Broadcast December 23 at 7 Pm & December 25 at 1 Pm on WOWT Channel 6
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Broadcast December 23 at 7 pm & December 25 at 1 pm on WOWT Channel 6 Ernest Richardson, principal pops conductor Parker Esse, stage director/choreographer Maria Turnage, associate stage director ROBERT H. STORZ FOUNDATION PROGRAM The Most Wonderful Time of the Year/ Jingle Bells JAMES LORD PIERPONT/ARR. ELLIOTT Christmas Waltz VARIOUS/ARR. KESSLER Happy Holiday - The Holiday Season IRVING BERLIN/ARR. WHITFIELD Joy to the World TRADITIONAL/ARR. RICHARDSON Mother Ginger (La mère Gigogne et Danse russe Trepak from Suite No. 1, les polichinelles) from Nutcracker PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY from Nutcracker PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY We Are the Very Model of a God Bless Us Everyone from Modern Christmas Shopping Pair A Christmas Carol from Pirates of Penzance ALAN SILVESTRI/ARR. ROSS ARTHUR SULLIVAN/LYRICS BY RICHARDSON Silent Night My Favorite Things from FRANZ GRUBER/ARR. RICHARDSON The Sound of Music RICHARD RODGERS/ARR. WHITFIELD Snow/Jingle Bells IRVING BERLIN/ARR. BARKER O Holy Night ADOLPH-CHARLES ADAM/ARR. RICHARDSON Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow JULE STYNE/ARR. SEBESKY We Need a Little Christmas JERRY HERMAN/ARR. WENDEL Frosty the Snowman WALTER ROLLINS/ARR. KATSAROS Hark All Ye Shepherds TRADITIONAL/ARR. RICHARDSON Sleigh Ride LEROY ANDERSON 2 ARTISTIC DIRECTION Ernest Richardson, principal pops conductor and resident conductor of the Omaha Symphony, is the artistic leader of the orchestra’s annual Christmas Celebration production and internationally performed “Only in Omaha” productions, and he leads the successful Symphony Pops, Symphony Rocks, and Movies Series. Since 1993, he has led in the development of the Omaha Symphony’s innovative education and community engagement programs. A recipient of the 2016 Nebraska Governor’s Arts Award for Excellence in Arts Education, Richardson has encouraged and supported countless young musicians. Nationally, Ernest has been at the forefront of symphonic video/live music productions, conducting live-to-movie scores of the Harry Potter series with CineConcerts, and other films includingIndiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Star Trek (2009), and Star Wars. May 2020 marked his live-in-concert album debut with indie rock band Guster on OMAHGAH!, featuring their live performance with the Omaha Symphony in February 2019. Richardson also serves as music director and principal conductor of the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and is the founding artistic director and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory. He began studying the violin at the age of three with his father, Dr. Vernal Richardson. He continued his string education at Indiana University, later concentrating on the viola at the University of Michigan. He studied conducting with Samuel Krachmalnick and Gustav Meier and composition with William Albright and William Bolcom. An avid fly fisherman, Richardson can be found on trout streams in Colorado and municipal lakes in Nebraska. He has also earned a black belt in tae kwon do and has been known to help his sons build award-winning pinewood derby cars and craft his own batons. He lives in Omaha with his wife and children plus a varied menagerie of cattle dogs, cats, and exotic birds. Parker Esse, stage director/choreographer is a multi-award-winning, dynamic and story-driven director- choreographer. After performing regionally in national tours and being a featured performer on Broadway in the Tony Jingle Bells Award-winning Fosse, which was taped for PBS Great Performances, Parker followed his passion to the other side of the JAMES LORD PIERPONT/ARR. ELLIOTT creative table. He collaborated as associate director and/or choreographer on Broadway’s critically acclaimed and Tony- nominated Finian’s Rainbow and A Tale of Two Cities; five New York City Center Encores! productions of Girl Crazy, Finian’s Rainbow, On The Town, Juno, and Stairway to Paradise; the National Tour of 101 Dalmatians: The Musical; and, regionally, Happy Holiday - The Holiday Season the world premieres of Lucky Guy and Pirates! at Goodspeed Opera House and Paper Mill Playhouse, Dancing in the Dark IRVING BERLIN/ARR. WHITFIELD at The Old Globe, and Mame and the pre-Broadway run of Follies at The Kennedy Center. Parker then exploded onto the scene as choreographer on the groundbreaking Oklahoma! for the grand re-opening of the historic, Tony Award-winning Mother Ginger (La mère Gigogne et Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theatre. He then went on to choreograph such shows as Stephen Sondheim and Wynton Marsalis’ A Bed and a Chair: A New York Love Affair directed by John Doyle at New York City Center Encores! les polichinelles) from Nutcracker and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Recently, Parker choreographed the high-octane and critically acclaimed productions of Anything PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Goes at Arena Stage starring Corbin Bleu and Soara Joye-Ross, La Traviata directed by Francesca Zambello at The Kennedy Center for Washington National