An annual holiday favorite, Maestro Falletta celebrates the season with centuries of classical treasures. Principal harpist Madeline Olson adds a sparkle of delicate magic with François-Adrien Boieldieu’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus returns to lend their festive voices to seasonal favorites and our traditional holiday sing-along.

Program

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus
Madeline Olson, harp
Erica Gabriel, soprano
John Tiranno, tenor

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV  Polonaise from Christmas Eve
HERMAN/arr. Wendel  We Need A Little Christmas
KORNGOLD  Prelude and Serenade from The Snowman (Der Schneeman)
ADAM/arr. J. Dean  O Holy Night
TCHAIKOVSKY  Suite from The Nutcracker, Op. 71a
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Russian Dance (Trepak)
Waltz of the Flowers
YON/arr. Ryden  Gesu Bambino
DARIN KELLY  Of Nights and Lights: A Chanukah Celebration
RANDOL BASS/arr. Bass  Fanfare: Joy to the World

–INTERMISSION–

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV  Dance of the Tumblers from The Snow Maiden
BOIELDIEU  Concerto in C Major for Harp and Orchestra, “In tre tempi”
II. Andante lento
III. Rondeau: Allegro agitato
LOWRY & GREENE/arr. Gray  Mary Did You Know?
MENOTTI  Introduction, March and Shepherd’s Dance from Amahl and the Night Visitors
HANDEL/ed. Watkins-Shaw  Comfort Ye; Ev’ry Valley from The Messiah
HANDEL/ed. Watkins-Shaw  Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah
ANDERSON  A Christmas Festival (Sing-along)

About Madeline Olson
BPO Principal Harp

Praised for her “wonderful musical sensibility,” Madeline Olson is the principal harpist for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2019, she was awarded a career grant from Salon de Virtuosi, in 2017, she was the first American to be awarded first prize at the Nippon International Harp Competition in Soka, Japan, and is a laureate of many other competitions, including the 2016 Aspen Music Festival Harp Competition. Madeline regularly works with composers to promote the expansion of the harp repertoire, and has premiered a number of solo and ensemble works featuring the harp. A five year participant in The Juilliard School’s Focus! Festival, in 2018 she performed the Western Hemisphere premiere of Cinq stades de l’existence for solo harp by China’s Yao Chen, and as part of Juilliard’s 2019 Commencement ceremony, Madeline performed Kaija Saariaho’s Fall for harp and electronics, to commemorate the composer’s awarding of an honorary doctorate. Madeline has been heard as a soloist with the Modesto Symphony, Merced Symphony, Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, and Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has received both her BM and MM degrees from The Juilliard School under Nancy Allen, and her other teachers include Linda Wood Rollo and Laura Porter.

About Erica Gabriel
Soprano

Erica Gabriel received her bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Oakwood University and holds a Master’s in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan. Currently, she is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Kentucky. She has performed with orchestras across the country including the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Savannah Philharmonic, the Jackson Symphony, and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra.

She was cast in Ravinia’s production of Bernstein’s Mass with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marin Alsop, which aired on the PBS Television Network as a part of their “Great Performances” series. She has also toured with the renowned American Spiritual Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Everett McCorvey.

Her competition credits and awards include The Alma Blackmon Scholarship Award, winner of the Hartford Memorial Scholarship Competition, second place winner of the Alltech Scholarship competition, and the 2018 Gold Medal winner of the American Traditions Vocal Competition.

About John Tiranno
Tenor

Originally from Buffalo, NY, tenor John Tiranno has been called “ardent and mellifluous” as well as a “clear-voiced tenor” by The New York Times. Recent and notable past performances include Man #1 in Frida (Opera Southwest), Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette and Handel’s Messiah (Santa Fe Symphony), Berlioz’s Requiem (La Jolla Symphony & Chorus), Mahler song cycles Das Lied von der Erde and Songs of a Wayfarer(ChatterABQ), Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Paul Moravec’s The Blizzard Voices (Oratorio Society of New York), Saint-Saëns Requiem (Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra), creating the role of The Young Man in Gisle Kverndokk’s opera Upon this handful of earth (New York Opera Society & Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), Bach’s B minor Mass and the U.S. premiere of Juraj Filas’ Oratio Spei – Requiem (Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), and recitals at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Jedda, Saudi Arabia. www.johntiranno.com