Butler County Symphony Orchestra ready to ring in holiday season
Every year, the Butler County Symphony Orchestra celebrates the holiday season with a special “Holiday Traditions” concert. This year is no exception, as the orchestra presents “Christmas at the Movies” on Saturday, Dec. 2. This is the third concert of the six-show 2023-24 season.
Moon Doh, associate conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, will serve as guest conductor, leading the orchestra in a selection of tunes from classic Christmas movies such as “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Home Alone,” “Frozen,” “The Polar Express” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
“We went through our library and suggestions of what we thought might work,” said John Furman, executive director for the orchestra. “We also consulted with the conductor, who is Moon Doh. We got his feedback, and that's pretty much how (the musical selections) were decided.”
Doh also served as guest conductor for the previous Butler County orchestra concert, “Brahms, Strauss, & Debussy,” on Nov. 4.
The upcoming concert also will feature something relatively rare — a full choir, consisting of approximately 60 singers recruited just for this show. According to Furman, this is the first time in “quite a few years” the orchestra has assembled a full choir for a concert.
Brian Helsel, the orchestra’s principal pianist, was the one who assembled the choir, which consists entirely of singers from the Butler area.
“I think there's going to be approximately 30 adults and 30 kids who will be taking part in the choir,” Furman said.
Furman added that the choir may be brought back for later shows if an opportunity arises.
The December concert will close by encouraging the audience to join in a Christmas carol singalong, a tradition of orchestra’s holiday concerts. The selection of carols will include traditional holiday favorites such as “Joy to the World,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” and “Deck the Halls.”
As with all Butler County orchestra concerts, "Christmas at the Movies“ takes place in the auditorium of Butler Intermediate High School. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Presale tickets are $30 each for adults and $10 each for children and students. On the day of the show, tickets will be $35 for adults and $12 for children and students.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting butlersymphony.org.
