December 2
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As the year nears its end, The Chelsea Symphony returns home to its roots, performing light classical and holiday pops favorites from its repertoire. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Christmas Overture opens the evening in fanfare with luscious settings of traditional Christmas carols. Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy and Gerald Finzi’s Five Bagatelles feature long-time members of the orchestra, Joseph Morag and Christine Todd, respectively. Closing out the night are two long-standing TCS traditions: Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride led by a past holiday raffle winner, and Aaron Dai’s The Night Before Christmas, featuring a special guest narrator.
Program
Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46
Five Bagatelles
Featured Artists
Eve Plumb started her acting career at age 6 performing in TV commercials. She is well remembered for her portrayal of “Jan” on “The Brady Bunch”, as well as TV movies such as “Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway” and “Little Women”. Stage credits include “Love, Loss, and What I Wore”, “Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage”, “Unbroken Circle”, and regional theatre work throughout the United States. Eve has proudly been part of three “Broadway Backwards” performances for …
Joseph Morag, acclaimed by the New York Times for his "gorgeous tone," and "physically expressive cues,” has performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral violinist. He studied with Aaron Rosand under the prestigious Dolan Prize, awarded by Columbia University. Joseph has also studied conducting under Joshua Gersen at the New York Youth Symphony’s Apprentice Conducting Program, Victor Yampolsky at the Wintergreen Music Festival, and Michael Jinbo at the Monteux Festival. In 2019, he was music director of the …
Clarinetist Christine Todd began performing with The Chelsea Symphony in 2008. A CPA, Christine holds an MBA from Columbia University and BA/BS degrees in German and accounting from Binghamton University. Since completing her studies and pursuing her professional career in New York (formerly the Vice President and CFO of The Juilliard School, and now CFO of the Kaufman Music Center), Christine has performed with many area musical organizations in addition to The Chelsea Symphony, including the New York Repertory Orchestra, …
A graduate of Columbia University and the Mannes School of Music, Aaron Dai began studying piano at the age of five and went on to win the UNICEF Youth Concerts Competition three times by the age of fifteen. As a soloist and collaborative pianist, he has performed around the country and abroad, in New York venues such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Symphony Space, and The Town Hall, and cities including Dublin, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and San Francisco. …
Conductor
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 …
Mark Seto leads a wide-ranging musical life as a conductor, scholar, teacher, and violinist. He is Artistic Director and Conductor of The Chelsea Symphony in New York City, and Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Music at Brown University, where he directs the Brown University Orchestra and teaches courses in music history, theory, and conducting. Highlights of his 2023-24 season include performances with violinist Itzhak Perlman, violinist Randall Goosby, and clarinetist Anthony McGill, and the inauguration of The …