The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes is bringing back its large-scale holiday celebration with The Magic of Holiday Traditions…Together! on Saturday, December 13.
Music Director Toshiyuki Shimada says the sheer scale of the event is part of the joy. “We have close to 120, maybe 130 musicians, young and old, all on stage together,” he explains. “It really is a community celebration.”
This year’s concert features the OSFL, the Corning–Painted Post High School Choristers, the Chorus of the Southern Finger Lakes, and a special hometown soloist: jazz pianist Christian Li. “Christian actually grew up in the Horseheads area,” Shimada notes. “He took off to New York and now travels internationally playing with his own group and as a soloist.” Li will return home to perform selections from Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s Nutcracker Suite. “It’s going to be a really swinging Nutcracker,” Shimada says. “He’ll play all the solo parts, and the orchestra will back him up.” Li will also perform holiday favorites including The Christmas Song and Frosty the Snowman.
The Corning–Painted Post Choristers will sing John Rutter’s arrangement of Joy to the World and Christopher Tin’s Sogno di Volare. They will then join the adult chorus for Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.
Shimada is also excited to feature music by Elmira native Dan Forrest, now one of the country’s most widely performed composers of sacred music. “We are performing two of his Christmas carol arrangements: The First Noel and Angels We Have Heard on High,” he says.
The program also includes a return performance of Dances in Freygish Style, a Hanukkah-inspired work commissioned by the orchestra in 2022 from Avner Finberg. “It’s a delightful piece—really total fun,” Shimada says. And of course, no holiday concert would be complete without Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride. “We can’t neglect that one,” he adds. “It’s become a true Christmas staple.”
The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes presents The Magic of Holiday Traditions…Together! on Saturday, December 13 at 3:00 p.m. in the Clemens Center, 207 Clemens Center Parkway in Elmira. Audience members arriving early can enjoy a pre-concert performance by the Youth Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes in the upper lobby. More information is available at osfl.org.