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Celebrate with Music

Celebrate with Music

ESO with Santa

Evanston Symphony’s annual Holiday Concert returns in December to celebrate the season with traditional instrumental Christmas fare beloved by music lovers.

Kicking off the afternoon concert will be James Stephenson’s “Holiday Overture,” with delightful and rousing arrangements of “Deck the Halls,” “Oh Chanukah,” “I Have a Little Dreidel,” “O Christmas Tree,” “Away in a Manger,” “Jingle Bells,” “Up On the Housetop” and “Good King Wenceslas.”

Another highlight will be Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song” (known more familiarly as “Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire”), arranged by Bob Lowden. Here’s a wonderful version with Torme, who wrote the song when he was 18, and Judy Garland.

And Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without “Sleigh Ride,” the exhilarating romp that concludes with the well-known horse-whinnying trumpet part.

In addition, the North Shore Choral Society will join the ESO in Stephenson’s new Magnificat and Handel’s always crowd-pleasing “Hallelujah Chorus” from The Messiah. And the NSCS and the ESO will be joined by the Evanston Childen’s Choir in a version of “O Holy Night.”

Elements Dance Company, accompanied by the ESO and NSCS, will perform selections from Handel’s “Messiah.”

The Evanston Children’s Choir will perform a jazzy version of the choral piece “Five-Sided S’vivon” (“Five-Sided Dreidel”) plus “Waltz of the Snowflakes” from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Ballet.

The Evanston Dance Ensemble's ede2 will perform Mozart's version of “Sleigh Ride,” and the audience will join the orchestra for Finnegan’s “Singalong” of beloved Christmas songs, led by none other than Santa himself.

The Evanston Symphony Holiday Concert takes place 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec 7 at Evanston Township High School auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave. in Evanston. For more information about this beloved holiday tradition, and to take advantage of early pricing discounts by ordering your tickets in advance, visitwww.evanstonsymphony.org.