{"id":85340,"date":"2025-11-07T15:49:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T20:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=85340"},"modified":"2025-11-07T15:49:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T20:49:55","slug":"85340","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/85340\/","title":{"rendered":"Asheville Symphony Presents Two Holiday Shows in December"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_85342\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-85342\" class=\"size-full wp-image-85342\" src=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ASO-background-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"697\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-85342\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos courtesy of Cirque de la Symphonie<\/p><\/div>\n<p>By Gina Malone<\/p>\n<p>This holiday season, join the Asheville Symphony Orchestra (ASO) for two beloved holiday programs: Cirque de la Symphonie on Thursday, December 4, at 7 p.m. at Harrah\u2019s Cherokee Center Asheville, and George Frideric Handel\u2019s <em>Messiah<\/em> at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 20, at First Baptist Church of Asheville.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese performances resonate so deeply because they bring people together across generations,\u201d says ASO executive director Daniel Crupi. \u201cFamilies return year after year to make Handel\u2019s <em>Messiah<\/em> part of their holiday ritual. Children discover the thrill of Cirque\u2019s acrobats soaring above the symphony. Long-time music lovers find fresh inspiration in the holiday season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cirque de la Symphonie features acrobats, aerialists, jugglers and contortionists performing choreographed routines while the Symphony plays holiday favorites such as \u201cSleigh Ride,\u201d \u201cO Holy Night\u201d and selections from <em>The Nutcracker<\/em>. \u201cI see the Cirque performance really as a form of aerial dance with music,\u201d says Symphony music director Darko Butorac. \u201cThey are incredible artists and it complements the music beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Handel\u2019s Messiah is a traditional and much-loved oratorio and one that the Symphony performed last year with the devastation of Helene fresh on minds and hearts. Butorac invited the audience to join in on the \u201cHallelujah\u201d chorus. \u201cIt was a spontaneous decision,\u201d he says, \u201cand I think it was a beautiful way to round out this particular concert. I think spontaneity is very important; it keeps us on our toes and makes a concert memorable and special.\u201d The Asheville Symphony Chorus and four soloists\u2014Jessica Beebe, Clifton Massey, Jacob Terry and Kenneth Overton\u2014will join the Symphony for the performances.<\/p>\n<p>Music has the potential to bring people, including families, together, especially during the holidays. \u201cEvents like these create important memories that people carry with them for a lifetime and pass along to the next generation,\u201d says Crupi.<\/p>\n<p><em>Tickets for performances are available at <a href=\"http:\/\/AshevilleSymphony.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AshevilleSymphony.org<\/a>, by phone at 828.254.7046 or in person at the Asheville Symphony office, 27 College Place, Suite 100, Asheville. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This holiday season, join the Asheville Symphony Orchestra for two beloved holiday programs: Cirque de la Symphonie on Thursday, December 4, at 7 p.m., and George Frideric Handel\u2019s Messiah at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":85342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainmentandmusic","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Asheville Symphony Presents Two Holiday Shows in December - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This holiday season, join the Asheville Symphony Orchestra for two beloved holiday programs: Cirque de la Symphonie on Thursday, December 4, at 7 p.m., and George Frideric Handel\u2019s Messiah at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 20.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/85340\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Asheville Symphony Presents Two Holiday Shows in December - The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This holiday season, join the Asheville Symphony Orchestra for two beloved holiday programs: Cirque de la Symphonie on Thursday, December 4, at 7 p.m., and George Frideric Handel\u2019s Messiah at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 20.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/85340\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thelaurelofasheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T20:49:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-07T20:49:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ASO-background-copy-e1762548553733.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"657\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amy Pryor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amy Pryor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/85340\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/85340\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amy Pryor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13d76582350fe4093b37d2b69174af00\"},\"headline\":\"Asheville Symphony Presents Two Holiday Shows in December\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-07T20:49:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-07T20:49:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/85340\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":365,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/85340\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/ASO-background-copy-e1762548553733.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Entertainment and Music\",\"Lifestyle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/85340\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/85340\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/lifestyle\\\/85340\\\/\",\"name\":\"Asheville Symphony Presents Two Holiday Shows in December - 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