Asheville Symphony Orchestra performs a Simply Sinatra Christmas, Dec. 11

Press release:

World-renowned Frank Sinatra interpreter Steve Lippia joins the Asheville Symphony at 8 p.m. on Friday, December 11, for “Simply Sinatra Christmas,” an enchanting evening filled with Sinatra’s classic holiday songs and the legendary crooner’s signature works at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in downtown Asheville. Maestro James Fellenbaum, the resident conductor of the Knoxville Symphony, will conduct the concert, which falls on the 100th anniversary of Sinatra’s birth.

The program for “Simply Sinatra Christmas,” includes “Let it Snow,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “White Christmas,” “The Christmas Song,” “Ave Maria,” “Winter Wonderland,“ and “Moonlight in Vermont.” Other Sinatra standards on the program include “Come Fly with Me,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” and “My Way.”

Steve Lippia is considered one of the world’s finest interpreters of timeless standards and traditional pop music. He has headlined successful, extended engagements in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and has performed with nearly one hundred symphony orchestras in the United States and Canada. In addition to Asheville, Lippia’s 2015-16 season includes appearances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Charlotte and Detroit symphonies, and the Cleveland Pops.

He has also headlined concerts at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, performed in a highly successful European Jazz Festival Tour that resulted in a nationally televised special on Finnish TV2, and has made television appearances on “Extra,” Fox’s “Good Day New York,” CNN’s “Showbiz Today,” ABC, and the BBC.

Maestro James Fellenbaum is celebrating his ninth season with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO). In recent years, he has made his Masterwork and Chamber Classics conducting debuts with the KSO, while continuing to serve as an assistant for all other concerts in those series. He conducts Outreach, Pops, and Educational concerts, the latter of which include the KSO’s annual Young People’s Concerts. Fellenbaum is also Director of Orchestras at the University of Tennessee.

Single tickets for “Simply Sinatra Christmas” are $22 – $74 depending on seating section; reduced youth pricing is available. Single tickets and season ticket packages can be purchased at www.ashevillesymphony.org, by calling 828-254-7046, or in person at the U.S. Cellular Center box office at 87 Haywood Street.

The Asheville Symphony Orchestra performs and promotes symphonic music for the benefit, enjoyment and education of the people of Western North Carolina. The ASO presents concerts in the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville’s U.S. Cellular Center. Related organizations include the Asheville Symphony Guild, Asheville Symphony Chorus, Asheville Symphonettes, and education initiatives such as the Asheville Buncombe Youth Orchestra, Music in the Schools, MusicWorks!, Spotlight on Young Musicians, Symphony Talk and pre-concert lectures.

Holiday Concert
SIMPLY SINATRA CHRISTMAS
December 11, 2015 • 8 p.m.
Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
James Fellenbaum, conductor
Steve Lippia, vocalist

Program:
Arr. Calvin Custer Music from Guys and Dolls
Arlen I’ve Got the World on a String
Leigh & Coleman The Best is Yet to Come
Cahn & Van Heusen All the Way
Cahn & Van Heusen Come Fly With Me
Drake It Was a Very Good Year
Porter I’ve Got You Under My Skin
Howard Fly Me to the Moon
Blackburn & Suessdorf Moonlight in Vermont
Cahn & Styne Let it Snow
Anderson Sleigh Ride Jerry McClellan, special guest conductor
Leroy Anderson Belle of the Ball
Rodgers & Hart The Lady is a Tramp
Rodgers & Hammerstein I Have Dreamed
Coots & Gillespie Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Berlin White Christmas
Tormé & Wells The Christmas Song
Schubert, Franz Ave Maria
Smith & Bernard Winter Wonderland
Anka & Francois & Revaux My Way