The Delaware Symphony Orchestra is back on stage in the next few weeks for a pair of concerts to ring in the holiday season.
On Sunday, November 30 the orchestra will present “Jingle Bell Jamboree,” a family-friendly afternoon show at the Grand. Michelle Di Russo, the orchestra’s music director, says this is a new approach from the symphony.
“This is a new format we're trying, and it's targeted to everyone, but especially families that maybe feel that a longer concert is not the right format for them, or the time of the day at night is not good for them," she says.
It's not only families, she says.
“Maybe some older people don't want to go out at night, right? And so we want to take into account that the communities are very diverse and they want to hear different things in different formats in different places," she says.
About a week and a half later, on December 9, the orchestra will perform its long-running “Holidays at the Hotel” concert at Wilmington’s Hotel du Pont. Di Russo says the concert features selections from Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and some new works as well. The combination of familiar and new can be a tool to open new musical doors for audiences.
“Of course, you want to hear the music, but you also need to go with an open mind, with curiosity, to see what you might find out that it's new, and then suddenly you love it as well," Di Russo says.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
