Experience: Merry music
By Kate Stevens
‘Home for the Holidays’
It’s beginning to feel and sound a lot like Christmas in Baton Rouge. This spirited show (above) by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra features renditions of holiday classics and seasonal favorites featuring the Baton Rouge Symphony Chorus with chorus master David Shaler and baritone Jonathan Beyer. Guest Dan Borné, Tiger Stadium’s public-address announcer, returns to narrate the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” The concert will take place Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the River Center Theatre.
383-0500, brso.org
Twin Living Christmas Trees
This Broadway-style show at Jefferson Baptist Church has become a holiday tradition in Baton Rouge. Featuring a live choir and orchestra plus dramatic performances celebrating the reason for the season, the 18th annual show, with the theme “The Only Christmas Pageant in Town,” will include a parade of wooden soldiers, dancing ballerina bears and falling snow. Two 27-foot-tall Christmas trees adorned with 150,000 lights and live cast members give this family event its name. Performances are set for Dec. 12-14.
926-0902, jeffersonbaptist.org
Kids’ Honors Orchestra
Three orchestra ensembles and a choir made up of local students from the after-school Kids’ Orchestra program will perform a winter concert Dec. 13 at Christian Life Fellowship on Quail Drive. The show will offer holiday classics and other musical numbers the students have rehearsed during the past several months. The organization’s faculty orchestra, which includes members of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and university professors, will also perform. Tickets are free but donations are accepted.
922-4656, kidsorchestra.org
Downtown Christmas Pilgrimage
Carolers get in the Christmas spirit as they visit six downtown churches to share the gift of music on Dec. 14. The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. at Mt. Zion First Baptist Church with a choir performance and carols. Participants then walk to the next church to sing and listen to more beloved Christmas classics. The final stop is at 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church, where a performance of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” and a reception will take place.
383-4777