Christmas by Candlelight: the night it finally feels like Christmas
An hour of holiday music by candlelight, with your favorite person, Saturday, December 12 at 7.
There’s a moment every December when it finally feels like Christmas.
This is a good place to have it.
The candles are lit. You’re tucked in next to your person, coats over the backs of your chairs. The orchestra starts a carol you’ve known since you were small, the one someone in your family always hummed in the kitchen. You know every word. Live, by candlelight, it lands somewhere new.
Central New York singer-songwriter Danan Tsan joins the orchestra.
It’s one hour, and your only job is to sit next to someone you love and let Christmas happen to you for once.
Make a night of it. Dinner first. The concert. A nightcap after, still humming. Make it date night, best-friend night, or the one night this month that’s just for you.
Or start at 5:30. The Insiders’ Experience means a drink in your hand, something good to eat, and a few minutes with one of the orchestra’s musicians before you walk straight to premium seats. It’s a separate $60 ticket, and it includes the concert. Get Insiders’ Experience tickets
Make it a standing date
Valentine’s by Candlelight is Saturday, February 13. Build a FlexPack with both nights and get subscriber pricing on each.
Still deciding? The Insiders’ Experience reception starts at 5:30, with premium seats for the concert included. See the details.
GOOD TO KNOW
Who’s it for? Date night, friend night, or a night out on your own.
How long is it? About 1 hour, no intermission.
What should I wear? Your holiday best. It’s a lovely night to dress up.
When should I get there? Doors open at 6:00. Music starts at 7:00. With Insiders’ Experience tickets, come at 5:30.
Where do I park? There are three lots near Inspiration Hall:
- PEC Lot, 325 Catherine St. (enter from Catherine Street, behind the PEC building)
- ARISE Lot, 635 James St. (enter from East Willow Street, across Catherine Street from the hall)
- Vera House Lot, 723 James St. (enter from East Willow Street, next to the hall)
Street parking is sometimes open nearby too.
Running late? You’ll be seated at the next break in the music.
PROGRAM
A Christmas Festival (Anderson): Leroy Anderson, the composer of Sleigh Ride, strung a run of carols together, one tumbling into the next. Try to name them all before it ends.
Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion (Handel): A bright, fast song from Messiah, full of long runs of notes. If you were at Messiah the week before, you’ll know this one.
O Holy Night (Adam): Written in France in 1847 by the composer of the ballet Giselle. Listen for it to build to “Fall on your knees.”
Christmas Concerto (Corelli): Written around 300 years ago, with a note on the score saying it was made for Christmas night. It ends with a slow, gentle movement that sounds like shepherds in a field.
Skaters’ Waltz (Waldteufel): You can hear the gliding. It’s a waltz built to sound like skating on a frozen pond.
Silent Night (Gruber): First sung on Christmas Eve in 1818, in a small church in Austria, with a guitar.
Mary, Did You Know? (Greene): A newer one, from 1991. It’s become a modern carol, recorded by everyone from country singers to a cappella groups.
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Wyle): The 1963 song Andy Williams made famous, and still on every holiday playlist.
Carol of the Bells (Leontovich): It started as a Ukrainian New Year’s song about a swallow flying into a house to bring good news. Four notes, over and over, until they ring like bells.
It’s Christmastime (Custer): A medley of holiday favorites.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Traditional)
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FEATURED ARTISTS
From conducting Broadway musicals in such venues as the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles to leading summer orchestral performances for thousands of concert-goers across Central New York, Travis understands and facilitates the important connection between audience members and orchestral musicians.
As a guest conductor with the Syracuse ...
From conducting Broadway musicals in such venues as the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles to leading summer orchestral performances for thousands of concert-goers across Central New York, Travis understands and facilitates the important connection between audience members and orchestral musicians.
As a guest conductor with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Symphoria, and The Syracuse Orchestra, Travis has led performances of a wide variety of repertoire, including Pops, Classical and Film music. He has also collaborated with well-known composers, including conducting the world premiere of Academy Award-nominated composer Patrick Doyle’s score for the silent film “IT” at the 2013 Syracuse International Film Festival.
Currently, Travis is Dean of the Carroll College of Arts and Sciences at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY, where he was the founding conductor of the Le Moyne College Symphony Orchestra. He studied violin performance and conducting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and also holds an BMA from Le Moyne College and PH.D. in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky.
Danan Tsan is an award winning singer/songwriter based in Central New York. Danan has been entertaining audiences with her combination of sassy, introspective, thoughtful, funny, and even Christmas-themed originals all over America for more than 10 years. After completing graduate school at the Eastman School of Music as a ...
Danan Tsan is an award winning singer/songwriter based in Central New York. Danan has been entertaining audiences with her combination of sassy, introspective, thoughtful, funny, and even Christmas-themed originals all over America for more than 10 years. After completing graduate school at the Eastman School of Music as a mezzo-soprano Danan took the logical next step: she joined the United States Army. After surviving basic training, Danan was assigned to the U.S. Army Field Band and joined the Soldiers’ Chorus, later becoming lead singer for the same unit’s rock band, The Volunteers. Danan toured for 5 years with these groups, including a memorable trip to Barrow, Alaska, a solo feature with the London Symphony Orchestra, and many features with The Chicago Pops, The Naples (FL) Pops, and The Cincinnati Pops. During the same time, Danan joined the Baltimore ska-punk band, 23 Skadoo, as lead vocalist. She also provided lead vocals for a new age album by Annapolis based songwriter James Durham, Aeolian May.
In 2005, Danan moved to Brooklyn and quickly became hooked into New York City’s thriving rock scene, recording her debut EP, You Need More Love. In 2007, her first full-length album, The Other Side, was named one of the top 25 albums by Indie Music.com and many of her tracks are currently in rotation on internet, satellite, and college radio stations. Some highlights of her solo performing career include showcases at SXSW 2007 and The Dewey Beach Music Festival 2007, The Knitting Factory in NYC (opening for The Skatalites), and a tour of Central New York to promote her 2007 holiday album, Christmas Time Rocks.
Danan recorded I Am in 2008. She also relocated from NYC to Syracuse to be closer to family as she and her husband started their family. Since then, Danan has performed her rock tunes at the Music and Arts Over Syracuse Festival, the Boilermaker Expo in Utica, and the C&G Music Singer/Songwriter Showdown II in Baldwinsville, winning first place. Danan has also gotten involved in the local theater and opera scene. She joined the roster for the Syracuse Opera chorus, appearing most recently in The Mikado in fall 2010 and in Don Giovanni and The Pearl Fishers in the winter/spring of 2011, and set to perform the lead role, Aldonza, in the Opera’s upcoming free summer performance of Man of La Mancha. Danan had a starring role as Philia in Appleseed Production’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” in 2009, for which she was awarded “Best Vocal Performance” by the Theatre Association of New York State and earned a flattering review in the New Times. Most recently, Danan starred as the Witch in Not Another Theater Company’s production of Into the Woods, for which she again was reviewed kindly by the Syracuse New Times.
