Nancy Sanderson, center, retiring executive director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, is flanked by incoming executive director Chason Goldschmitz and maestra Melisse Brunet. All three are eagerly anticipating this weekend’s holiday concerts in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
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“We’re having more singers than ever,” maestra Melisse Brunet said with a smile, thinking about the 120 choristers who will join about 55 musicians for the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic’s holiday concerts on Saturday evening in Wilkes-Barre and Sunday afternoon in Scranton.
There will be string students from Valenches Music Co., too, performing a special arrangement of “Up on the Housetop”, and a dozen dancers from the Scranton Ballet Co. will add a visual element to “Jingle Bell Rock” as well as the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.”
Will there be room for the conductor?
“I’m going to fly in,” Brunet teased.
Of course there will be room for her. You’ll also see “Mrs. Claus” play a violin, and retiring executive director Nancy Sanderson guest conduct the orchestra when it plays the ever-popular “Sleigh Ride,” complete with the sounds of a horse whinny and the crack of a whip.
“It’s actually a trumpet” that imitates a horse’s neigh, Brunet said, although, during a recent interview she proved she can provide a realistic variation with her voice.
“I’m going to miss everybody,” Sanderson said of her retirement, which becomes official at the end of the year. “But I’m so fortunate. How many people can say in their career that they loved every job they had. But it’s time to go, and Chason (Goldschmitz) is the person to lead the parade.”
“I am incredibly honored to follow in your footsteps.” Goldschmitz said as the musical trio chatted in the Philharmonic office on Hanover Street in Wilkes-Barre.
“I can’t believe it’s the end,” Brunet said.
But it’s not a complete end of Sanderson’s connection to the orchestra. She intends to continue to help the Philharmonic with its outreach programs to the community, especially the ones that introduce children to music.
Speaking of music, the concert will open with the traditional Christmas carol “I Saw Three Ships.” Joining the orchestra on “Star Carol,” “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” the African carol “Ogo ni fun Oluwa!” (“Glory to God in the Highest!”), “Let It Snow,” “Christmas Day,” and “See, Amid the Winter’s Snow” will be singers from the Choral Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania as well as Wilkes and Marywood universities.
Clarinet soloist Nick Driscoll will be featured on “Klezmer 101,” which will showcase several styles of klezmer music in honor of Hanukkah.
Of course, special visitors from the North Pole are expected. And the audience will be invited to sing along to “Deck the Halls,” “Joy to the World,” “Up on the Housetop” and “Jolly Old St. Nicholas,” before the concert concludes with “Jingle Bells.”
Performance times are 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre and 3 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Scranton Cultural Center. Tickets start at $42.