Sponsored by:

Ernestine L. Lenoir Charitable Trust

Anne Low

Robert J. Seebacher – guest conductor
Kevin Thompson, bass
Mobile’s Singing Children
Susan Hoitt, director

Fanfare for Christmas    –    Mark Petty

Ding Dong! Merrily on High    –     arr. Stephen Mager

Mobile’s Singing Children

We Wish You a Merry Christmas    –     arr. Randol Bass

Mobile’s Singing Children

Sleigh Ride
Christmas Oratorio    –     Frederick Delius
“Großer Herr, o starker König”    –    Johann Sebastian Bach

Kevin Thompson

Ave Maria    –    Johann Sebastian Bach arr. Charles Gounod

Kevin Thompson

Festive Sounds of Hanukah    –     arr. Bill Holcombe
Carol of the Bells    –    arr. Richard Hayman
Candlelight Carol    –    John Rutter

Mobile’s Singing Children

L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2
“Farandole”    –     Georges Bizet

INTERMISSION

Around the World at Christmas Time    –     arr. Bruce Chase
Home Alone
“Somewhere in My Memory”    –    John Williams

Mobile’s Singing Children

You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch    –    Albert Hague

Kevin Thompson

The Nutcracker
“Waltz of the Flowers”    –    Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky
O Holy Night    –    Adolphe Adam

Kevin Thompson

Christmas Singalong    –     arr. John Finnegan
The Christmas Song
(Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)    –    Robert Wells and Mel Tormé

Kevin Thompson

Christmas Festival    –    Leroy Anderson

Mobile’s Singing Children and Kevin Thompson

Robert J. Seebacher – Guest Conductor

Mobile audiences know Robert J. Seebacher for his years as music director of the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra, and we’re happy to welcome him back as guest conductor for this season holiday concert.

Dr. Seebacher is Music Director and Conductor of the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra in Tennessee, Marlene and David Grissom Associate Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Programs at Centre College, and Assistant Conductor of the National Chorale in New York. Previously, he was Director of Orchestras and conductor of opera at the University of South Alabama and Music Director of the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra. He has appeared with the Lexington Philharmonic, Youngstown Symphony, Salt Lake Symphony, Warren Philharmonic, and Mobile Symphony Orchestras.

Kevin Thompson, bass

Kevin Thompson, acclaimed by the New York Times as a “stentorian bass,” “possesses a voice with extraordinary range, depth, color combined with a commanding stage presence … a mountain of a voice, with resonance from the Escorial of Philip II to the throne of Boris Godunov, and the majestic court of Sarastro.” (San Francisco Classical Voice).

He has performed with opera companies throughout the nation, including most recently with  Washington National Opera, Utah Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Omaha, Odyssey Opera, Opera Colorado and the Dallas Opera. Thompson has performed in opera houses and concert venues throughout the world, under the baton of many an esteemed conductor, including Austria, Bulgaria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, South America, Switzerland and the United States.

Thompson was born in Washington, D.C. He is an alumnus of The Juilliard School in New York, San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Program, and the Santa Fe Opera Program.

Directed by Susan Hoitt, Mobile’s Singing Children is the premier youth chorus on the northern Gulf Coast. Advanced studies in music theory, sight singing and intense rehearsal time enable performers to sing music of the highest quality. The Concert Choir anchors a group of four age- and skill-appropriate ensembles.

Since its founding in 1977, MSC has toured and performed in Europe, Canada and numerous states in the U.S. The choir was featured on National Public Radio’s “From the Top” and named Official Children’s Choir for Mobile’s Tri-Centennial Celebration Silver Anniversary Concert Series. As the official children’s choir for the Mobile Symphony, MSC has performed in MSO concerts as varied as holiday events and the monumental Carmina Burana.