Holiday Pops Program Book

PHOENIX POPS SERIES The Phoenix Symphony Presents

Holiday Pops Friday, November 29, 2024, 7:30 PM Saturday, November 30, 2024, 2:00 PM Saturday, November 30, 2024, 7:30 PM Sunday, December 1, 2024, 2:00 PM Symphony Hall Lawrence Loh, Conductor Katherine Whyte, Soprano Reginald Smith Jr., Baritone The Phoenix Symphony Chorus Dr/ Thomas Bookhout, Chorus Master Randal Alan Bass

Fanfare: Joy To The World

Pietro Yon

Gesu Bambino

Traditional arr. Matthew Jackfert

I Saw Three Ships

Gary Fry

Sing We Joyous

Gloria Shayne Baker Arr. Jim Kessler

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Quinn Mason

Christmas Eve Festivities

David Weintraub arr. Gary Fry

Eight Bright Candles

Eric Whitacre

Glow

Hugh Martin arr. Jim Kessler

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Felix Mendelssohn arr. Gary Fry

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing INTERMISSION

John Williams Jule Styne arr. Gary Fry

Somewhere in My Memory from Home Alone Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Anthony Dilorenzo

Fum Fum Fun

John Debney arr. Victor Pesavento

Elf Suite

Albert Hague arr. Matthew Naughtin

You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch

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PHOENIX POPS SERIES

Mervyn Warren arr. Gary Fry

Who Would Imagine A King

Alan Silvestri arr. Gary Fry

When Christmas Comes To Town from The Polar Express

John Rutter

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Leroy Anderson

Sleigh Ride

John Williams

Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas from Home Alone

The 2024/25 Holiday season is sponsored by

The 2024/25 Phoenix Pops Series is sponsored by

THE PHOENIX SYMPHONY | TPS 7

PHOENIX POPS SERIES

Lawrence Loh, Conductor Lawrence Loh is Music Director of Symphoria (Syracuse, NY).

Mr. Loh was Assistant, Associate and Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 2005-2015 and he returns annually to lead a wide variety of programs.

Mr. Loh’s previous positions include: Music Director of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor

of the Syracuse Opera; Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra; Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra.

Mr. Loh received his Artist Diploma in Orchestral Conducting from Yale, his Masters in Choral Conducting from Indiana University and his Bachelor of Arts and Certificate of Management Studies from the University of Rochester.

Lawrence Loh was born in southern California of Korean parentage and raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He and his wife Jennifer have a son, Charlie, and a daughter, Hilary.

Katherine Whyte, Soprano Katherine Whyte has delighted audiences and critics alike on opera and concert stages across her native Canada, the United States and Europe.

Opera Today has praised her “keen artistic sensibility” while the San Francisco Classical Voice singled out “her glamorous, vibrato-rich voice”. Following her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Ägyptische Helena, she has returned to the company as Brigitta in Iolanta, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto and Blumenmadchen Parsifal

with Syracuse’s Symphoria performing Poulenc Gloria; a return to New Choral Society as the Soprano soloist Carmina Burana, a solo recital at Gordon College, her debut with Heartbeat Opera as Agathe Der Freischütz, and Fiordiligi Così Fan Tutte with Opera Grand Rapids.

Whyte performed a solo recital with Djordje Nesic at the celebrated Kolarac hall in Belgrade Serbia and was the soprano soloist for Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the Santa Rosa Symphony and Eugene Symphony. Katherine will sing the Poulenc Gloria with the Greensboro Symphony, a Sibelius Concert with the Vallejo Festival Orchestra and On this Island with Cameron Stowe for Music for Food. Upcoming roles include Aminta Il Re Pastore with Orpheus PDX (Portland)

Recent and upcoming engagements for Ms. Whyte include Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze Di Figaro with Intermountain Opera Bozeman, her debut

The winner of the 2007 Alice Tully Recital Competition, Ms. Whyte made her Carnegie Hall debut in Solo recital at Weill Hall in 2008.

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ARTIST PROFILES

Reginald Smith Jr., Baritone GRAMMY and Emmy Awardwinning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., is lauded as a “passionate performer” (The New York Times) with a voice that is “electric, hall-filling” (The Baltimore Sun), “thrillingly dramatic” (Opera News) and “one of the most exciting baritone sounds to come along in years” (Opera News).

In the 2024-25 season, Smith takes on the roles of Scarpia in Tosca at the New Orleans Opera, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Sacramento Philharmonic, and returns to Washington National Opera as the title character Porgy in Porgy and Bess. He performs as a featured soloist in concerts with the New Jersey Symphony led by Xian Zhang, the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and in a solo recital at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South

Carolina. In Spring 2025, Smith makes his Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut as Amonasro in a staged version of Aida.

Last season, Smith made his Santa Fe Opera debut and returned to the Houston Grand Opera. He sang the role of Amonasro in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Aida. In concert, he returned as the featured baritone soloist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas Pops performances.

Born in Atlanta, Smith grew up a dedicated choral student from elementary school onward, double majoring in Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education at the University of Kentucky. While he ultimately chose a performance career, he has channeled his love of teaching into numerous masterclasses, and he has returned to his alma mater both during the 2017-2018 season and to complete a Masters in Vocal Performance degree in the Spring of 2021.

THE PHOENIX SYMPHONY | TPS 9