Grosse Pointe Symphony Plays Annual Holiday Concert

GROSSE PONITE, MI — The Grosse Pointe Orchestra will play its second concert in its 69th Season on Sunday Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m.

The Orchestra will play its holiday themed program at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, 467 Fairford Road in Grosse Pointe Woods.

Conductor and Music Director Joe Striplin will lead the program, which includes Leroy Anderson’s A Christmas Festival, J.S. Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring and selections from the opera Hansel and Gretel.

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In addition, the concert will include two pieces composed nearly 200 years apart that each presents a musical interpretation of a sleigh ride, albeit in vastly different musical styles. The first, Leroy Anderson’s 1948 classic, Sleigh Ride, followed by Schlittenfahrt (sleigh ride), composed in 1753 by Leopold Mozart.

Kenneth Thompkins, a principal trombonist from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, will then perform Leopold Mozart’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra.

The concert will conclude with a Christmas Carol Sing-along. Tickets are available at the door or at the Orchestra’s website http://gpsymphony.org. Tickets are $20, $15 for seniors, $5 for college students, and free to students K -12.

The Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra’s season will continue in the Spring of 2022 with additional concerts on March 6 and May 29, as well as a summer concert on a date to be determined.