New Haven Symphony Orchestra presents "Holiday Extravaganza!" | Press Releases

8 p.m., Friday, December 14, 2012
Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts

Image: M Savery Celebrate the season with holiday pop favorites when the New Haven Symphony Orchestra partners with the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts for the crowd-pleasing "Holiday Extravaganza!" concert at 8 p.m., Friday, December 14, 2012, at Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts. Guest conductor Matthew Savery leads the NHSO Pops and soprano Maureen O'Flynn through a seasonal celebration brimming with holiday classics, yuletide cheer, and a festive audience sing-a-long. Tickets: $40, $35.

The program includes such timeless classics as "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Carol of the Bells," "March of the Toys" from "Babes in Toyland," "We Need a Little Christmas," from "Mame," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "O Holy Night."

Guest conductor Matthew Savery native of Western Massachusetts graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music and received his Master of Music Degree from the University of Michigan. He has led performances throughout the country, including with Virginia symphony orchestras, the Missouri Chamber Orchestra, Canada's Victoria Symphony, Italy's Orchestra Sinfonica di Bari, and Turkey's Presidential Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Savery was a member of the first class of the International Institute for Conductors in Kiev, Ukraine, and has led that country's National Symphony Orchestra in public performance. He is in his nineteenth season as Music Director of the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir in Bozeman, Montana, and fifth season as Music Director of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra.

Maureen O'Flynn , Soprano, is an internationally renowned singer known for her work in opera and on the musical theatre stage. She has been awarded the Richard Tucker Foundation Grant and the Opera Index First Prize. Included in her many accolades is star recognition for her role as Gilda in "Rigoletto," which she has performedat the Metropolitan Opera with Plácido Domingo, in Italy and Israel, and with Houston Grand Opera; she debuted with Dallas Opera, winning their Callas Award as "Outstanding New Artist of the Year." On the musical theatre stage she has performed major roles in "Camelot" with the Berkshire Theatre Festival, "My Fair Lady,"and in the world premiere of Joan Ackermann's "The Taster" at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts.In 2011, she launched her first cabaret show,"At the Crossroads," at Feinsteins at the Regency in New York City, where she returned in 2011 and 2012.

Tickets are available through the Quick Center Box Office: (203) 254-4010, or toll-free 1-877-ARTS-396 (1-877-278-7396). Tickets can also be purchased online at www.quickcenter.com .

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Fairfield University at 1073 North Benson Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. Entrance to the Quick Center is through the Barlow Road gate at 200 Barlow Road. Free, secure parking is available. Access for people with disabilities is available throughout the Quick Center for audience members and performers. Hearing amplification devices are available upon request at the Box Office. Fairfield University is located off exit 22 of Interstate-95. For further information and directions, call (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-278-7396, or visit www.quickcenter.com .