Asheville Symphony presents "Simply Sinatra Christmas"

World-renowned Frank Sinatra interpreter Steve Lippia joins the Asheville Symphony at 8 p.m. on Friday, December 11, for “Simply Sinatra Christmas,” an enchanting evening filled with Sinatra’s classic holiday songs and the legendary crooner’s signature works at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in downtown Asheville. Maestro James Fellenbaum, the resident conductor of the Knoxville Symphony, will conduct the concert, which falls on the 100^th anniversary of Sinatra’s birth.

The program for “Simply Sinatra Christmas,” includes “Let it Snow,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “White Christmas,” “The Christmas Song,” “Ave Maria,” “Winter Wonderland,“ and “Moonlight in Vermont.” Other Sinatra standards on the program include “Come Fly with Me,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” and “My Way.”

Steve Lippia is considered one of the world’s finest interpreters of timeless standards and traditional pop music. He has headlined successful, extended engagements in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and has performed with nearly one hundred symphony orchestras in the United States and Canada. In addition to Asheville, Lippia’s 2015-16 season includes appearances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Charlotte and Detroit symphonies, and the Cleveland Pops.

He has also headlined concerts at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, performed in a highly successful European Jazz Festival Tour that resulted in a nationally televised special on Finnish TV2, and has made television appearances on “Extra,” Fox’s “Good Day New York,” CNN’s “Showbiz Today,” ABC, and the BBC.

Maestro James Fellenbaum is celebrating his ninth season with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO). In recent years, he has made his Masterwork and Chamber Classics conducting debuts with the KSO, while continuing to serve as an assistant for all other concerts in those series. He conducts Outreach, Pops, and Educational concerts, the latter of which include the KSO’s annual Young People’s Concerts. Fellenbaum is also Director of Orchestras at the University of Tennessee.

Single tickets for “Simply Sinatra Christmas” are $22 – $74 depending on seating section; reduced youth pricing is available. Single tickets and season ticket packages can be purchased at www.ashevillesymphony.org, by calling 828-254-7046, or in person at the U.S. Cellular Center box office at 87 Haywood Street.

Holiday Concert

SIMPLY SINATRA CHRISTMAS

December 11, 2015 • 8 p.m.

Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

James Fellenbaum, conductor

Steve Lippia, vocalist

Program:

Arr. Calvin Custer                            Music from Guys and Dolls

Arlen                                                     I’ve Got the World on a String

Leigh & Coleman                             The Best is Yet to Come

Cahn & Van Heusen                       All the Way

Cahn & Van Heusen                       Come Fly With Me

Drake                                                    It Was a Very Good Year

Porter                                                   I’ve Got You Under My Skin

Howard                                                Fly Me to the Moon

Blackburn & Suessdorf                 Moonlight in Vermont

Cahn & Styne                                    Let it Snow

Anderson                                            Sleigh Ride Jerry McClellan, special guest conductor

Leroy Anderson                                Belle of the Ball

Rodgers & Hart                                 The Lady is a Tramp

Rodgers & Hammerstein             I Have Dreamed

Coots & Gillespie                            Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Berlin                                                    White Christmas

Tormé & Wells                                                 The Christmas Song

Schubert, Franz                                Ave Maria

Smith & Bernard                              Winter Wonderland

Anka & Francois & Revaux          My Way