Olympia Symphony to host a free sing-along just in time for Christmas
The Olympia Symphony Orchestra will be making merry on Monday.
That night, the orchestra is offering the community a free concert that packs more than 30 carols and other Christmas tunes into a single hour — and the whole evening will start with snowfall outside The Washington Center for the Performing Arts and end with cookies, cocoa and cider.
“We’re hoping to make this a homey, family-oriented occasion,” said Jennifer Hermann, the orchestra’s executive director.
“It will be heart-warming and cozy,” added music director and conductor Huw Edwards.
Familiar holiday tunes, both sacred and popular, will abound, often presented in medleys incorporating up to eight numbers. In fact, some classic carols will be heard more than once.
“We touch on things like ‘O Come All Ye Faithful,’ ‘Silent Night,’ and ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ three or four times in the course of the program,” Edwards told The Olympian.
The secular songs range from kid-friendly — “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” — to such sentimental favorites as “White Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”
Fully half the pieces on the program are sing-alongs — not something you encounter often at concerts by this or any other orchestra. Leading the singing will be Jill Barnes, executive director of The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, and Nadine Bozeman, artistic director of the Olympia Youth Chorus.
It’s fitting, Edwards pointed out, because carols might be among the few songs that nearly everyone who’s grown up in America knows, whether or not they celebrate Christmas.
“These days, certain Christmas carols and holiday numbers are the closest thing we have to a universal folk music,” he said. “A lot of the pieces pick themselves.”
It’s been a dozen years since the orchestra has offered a holiday concert, largely due to logistics. There are so many holiday events that both musicians and venues are booked.
“People are very excited about this,” Hermann told The Olympian. “People have been emailing and calling, asking how they can make sure to get seats. We’re telling people to get there early and plan for difficult parking.
“I would like to begin a holiday tradition with the symphony,” she added.
Edwards, for his part, is happy about the concert’s timing.
“Not much happens the week leading up to Christmas,” he said. “We’re hoping people will leave the hall and kids are excited that the next day is Christmas Eve.”
‘Home for the Holidays’
- What: The Olympia Symphony Orchestra has a holiday gift for the community — a concert chock full of Christmas carols. The program is packed with sing-alongs, too.
- When: 7 p.m. Monday, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
- Where: The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia
- Admission: Free, with donations appreciated
- More information: 360-753-8586, washingtoncenter.org, olympiasymphony.org