Opera, and the world premiere of Jukebox Hero at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto, and We Are the Very Model of a he was director/choreographer for Lyrics and Lyricists’ Oklahoma! at 75 for the 92nd St. Y. He just choreographed Newsies for Arena Stage. Parker is an eight-time Helen Hayes Nominee for Best Choreography, winning for Oklahoma!, which was Modern Christmas Shopping Pair internationally acclaimed as the first of a generation of reimagined revivals, as well as the star-studdedThe Pajama Game from Pirates of Penzance starring Broadway legend Donna McKechnie at Arena Stage. This past season, Parker received his third Helen Hayes Award ARTHUR SULLIVAN/LYRICS BY RICHARDSON for Best Choreography on Anything Goes starring Corbin Bleu at Arena Stage. Parker also choreographed the new, highly acclaimed “Revisal” of Rags with Stephen Schwartz at Goodspeed Opera House, where he has also choreographed five My Favorite Things from musical revivals. He is a two-time CT Outer Critics Circle nominee for Best Choreography for Fiddler on the Roof and Carousel, which was taped and archived for The New York Public Library of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Parker was director/ The Sound of Music choreographer for the pre-Broadway workshop, NYC readings of Hazel: The Musical and Chéri based on the classic French RICHARD RODGERS/ARR. WHITFIELD novel by Colette. Parker received his BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is also the co-founder and artistic director of The Broadway Master Class Series and a proud member of Actors Equity Association and Stage Directors O Holy Night and Choreographers Society. ADOLPH-CHARLES ADAM/ARR. RICHARDSON We Need a Little Christmas Maria Turnage, associate stage director is honored to be working again with the Omaha Symphony this JERRY HERMAN/ARR. WENDEL season. As a leading performer, Ms. Turnage has toured internationally and regionally in cities such as Paris, Moscow, London, New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Boston. As an associate/assistant director she has worked on Equity showcases, concerts, benefits for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, world premieres, and classic musical theater Hark All Ye Shepherds productions. Maria was observer to director Molly Smith’s Anything Goes at Arena Stage; creative team assistant for the pre- TRADITIONAL/ARR. RICHARDSON Broadway trial of the new musical Jukebox Hero: The Music of Foreigner at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre; associate director of Fiorello! at Manhattan School of Music; and associate director for 92nd St Y Lyrics and Lyricists’ Oklahoma! at 75. Most recently she was associate director to Jay Binder’s out-of-town trial Love and Other Fables and associate director for The Full Monty at Casa Mañana. Maria is co-founder/co-artistic/managing director of The Broadway Master Class Series. She partners with international organizations like Destination Imagination’s DI Global Finals, co-directing Tony-winning Broadway stars in the DI Opening Ceremonies and developing Master Artist Workshops for 18,000 international participants. Maria received her BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. 3 VOCAL PERFORMERS Siri Howard, soprano is a Broadway actress, recording artist, and concert performer who began her professional career at age 10 and has continued to perform on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. On Broadway Siri has appeared in Les Misérables and The Sound of Music (Broadway Revival cast recording). National Tours include The Phantom of the Opera, Parade, Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Production, and The Sound of Music starring Richard Chamberlain. Regionally Ms. Howard has been seen in The Music Man (Marian Paroo)- IRNE Nomination Best Lead Actress, North Shore Music Theatre; Sweeney Todd starring Emma Thompson, Live from Lincoln Center; South Pacific (Nellie Forbush), Gulf Coast Symphony; Fiddler on the Roof (Hodel), Maine State Music Theatre; A Little Night Music 25th Anniversary Production (Fredrika), with the Philadelphia Orchestra; Les Misérables (Cosette), Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, and North Shore Music Theatre; Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Angel), The Rev Theatre; Oklahoma! (Laurey), Gulf Coast Symphony. Siri has also appeared as a soloist with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Steamboat Springs Symphony Orchestra, and The Florida Orchestra. Ms. Howard has a deep love for classical music, and has performed concerts of Bernstein’s Songfest, Berg’s Wozzeck, Mozart’s Requiem, and operas such as Le Nozze di Figaro, the NY premiere of Orpheus Descending, Dido and Aeneas, and La Bohéme. Ms. Howard has performed with the USO for veterans and active duty military, as well as the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball Drop in 2016. She has appeared on multiple annual Carols for a Cure Broadway albums, and as a featured artist on the concept album Song of Solomon. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from University of Maryland College Park, and a Master of Arts in vocal performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.