The Conway Symphony Orchestra will present A Christmas Double Feature as this year’s holiday concert.
The concert will not only feature the sounds of the orchestra, but also voices from the University of Central Arkansas Opera Theatre and other choruses, as well as dancers from the Arkansas Festival Ballet. Plus, the concert will be offered twice — once on Saturday night and again in a Sunday matinee performance on Dec. 4.
The CSO will be joined again this year by dancers from the Arkansas Festival Ballet, who will present highlights from The Nutcracker. New this year is the inclusion of students from the UCA Opera Theatre and other choruses, who will present Amahl and the Night Visitors.
“We’re taking our holiday concert to a new level,” said Israel Getzov, conductor and music director of the Conway Symphony Orchestra. “It’s a wonderful show for both the eyes and ears.
“We’re offering two favorites in one show, and two chances to see them.”
The concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and again at 3 p.m. Dec. 4 in the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall at UCA.
Tickets are $5 for children and students, $20 to $38 for adults and $15 for groups of 10 or more. Tickets are available through the Reynolds Box Office, (501) 450-3265 or www.uca.edu/tickets.
Nutcracker Sweets, a children’s event sponsored by the CSO Guild, will precede the Dec. 4 afternoon performance. The event will take place from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center, which is adjacent to the Reynolds Performance Hall.
Nutcracker Sweets will feature cookies, crafts, storytelling and a chance to meet the ballerinas and the maestro. Tickets are sold separately and are $5 for children, with no charge for accompanying adults. Contact the CSO at (501) 269-1066 or purchase tickets online at conwaysymphony.org.
“I love Amahl and the Night Visitors,” Getzov said. “It’s the best-kept secret of musical Christmas traditions.
“I always cry. It’s so beautiful, and it’s so much fun.”
Robert Holden, professor of voice and opera at UCA and co-director with Wolfgang Oeste of the UCA Opera Theatre, directs Amahl and the Night Visitors, a one-act opera written by Gian Carlo Menotti.
The opera, which was written in English, was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on Dec. 24, 1951. It was the first opera written for television and was shown for many years thereafter.
Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of a young crippled boy, Amahl, and his mother, who are visited by the Three Wise Men, who are following a star, bearing gifts for the Christ Child.
The cast for Amahl and the Night Visitors includes the following:
• Veena Akama-Makia of Conway sings the role of the mother on Saturday night.
• Jaimee Jensen-McDaniel of Little Rock sings the role of the mother in the matinee on Dec. 4.
• Todd Butler of Conway sings the role of Amahl.
• Jorge Martinez of Little Rock, originally from Puerto Rico, sings the role of Kaspar.
• Clay Sanders of Nashville sings the role of Melchior.
• Ronald Jensen-McDaniel of Little Rock sings the role of Balthazar.
• Juan Garcia of Springdale sings the role of the page.
Holden said all cast members are UCA students except for Todd Butler, the boy soprano, who is the 12-year-old son of Tim and Stacy Butler
of Conway. Todd’s younger brother, Garrett, 10, is in training for the role next year. Both have been trained at the American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey.
“We hope to make this an annual event,” Holden said.
“We have a lot of students involved. We have a chorus of about 50 people. They include students from Conway High School, Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Voices of Central Arkansas [which is part of the UCA Community School of Music] and the Preston Palmer Studio in Conway.”
Holden said dancers from the Arkansas Festival Ballet will also perform in the opera.
Louis Menendez is the musical accompanist.
“It’s really going to be a wonderful production,” Holden said.
Janet Aronson, executive director of the Arkansas Festival Ballet, said her organization “is delighted to once again add the magic of ballet to this year’s holiday program.
“Our dancers love performing for and bringing joy to the enthusiastic CSO audience.”
For more information on Conway Symphony Orchestra concerts and other programs, visit conwaysymphony.org or call (501) 269-1066.