Carmel Symphony Orchestra presents: “Holiday Pops”

The Palladium // December 4

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4 – 3 PM ET • SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4 – 7 PM ET

October/November 2022

Experience the exceptional as the Carmel Symphony Orchestra under the artistic direction of Janna Hymes offers you not one but two opportunities to kick off your holiday celebrations with matinee and evening performances of CSO’s ‘Holiday Pops’. We’ve reinvented our musical giveaway by inviting some of your favorite artists to the party: multi-genre singer Josh Kaufman, winner of Season 6 of The Voice on NBC-TV; the wonderful singer Leah Crane; the sensational dance troupe NZtapz; and the beloved Indianapolis Children’s Choir! With the CSO, they are sure to get your vacation off to a good start. Don’t miss it! Plan now to be with us on December 4 for one or both shows!

It’s always a pleasure to spotlight CSO’s “Holiday Pops,” and this year promises to be another exhilarating experience featuring some of Central Indiana’s celebrated talent, Leah Crane and Josh Kaufman. So, buy your tickets and build your holiday memories in the heart of Carmel!

Buy your tickets and find out how you can support CSO at carmelsymphony.org.

Word from the artistic director

CSO opened its season with a phenomenal celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month in a concert featuring Pavel and Direct Contact. Hymes spoke about the energy that was created in the hall of the Palladium and his intentions to build from it [energy and diversity] throughout the current and future seasons.

“Our first gig that we did was so different and unique in the sense that we had all these people [attend] who had never come to our shows before,” Hymes explained. “I loved it because some people think of the orchestra, they think, ‘Oh, that’s not my thing’, and then they come and they’re like, ‘Well, yeah, that’s really my thing. “, because we [CSO] don’t just play Beethoven and composers like that, although of course we love it and are trained for it. But we also play pop and we play vacation [concerts] and concerts for children. So the message is: ‘We do it all!’ »

Hymes and I spoke ahead of the launch of the 2022-2023 season about how she intentionally scheduled this [season] to bring the community together and expose both audiences and musicians to more diverse and unique music.

“My whole message right now is that it’s about bringing people together and reaching out to all facets of the community,” Hymes said. “We find guest artists who will shock our audience. It’s been two years of really tough, awful stuff, and now it’s up to us to spread the joy and do it in our own unique way. I’m proud of our orchestra for stepping up and playing music so different for them and empowering in so many ways.

Asked about the state of the CSO organization – the post-pandemic restrictions – and specifically this year’s ‘Holiday Pops’ concert, Hymes shared, “I’m thrilled because I’m seeing changes within our organization. and eye-opening experiences that are just plain fun. And we have this amazing ‘Holiday Pops’ [concert] to come and other exciting things to come. I love collaborations with other arts organizations because not only do we bring our audiences together, but we also create something that we probably wouldn’t do except for this time, and if you miss it, it’s done. We continue to consider bringing in different organizations, and I totally agree. And I think the public likes that too.

Featuring exceptional local talent

Those who have attended CSO’s season opener featuring Pavel & Direct Contact have already experienced the spectacular talent and charisma of Indianapolis singer Leah Crane.

Crane is well known to audiences in Hoosier State, throughout the Midwest, and beyond. The versatile singer studied at the famous IU Jacobs School of Music. Equally at home on the international concert scene, in commercial recording studios and in religious communities, she is also the lead singer of Pavel & Direct Contact Latin Jazz and Salsa.

Leah is an accomplished studio singer, and she can often be heard on national promotional recordings for various music publishers, including Walt Disney, Hal Leonard, Beckenhorst, Lorenz, Alfred, Carl Fischer and Shawnee Press. She recently completed recording a solo album of jazz and Brazilian standards with Chicago-based producer/arranger Paul Langford, “Lucky to Be Me”, available on all platforms.

In addition to her many musical pursuits, she is a licensed clinical social worker at IU Health’s Riley Hospital for Children, having earned a graduate degree in social work from Indiana University. She and her husband Jeff reside in Indianapolis with their two children, Karis and Carson.

Crane shared his thoughts on the importance of people coming together this holiday season to celebrate life and practice gratitude amid our daily challenges and stressors. She also shared her excitement about working with CSO again and performing in front of audiences at this year’s “Holiday Pops” concerts.

“I work at Riley Hospital four days a week, and I get to see some of the best times in their lives and some of the worst times,” Crane said. “I have a unique window to see some of the more challenging aspects of what is happening from a medical perspective. And there are even more ways our society feels stressed and anxious. All you have to do is listen to the news for a second or look at your social media – if you’re following too many negative people – and you feel overwhelmed. If we practice gratitude and practice the ability to celebrate everyday moments, I think that’s the only way to combat the stress, pressure and anxiety that we all feel about being in this world right now. .

Crane continued: “I have friends and family who are already buying tickets [to ‘Holiday Pops’] and it’s certainly not too early to start buying your tickets! I had the opportunity to work several times with ICC and Josh [Joshua] Pedde is another ball of pure energy and excitement. Having the Indianapolis Children’s Choir there, bringing all their families, will be a huge bonus. They have such a huge following and perform at such a level of excellence. And people love to watch the children sing! And Josh Kaufman is an amazing singer. Of course, everyone has followed his career from the time he was on “The Voice” and won. I used to sing in the studio with him [Kaufman] doing publisher demos, and I also did a few gigs with him. He’s just a really amazing artist.

Crane shared some teasers for her upcoming performance and duets on CSO’s “Holiday Pops.”

“josh [Kaufman] and I’ll be doing some duets – one of the duets is “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, a holiday classic. And the other [duet] is a famous song by Stevie Wonder, which I loved to listen to but had never sung before: “Someday at Christmas”. I’ve never heard that with an orchestra, so I think it’s going to be really great! And then I have two solos, arrangements by my friend Paul Langford, who does fabulous orchestral arrangements. One of my solos is a bossa nova arrangement and the other song is Paul’s arrangement of ‘O Holy Night’, and it’s beautiful. It has the high B-flat at the end, which everyone loves. It’s going to be awesome!”

For more information about Leah Crane, visit leahcrane.info.