The Blue Ridge Orchestra (BRO) welcomes the holidays with performances of BRO Revels! 2023, featuring The Nutcracker Suite and introducing harpist Tori Parrish. Performances are at Charles M. Beall Auditorium at Haywood Community College, on Saturday, December 9, at 3 p.m. and in the Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church on Sunday, December 10, also at 3 p.m.
“Incorporating different musical genres and featuring guest artists ensures that each Revels! production is unique, and this year’s celebration is no exception,” says BRO music director Milton Crotts.
Crotts begins the program with Rigby’s Escape, a light and cheery piece for flute, clarinet and string orchestra written by featured composer Andre Madatian. The BRO Strings then accompany The Walker Family Band performing its original music—a unique blend of traditional, old-time, Celtic and classical—with a familial twist.
The genre shifts again as Parrish takes center stage to perform Deborah Henson-Conant’s Baroque Flamenco for harp and strings, a musical tour de force.
“While the works presented on our BRO Revels! program are diverse, they complement each other so well because the common element is a combination of surprise and fun,” says BRO president Deb Kenney.
The full orchestra takes over for the second part of the program, presenting the second movement of Gaelic Symphony composed in 1894 by Amy Beach. The concerts conclude with the music of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite.
Learn more at BlueRidgeOrchestra.org, Facebook, Instagram or by calling 828.782.3354.
