At its annual holiday performances at Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville, the DuPage Symphony Orchestra brings the sound of a full orchestra to memorable holiday classics in a show that is typically its most popular of the year.
“Get your tickets early,” said Teresa Muir, secretary of the orchestra’s board of directors. “This is a family-friendly show, and it usually sells out.”
This year’s shows, held at 2 and 4 p.m. Dec. 18, will feature music from the movie “Frozen” as well as a jazzy adaptation of “The Nutcracker,” some American folk arrangements of traditional carols and, of course, lots of Christmas classics.
“There’s a little something for everyone,” Muir said.
For music from “The Nutcracker,” the orchestra will perform an arrangement by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
“Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘The Nutcracker’ has become an American Christmas tradition, which would probably have surprised the composer,” Muir said. “By 1960, Duke Ellington saw the appeal of updating a beloved classic. With Billy Strayhorn as the arranger, he created a version with jazzy rhythms and tempos for modern dance. The DSO will play all five movements of this very interesting and enjoyable new classic.”
They will also perform the finale from “The Nutcracker” in Tchaikovsky’s original arrangement. Kids — and their parents — will most likely be very familiar with the orchestral performances of songs from the Disney movie “Frozen.”
“We’ll do a medley that includes ‘Frozen Heart,’ ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman,’ ‘In Summer,’ ‘Let it Go’ and ‘In the First Time in Forever,'” Muir said.
Next the orchestra will perform a medley of more traditional songs in an arrangement from the Boston Pops.
“It’s called ‘A Christmas Scherzo,’ which has a collection of European carols that might be a little less familiar to people,” Muir said. “They represent France (“Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella”), England (“The Holly and the Ivy” and “I Saw Three Ships”) and Germany (“O Tannenbaum”). It’s so nice to hear the carols we love as well as find new traditions to share with our friends and family.”
“Sleigh Ride,” composed by Leroy Anderson, is a favorite of the orchestra every year. They’ll also be performing an arrangement of “Jingle Bells Forever” mashed up with the march “Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa.
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“It becomes something very unique and clever,” Muir said.
Another new song for the orchestra this year will be “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24.”
“I’m very much looking forward to hearing it for the first time with a live orchestra,” Muir said. “It’s a very moving piece from Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s debut album that tells the story of a cellist returning to his homeland after the Bosnian war.”
The show will also feature an “American Christmas Folk Suite,” arranged by Bill Holcombe and featuring “Rise Up Shepherd and Follow” and “Go Tell It On the Mountain.”
The Spectrum Youth Singers, a community children’s choir based in Plainfield, will be performing carols in the lobby before the show, and they may join a special guest who typically accompanies that orchestra at the end of the show.
“We usually have a North Pole visitor each year and give him the honor of conducting ‘Sleigh Ride,'” Muir said.
DuPage Symphony Orchestra Family Holiday Concert
When: 2 and 4 p.m. Dec. 18
Where: Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville
Tickets: $6-$21
Information: 630-778-1003; dupagesymphony.org
Jeff Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.