Soprano Renée Richardson Headlines Holiday Cheer Concert

Bay Atlantic Symphony’s Annual Orchestral Tradition Returns
Symphonic music celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah are all included in Bay Atlantic Symphony’s Holiday Cheer concert. Gustav Holst’s light Saint Paul’s Suite, published in 1922, opens the Concert followed by Johan Sebastian Bach’s beloved Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. The second half begins with American composer Valerie Coleman’s Umoja, the Swahili word for Unity, the first of the seven days of Kwanzaa and then composer Russell Steinberg’s Lights On! – A Hanukkah Celebration, a musical journey through a traditional prayer melody and eight diverse Hanukkah tunes, each representing one of the eight nights of the holiday. Before Arthur Harris’ medley of Christmas favorites including Joy to the World, Silent Night, Deck the Halls and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Soprano Renée Richardson performs with the full orchestra. The Resident Artist with Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts will be singing the popular Latin prayer Ave Maria, first published in 1853 by French composer Charles Gounod to fit with Prelude No. 1 in C Major from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, written more than 130 years earlier. Richardson also performs Cantique de Noel, O Holy Night, a Christmas carol written by French composer Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the poem Midnight Christians.  This is the second of a five-concert season celebrating Bay Atlantic Symphony’s 40th Anniversary and the 25th anniversary of Maestro and Music Director Jed Gaylin. 
Saturday, December 10 at 3 pm at Guaracini Performing Arts Center (Rowan University Cumberland Campus) 3322 College Dr., Vineland.
Sunday, December 11 at 2 pm at Stockton University’s Performing Arts Center, 101 Vera King Farris Dr., Galloway.