It’s one of the more popular shows that the West Texas Symphony puts on each year and it’ll take place this weekend with Sounds of the Season.
The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center.
The highly anticipated performance features cherished holiday music, Christmas classics, majestic choir music and caroling favorites that’ll delight audiences of all ages.
“We’re extremely excited,” West Texas Symphony Executive Director Ethan Wills said. “It’s always huge amounts of fun for us to be able to perform this concert every season. We change up a couple of things here and there but the general feeling and spirit is of Christmas and the holiday season and we just love ushering it all in with that concert during the first weekend of December.”
Under the direction of conductor Gary Lewis, the evening’s festivities will showcase the talents of the West Texas Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Chorale and the Voices of the Permian Basin Youth Choir.
Sounds of the Season this year will feature holiday favorites such as A Christmas Festival, selections from The Nutcracker, Carol of the Bells, A Most Wonderful Christmas and many more.
With so much different Christmas music to choose from, Wills said the process of narrowing the selections each year isn’t too arduous.
“It actually isn’t too difficult for us because it’s an all-hands-on-deck project,” Wills said. “Gary normally is the one that chooses the programming that we do in our concert season and I’m involved in some capacity but with this concert, the chorale director has a say in what he’s programming. Our children’s choir director Emily Baker has a say and each of our chamber groups actually picks their music too. It puts on everything that we have to offer but a lot of the selections of music is a collaborative effort and the only thing that we need to do is that we don’t repeat anything. It allows everyone to put their own mark on it and the burden is not just on one person.”
This weekend’s concert is the second of the four Pops Concerts that the West Texas Symphony will do this season.
The concert is a premier way for children of all ages to celebrate the holiday season.
“We love doing this music,” Wills said. “We know most students and children have heard it before coming here. We’re playing music that they know and love and enjoy and that’s a nice benefit to us. There’s something about Christmas music that has made it very timeless. A lot of that music can be higher quality and more demanding on the performer but you wouldn’t know it because it’s been in so many movies and it’s very timeless like Carol of the Bells. There are so many great versions of these songs and it’s the best of all the worlds combined into one; Pops, classical and music that everyone knows.”
Sounds of the Season will feature the full assortment of the programs from the West Texas Symphony.
Some pieces are brought back and performed almost every year while others are recycled every couple of years.
“We’re always trying to showcase the best of what each group has to offer,” Wills said. “There are some standards like Sleigh Ride that we do every time and it’s a huge win. The audience enjoys it. But there are smaller selections. … We try to cycle back to some music that we haven’t used in a while. That’s how we spread it around. We cycle through some popular ones every four or five years and then throw in some new ones as well.”
While the halfway point is approaching in the West Texas Symphony’s 2022-23 season, Wills said December is one of the busiest months of the year.
“This time of the year is kind of a marathon sprint for anyone that works in music,” Wills said. “It starts to pick up in mid-November and then as soon as Thanksgiving ends, our musicians are constantly going. We have the symphony concert one week and then the next week is the ballet and then the next week is performing at elementary schools with our chamber groups. That’s not to mention the other things our people do. It’s a full sprint to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. As soon as Christmas Day is done, we take a break and relax for a hot second. That’s a moment where we relax. Then we come back after New Year’s and start building up again. In January, we’re doing final preparations for next season so we’re thinking ahead and making sure the rest of the season goes as smooth as possible.”
Tickets for the show can be purchased online at tinyurl.com/4yjnvcft.
If you go
- What: West Texas Symphony’s Sounds of the Season.
- When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3.
- Where: Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.
- Where to purchase tickets: tinyurl.com/4yjnvcft
