KENNETT SQUARE, PA – The Kennett Symphony of Chester County continues its 2013 – 2014 Conductor Search Season with their Annual Holiday Concert, Spirit of the Season, on Saturday, December 7, 2013, at Kennett High School Auditorium. Under the direction of Conductor Candidate Rei Hotoda, and featuring the Kennett Symphony Children’s Chorus, the evening includes the following events:

• A pre-concert presentation by Candidate Hotoda at 7:00pm during which the audience will hear Hotoda’s perspectives on the concert repertoire
• The Holiday Concert at 8:00pm
• A post-concert chat with Candidate Hotoda during which the audience is invited and encouraged to ask questions about the concert and Hotoda’s candidacy for Music Director and Conductor
• A food drive to benefit The Kennett Food Cupboard

 

This festive program has something for everyone.  Program highlights include:

Herbert: March of the Toys

Tchaikovsky: Selections from Nutcracker Suite

Silvestri: Polar Express featuring the Kennett Symphony Children’s Chorus

Anderson: A Christmas Festival

Strauss: Die Fledermaus Overture

Bizet: Farandole from L’Arlesienne Suite #2

And more selections from the Symphony and Children’s Chorus celebrating the season!

In celebration of the holidays, all audience members are invited to show their own Spirit of the Season by joining the Kennett Symphony in a food drive to benefit The Kennett Food Cupboard.  Audience members are asked to please bring non-perishable food items to the concert on December 7.  Representatives from The Kennett Food Cupboard will be in the lobby to collect donations.  Visit www.kennettsymphony.org for a list of most needed items.  The Kennett Symphony also welcomes non-perishable food items to be dropped off directly to the Symphony office at 106 West State Street in Kennett Square through Friday, December 6.

Rei Hotoda, a protégé of acclaimed conductor Marin Alsop and winner of the Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship in 2006, is rapidly gaining strong recognition. Her “meticulous ear for detail and a gestural language that produces a beautiful contoured performance” (Columbus Dispatch, January 2012) has garnered her guest conducting appearances with orchestras throughout North America including performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Duluth-Superior Symphony, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Voted unanimously by Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 2009 as their assistant conductor, Ms. Hotoda completed her third season with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Her previous positions include assistant conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from 2006-2009 and the assistant conductor for the 2005 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California. As an advocate of new music, Hotoda has conducted premieres of notable composers from Asia, Europe, and North America. She has championed and recorded works by female composers such as Jennifer Higdon, Vivian Fung, Kotoka Suzuki, and Nicole Lizee. Born in Tokyo, she started piano at the age of three. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Chicago, Illinois. She received a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music. She completed her Masters and Doctorate of Musical Arts in piano performance at the University of Southern California. She studied conducting with Gustav Meier at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

The Kennett Symphony Children’s Chorus has been enriching the lives of children through exceptional repertoire and energizing choral activities since 1990.  Founded by Karen L. Markey as an educational outreach of the Kennett Symphony of Chester County, the Children’s Chorus is in residence at West Chester University.  Led by Artistic and Executive Director, Eileen Keller, the Children’s Chorus gives qualified singers an opportunity to perform excellent, age-appropriate repertoire that is culturally and musically diverse.  Numbering more than 90 singers, the choristers represent public, private, parochial, charter, and home schools in Chester County, Lancaster County, and the Northern Delaware Region.

Single ticket prices are $35 in advance, $40 at the door, students are $5. Subscriptions are available featuring a variety of packages and prices as well as group discounts. Free parking. For complete information visit www.kennettsymphony.org or call the Kennett Symphony at 610 444 6363.

 

Celebrating its 73rd season, the Kennett Symphony of Chester County is based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and serves residents of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, along with the thousands of tourists who attend the Kennett Symphony's popular summer concerts in Longwood Garden’s Open Air Theatre. In addition to presenting varied and entertaining orchestral concerts, the Kennett Symphony encourages young musicians through annual Instrumental and Voice Competitions and its affiliation with the Kennett Symphony Children’s Chorus.