a Vet” tickets are available only by calling the TSO box office at 520.882.8585. The TSO is proud to underwrite a portion of the cost of the seats so they can be purchased at a discount.

The Magic of Christmas is sponsored by Fidelity Investments.  UA Dance Ensemble’s performance is made possible by generous contributions from Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Grogan and Mary Ann Stubbs.

Magic of Christmas tickets are $30 to $76. So everyone can enjoy the TSO’s Magic of Christmas tickets are half price for children under 18 and active members of the military with I.D. They are available online at www.tucsonsymphony.org, at the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Box Office, 2175 N. Sixth Avenue or by phone at 520.882.8585. TSO Box Office hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. unless otherwise indicated.

Programming, artists and prices are subject to change.

Contact: Terry Marshall, Public Relations Manager, 520.620.9158