WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (NOVEMBER 6, 2015) –Celebrate the joy and magic of the holiday season at the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Carolina Christmas Spectacular! With Robert Moody, Music Director, as the conductor and master of ceremonies, these concerts have quickly become a Triad holiday tradition. Perfect for the whole family, Carolina Christmas Spectacular! is a great way to kick off the holiday season. The concerts include a selection of popular and traditional holiday music. Joining the orchestra and Winston-Salem Symphony Chorale (Dr. Christopher Gilliam, Director) will be members of Cirque de la Symphonie, who return this year to thrill audiences with their daring, dazzling, and beautiful aerial and acrobatic feats all choreographed to music.
This the third season for the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Carolina Christmas Spectacular! This year, concerts will take place on Saturday, November 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 29 at 2 p.m. at Reynolds Auditorium, 301 N. Hawthorne Road in Winston-Salem.
Tickets range from an affordable $20 to $67 for adults and $16 to $37 for children 2 and up and are available in advance by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145 or online at WSsymphony.org. There’s a great ticket package, the Family 4-Pack, which is an excellent value for families. It includes 2 adult and 2 children’s tickets for as little as $93 (a 20% savings). With the Family 4-Pack you can purchase additional adult and children’s tickets for 20% off. The Family 4-Pack is only available by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145. It is not available online.
“I love conducting Carolina Christmas Spectacular!,” said Moody. “It is a wonderful way to spread holiday cheer with its combination of upbeat carols and songs and moving spiritual music. Carolina Christmas Spectacular! combines the best of the holidays bringing both the joy and the power of the season to audience members. And yes, there will be a visit from Santa Claus!”
Carolina Christmas Spectacular! will take concert goers through a musical journey of holiday music from The Twelve Days of Christmas to The Twelve Days After Christmas, O Come All Ye Faithful, “Flight to Neverland” from Hook, “The Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker, Angels From the Realms of Glory, a Christmas Sing-a-Long and more.
Cirque de la Symphonie brings the magic of cirque to the orchestra hall. Each performance is an elegant adaptation of some of the most amazing cirque acts, perfectly choreographed to classical masterpieces and performed by accomplished veterans including world record holders, gold medal winners of international competitions, Olympians, and some of the most original talent ever seen. Fusing the power and majesty of the live orchestra with the best of cirque artistry, Cirque de la Symphonie is the only cirque company in the world that performs exclusively with symphony orchestras.
Vitalii Buza began his gymnastic training in the Republic of Moldova and competed as an elite gymnast with the Russian national team. At the age of 16, he joined the Moscow State Circus as a professional acrobat and toured throughout Europe. After a move to the United States, he starred in productions at Sea World, Universal Studios, and Walt Disney World. Buza excels in multiple cirque acts, such as duo hand-balancing, straps, Cyr wheel, spinning cube, Chinese pole, and the Russian bar.
Ekaterina Borzikova is a graduate of the prestigious School of Olympic Reserve in St. Petersburg, Russia, and completed ten years of training in gymnastics and another four years of training in acrobatics. Borzikova is an amazing hand-balancer and contortionist, and she performs an aerial duo on silk fabrics with Cirque de la Symphonie.
Aleksandr Deev began training at the circus school in Moscow, Russia at the age of 12 and went on to study at Moscow University of Circus and Variety art at the age of 15. He toured the United States with the Moscow State circus at the age of 19, and found many new opportunities, beginning with Cirque Dreams production at Bush Gardens and Six Flags Park, and many more. His multiple skills include spinning cube and electrifying performances on the German Wheel.
For full artist biographies please visit WSsymphony.org.
This concert is part of the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Angel Tree partnership with the Salvation Army. Concert goers are encouraged to donate new, unwrapped toys for children up to age 12 at the concerts. The toys will be distributed through The Salvation Army’s Christmas Program. The Salvation Army Advanced Band will perform before the 2 p.m. concert on Sunday.
The Winston-Salem Symphony Chorale is comprised of auditioned singers and is directed by Dr. Christopher Gilliam. The group performs several times each year with the Winston-Salem Symphony.
This concert and the Winston-Salem Symphony are sponsored by Season Presenting Sponsor Bell Davis & Pitt; Plugged-in Pops Presenting Sponsor BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina; Carolina Christmas Spectacular Presenting Sponsor Flow; as well as the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and the North Carolina Arts Council. Media Sponsors include Fairway Outdoor Advertising, The Winston-Salem Journal, WSJS 600 am and WXII 12.
About the Winston-Salem Symphony
The Winston-Salem Symphony began its 69th season in September 2015 as one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras. Under the baton of Music Director Robert Moody, the performance season includes Classics and Kicked-Back Classics series, Plugged-In Pops series, Discovery Concerts for Kids, annual performances of Handel’s Messiah, a special concert in May 2016 featuring Tony- and Emmy-award winning comedian Martin Short, a concert featuring Winston-Salem Symphony and Youth Symphony musicians, holiday concerts, three youth orchestra ensembles, and a multitude of educational and community engagement programs. For more information, visit WSsymphony.org.
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