Pop Go the Holidays

Everybody knows about “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and its swans-a-swimming and lords-a-leaping.

When you think about it, those are some pretty odd presents, except for the golden rings. But Princeton Symphony Orchestra will share a much more fulfilling gift during its annual Holiday POPS! concert, to be held on Dec. 17 at Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus.

The concert program will include a performance of “The Twelve Gifts of Christmas,” featuring the familiar tune but with a twist on the lyrics. In the piece, the “gifts” are the sections of the orchestra, so instead of a partridge in the pear tree, the audience might be “given” a clarinetist and a solo by a clarinet player.

“It’s a little bit different,” said Melanie Clarke, PSO’s executive director. “It’s a great piece if you’re bringing young people to the concert.”

Introducing young ears to classical music is one of PSO’s goals and the Holiday POPS! concert is an opportunity to do just that, Clarke said.

This year’s program also includes “Sleigh Ride,” Mozart’s “Exsultate Jubilate” Mendelssohn’s “There Shall a Star From Jacob Come Forth” from “Christus” Blake’s “The Snowman,” Vaughan Williams’ “Wassail Song” and Anderson’s “A Christmas Festival Sing-Along.”

The concert will also feature collaborations with singers from the American Boychoir, and with the members of the Princeton High School Choir.

“All those wonderful sophomores, juniors and seniors have such great voices and love music, this is such a great town for choral music,” Clarke said. “And they get to sing in a professional orchestra and they get to work with our conductor, who goes to work with them. That’s like a master class.”

Clarke remembers watching a rehearsal last year and noticing how Rossen Milanov, PSO’s musical director, worked with the students in the choir.

"He addressed them as if he was addressing professional musicians and he really set the bar as high as he would for the musicians in our orchestra, and I think that’s an irreplaceable experience," she said.

This year’s conductor is Ryan McAdams, who has plenty of experience working with young artists as the conductor of the New York Youth Orchestra.

“All of his concerts are reviewed in ‘The New York Times,’” Clarke said. “They have a budget that allows him to commission new music so Ryan has a lot of expertise in working with young, pre-professional musicians. I’m very happy about that aspect of it because our orchestra has a huge commitment to education.”

Howard Blake’s “The Snowman,” based on a children’s book about a snowman that comes to life, has a special meaning for Clarke. PSO has performed the piece during several Holiday POPS! concerts and the first time featured John Chancellor, the former anchor for NBC news, as the narrator, and Clarke’s children presented Chancellor with a present.

“I love that we’re doing 'The Snowman' again,” she said. “It’s a very sweet story and the music is delightful.”

The concert, she said, is an opportunity not only to enjoy holiday music performed live by an orchestra, but to combine it with other activities like shopping, dinner out and seeing the Palmer Square tree for a real Princeton holiday experience.

“We’re happy that people are aware that there’s a professional orchestra in town and that people are choosing to live in Princeton because they want access to the arts (and can) expose their kids to a setting that values the arts, so we’re following all those desires of families," Clarke said.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra will present its Holiday POP! Concert on Dec. 17 at 4 p.m. For tickets and information, visit www.princetonsymphony.org.