Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra to play holiday-themed concert

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The Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra is set to bring the holiday spirit via sound in the group’s upcoming concert.

The performance is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4 and will feature violin soloist and Young Artist Competition winner Aliyah Yearian.

The list of winter tunes to be performed includes: “Overture to Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss, “Symphonie Espagnole” (first movement) by Edouard Lalo,“Overture to Hansel and Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck, “Les Patineurs (The Skaters)” by Èmile Waldeufel, and “A Christmas Festival” by Leroy Anderson.

The seasonally-inspired concert includes the overture to the operetta “Die Fledermaus” by Austrian composer Johan Strauss Jr. This operetta draws from a farcical German play where, as a joke, a passed out drunk reveler is dressed in a bat costume and dropped in the center of town. As the inebriated victim plots his revenge, hilarity ensues.

In a similar vein, the overture to the opera “Hansel and Gretel” by Engelbart Humperdinck is based on a Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale. First performed Dec. 23, 1893, the tune is a seasonal favorite.

Inspired by a rink of skaters in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, Émile Waldeufel wrote “Les Patineurs (The Skaters Waltz)” in 1882. This music invokes a wintery scene that should be familiar to anyone who has been to an ice or roller skating rink.

The program also includes the first movement of “Symphonie Espagnole” by Eduard Lalo. For this piece, the orchestra will be joined by Yearian as the violin soloist.

Rounding out the program is Leroy Anderson’s classic, “A Christmas Festival.” A favorite of conductor Arthur Fiedler, Anderson wrote and arranged many pieces for the Boston Pops Orchestra, including this one in 1950.

The Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra is led by acclaimed conductor Tigran Arakelyan, who holds a number of posts such as music director of the Northwest Mahler Festival, assistant conductor of the California Philharmonic Orchestra, and music director of both the Federal Way Youth Symphony and Bainbridge Island Youth Orchestra.

This year marks Arakelyan’s fifth year leading the Port Townsend Symphony Orchestra.