December 1
December 1 Holiday Concert
The Chelsea Symphony's one-night-only holiday concert features comedian Judy Gold special guest narrator in a beloved annual TCS tradition, the performance of resident composer Aaron Dai's The Night Before Christmas.
The concert opens with two festive brass works by two generations of Mozarts featuring Warren Wernick on flugelhorn. The Reinecke Flute Concerto featuring Dirk Wels, and the smoldering Moldau by Smetana close out the first half. The concert continues with Tzigane by Ravel featuring violinist Megan Hilands. This year TCS is thrilled to present another celebrated tradition, our annual performance of Sleigh Ride, this year guest conducted by the winning bidder of the 2016-17 holiday auction, and a person very close to the orchestra, Pam Aubin!
A silent auction in support of the orchestra will take place before the downbeat and during intermission, concluding during a festive wine reception following the concert.
Start your holiday season with TCS!
Concerts will be held at St. Paul's German Lutheran Church, 315 West 22nd Street
Tickets on sale at Eventbrite
Photo by Lukas Budimaier
Program
The Night Before Christmas
Featured Artists
You’ll laugh so hard you’ll cry! Gather your friends for this uproarious night of humor with comedian, actor, and writer Judy Gold.
"Judy Gold captures the audience from the moment she opens her mouth.”
— New York Times
Judy has had stand-up specials on HBO, Comedy Central, and LOGO. She has also written and starred in two critically acclaimed Off-Broadway hit shows: The Judy Show – My Life As a Sitcom (Outer Critics Circle Nomination), and 25 Questions for a …
Pamela Welz Aubin, has been a strong advocate of The Chelsea Symphony over the past several years. Prior to her retirement in 2014, she exerted her leadership as Superintendent of Schools in both Norwich and Montville Connecticut to ensure that students received a broad curriculum which included choral and instrumental music from the earliest years. As a young person, Pamela studied piano through her college years at the University of Connecticut. Conducting one of her holiday favorites, Sleigh Ride, allows …
Megan Hilands is a Brooklyn-based violinist who regularly freelances throughout the greater New York City area. She has recently performed at venues such as Ars Nova, Symphony Space, and the DiMenna Center for Classical Music and with ensembles such as The Chelsea Symphony and Regina Opera Orchestra. As a lover of all things fiddle, one of her most meaningful experiences in the past year has been performing as the fiddler in East o’ West o’, a new musical mixing folk …
Dirk Wels, a native of Weimar, Germany, studied flute and bassoon in Germany, Spain, and Luxembourg and is currently pursuing further studies on recorder with Nina Stern in New York. He was principal bassoon of the Orchestre de Chambre de Luxembourg for four years. After relocating to New York City, Dirk has played with ensembles such as Astoria Symphony, Camerata New York, The Chelsea Symphony, DCINY Orchestra, Empire Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Mise-en, Experiential Orchestra, Friends of MATA, Garden State Philharmonic, …
Warren Wernick
Trumpet
Friday, 12.1
Leopold Mozart: Sinfonia pastorale in B-flat Major, "Alpenhorn" (arr./ed. Wernick)
Friday, 12.1
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concert Rondo for Flugelhorn and Orchestra, K. 371 (ed. Wernick)
Trumpeter Warren Wernick has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and beyond. He is a founding member of The Majestic Brass Quintet and held the position of principal trumpet with the New Philharmonia of Portugal from 1987-90. Mr. Wernick has been heard with many of the leading community orchestras in New York City. The list of community and professional ensembles he has performed with over the years continues to grow. To date he has played at least one concert …
Conductor
Pamela Welz Aubin, has been a strong advocate of The Chelsea Symphony over the past several years. Prior to her retirement in 2014, she exerted her leadership as Superintendent of Schools in both Norwich and Montville Connecticut to ensure that students received a broad curriculum which included choral and instrumental music from the earliest years. As a young person, Pamela studied piano through her college years at the University of Connecticut. Conducting one of her holiday favorites, Sleigh Ride, allows …
Reuben Blundell has been a Chelsea Symphony conductor/violinist since 2012, enjoying collaborations with musicians, soloists, composers and other conductors. Conducting Aaron Dai’s The Night Before Christmas, first with B. D. Wong then Annie Golden narrating, he initiated, conducted and edited (in Premiere Pro) the orchestra’s 2020 remote performance, narrated by John Lithgow.
Blundell is Music Director of the Riverside Orchestra on the Upper West Side, rehearsing Mondays and performing five concerts each season. He also directs another outstanding community …
Active as a conductor, violinist, violist, pianist, and educator, Nell Flanders brings her dynamic musicality to performances in a wide variety of genres, from orchestral classics to contemporary music, tango, blues, and period instrument baroque. Ms. Flanders is currently the Director of Orchestral Activities at Idaho State University, where she leads the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and the ISU University Chamber Orchestra. From 2018-2021 she held the position of Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducting …