The Rome Symphony Orchestra
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Christmas 2020 season didn’t have the same sparkle as years prior. This year, organizations large and small are bringing much-needed holiday cheer and magic to reinvigorate the 2021 holiday season. The Rome Symphony Orchestra is excited to resume in-person live performances and seeks to entertain audiences young and old alike with their holiday offering, A Dickens’ Christmas on Broad, happening on Sunday, December 19th.
The RSO, known famously as the “oldest symphony in the South,” traditionally offers a holiday concert as part of their season slate. Due to pandemic restrictions last year, the 2020-2021 season began in January and skipped the fan-favorite holiday event in favor of virtual performances until live events could take place again.
With restrictions lifted and crowds permitted to gather again, the symphony resumes its mission to inspire, educate, and entertain through musical performances. But this year is big for the organization in other ways as well: the orchestra celebrates a milestone birthday with the 21-22 season: one hundred years of orchestral music in downtown Rome. In homage, the entire season slate pays tribute to all the “greatest hits” in music over the last one hundred years: from the introduction of music into the movies, the advent of Broadway, the rise of Aaron Copland and more.
The holiday concert, however, skips the overall 100th-anniversary theme and stands as a love letter for symphony supporters. Maestro Jeffrey Dokken, now serving in his fourth year as conductor, is upping the ante by creating an immersive holiday experience with interactive elements alongside symphonic music.
“Nothing evokes thoughts and feelings of Christmas more than Charles Dickens and the Victorian Era,” Dokken says, “Our costumed carolers, seasonal readings, and musical selections will sweep the entire family away to a bygone era of Christmas magic, and we hope the performance will help audiences take that spark back to their own family holiday celebrations.”
The symphony’s late-in-the-holiday-season event (less than a week before Christmas!) aims to be an outing for the whole family. As part of their initiative to engage the next generation of symphony goers, the symphony board also moved the holiday concert two hours earlier than the traditional 7 p.m. start time, in order to provide an opportunity for the youngest family members to attend.
The concert will be held Sunday, December 19th at 5 p.m. in the afternoon at The Rome City Auditorium on Broad Street. As the symphony’s home base for many years, the city auditorium is sure to be decked in holiday decor and ready to resume holiday traditions. In December, there is truly no place like “Rome” for the holidays.
For more information on the symphony and to purchase tickets for A Dickens’ Christmas on Broad, please visit romesymphony.org.
