The Columbus Symphony Orchestra gave its annual holiday gift to the Columbus community with its presentation of “A Holiday Journey” Dec. 2 at The Commons to a standing-room-only crowd.
With a delightful mix of traditional favorites and newer concert gems, the CSO — assisted by the Andrews String Studio, Columbus soprano Jenny Heichelbech and the Parkside Elementary School Choir under the direction of Kathy Dell — sparkled under the confidant baton of music director Josh Aerie.
The concert itself opened with the CSO performing the traditional holiday orchestral showpiece, “Sleigh Ride,” by Leroy Anderson. This audience favorite was performed briskly by the CSO with a rich, full sound highlighting many of the different sections of the orchestra. Although there were a few moments of rhythmic insecurity, the piece set a festive and joyous tone for the rest of the concert.
The second selection, “A Rockin’ Christmas,” arranged by Chuck Sayre, featured a medley of several Christmas favorites including “Holly, Jolly Christmas,” “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “Jingle Bell Rock,” which had members of the audience tapping their toes and singing along in a spirited rendition with an appropriate brighter orchestral sound and strong playing from the brass section.
At this point in the program, maestro Aerie introduced Heichelbech, whom he described as possessing an angelic voice. His description was accurate as Heichelbech sang with a brilliant clear tone, crisp, articulate diction and soared effortlessly into the upper range of her soprano voice. Opening with “Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion” from “Messiah,” composed by George Frideric Handel, and continuing through her second selection, “Gesu Bambino,” by Pietro A. Yon.
Heichelbech sang with great clarity and demonstrated full command of her technique with beautifully performed Baroque ornamentations and musically sensitive moments of dynamic variety. The CSO also performed brilliantly as musicians supported the vocalist without covering her and gave a delightfully light but solid stylistic interpretation of the selection from “Messiah.”
Heichelbech’s third and final selection was “The Twelve Gifts of Christmas,” composed by Jeff Tyzik. This parody of the familiar “Twelve Days of Christmas” changes the traditional gifts of birds, maidens and pipers to different instruments or sections of the orchestra such as the glockenspiel, mellow cellos and swinging brass. Heichelbech’s appropriately understated vocal presentation allowed the orchestra to be the main focus as each “gift” was accompanied by several familiar musical themes by noted composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, highlighting the instruments named.
The final gift was the music itself, allowing Heichelbech to come to the fore with a spectacular high-note finish, followed by the audience’s roar of approval and standing ovation.
The CSO then performed “Noel” from “Symphonic Sketches,” composed by George Whitefield Chadwick. Perhaps the work most unfamiliar to the audience in this concert, the piece allowed the orchestra to demonstrate its ability to play softer, more sustained musical passages while maintaining a lush full sound — and providing concertmaster Phil Palermo a brief but elegantly performed violin solo.
This was followed by what many in the audience had been waiting for, the arrival of the Parkside Elementary School Chorus.
Filling the stage above and behind the orchestra, the chorus began its part of the program with the traditional German carol, “O Tannenbaum,” singing first in English and then in German. Singing with a clear rich tone and easily handling the higher notes of the melody that often are troublesome for singers of this age, the Parkside choir’s diction was crisp and precise. They were effectively supported by the CSO and never overshadowed.
J. Kevin Butler is a graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and was a high school choral director for more than 20 years. He is currently director of music for the First United Methodist Church of Columbus.
