Under the direction of music directors and conductors, Catherine Gagnon, Amanda Santo, Ann Danis, and Mark Conley, audiences from Woonsocket to Warwick will be treated to a musical event featuring double orchestra and double chorus.

The Warwick Symphony Orchestra, the West Bay Chorale, the University of Rhode Island Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir join forces for a holiday series of concerts.

Over 100 orchestral musicians from WSO and URI join the 60-plus choral voices from the West Bay Chorale and URI Concert Choir to present The Magnificant by Franz Schubert; Excerpts from Hodie by Ralph Vaughn-Williams; Fantasia on We Three Kings by Brain Balmages; The Twelve Days of Christmas adapted by Bo Ayers; There’s Christmas in the Air arranged by Carl Strommen; Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 (popularized by the Tran-Siberian Orchestra); and Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson.

The first performance will take place on Saturday, Dec. 6., at 7:30 p.m. at the St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center, 84 Cumberland St. in Woonsocket and the second will be at The Bobby Hackett Theater at CCRI’s Knight Campus at 400 East Ave. in Warwick on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 3 p.m.

Admission is $10 per person at the door; although children under 12 are free, they still require a ticket for seating. Tickets are also available at www.WSORI.

org through Brown Paper Tickets.

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Warwick Symphony

The WSO is a regional orchestra of volunteer musicians that brings symphonic performances to audiences around the Ocean State and in neighboring Massachusetts that are both musically and financially accessible to all. The WSO is a non-profit comprised of about 60 dedicated volunteer musicians who rehearse and perform because of their interest and love of music. WSO has musicians from all walks-of-life, providing a setting for musicians to continue playing even if they work outside music. It is a venue for students of music, regardless of age, and provides outreach opportunities for professional musicians and music educators.

WSO brings live performances to communities that may not otherwise have access to such events. Originally organized as the Warwick Civic Orchestra in 1966, Ms. Catherine Gagnon is the fifth Music Director or the organization and the expanding membership is dedicated to live music and the social, spiritual, and cognitive benefits of its performance. In addition to 8 to 10 concerts each season, the WSO regularly collaborates with local artists and other musical organizations. It grants a scholarship to a Rhode Island-based high school musician who will continue studying music after graduation.

Music Director Gagnon is a conductor, music educator, and performer on French horn and piano. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, she holds Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Music Education with concentrations in French horn and Instrumental Conducting.

West Bay Chorale

Beginning its life as the Warwick Ecumenical Choir in 1979 and later as the Warwick Civic Chorale, the West Bay Chorale became a non-profit organization in 1995 and continues to attract singers from all over the West Bay. It has been a traveling choir since 1999 and has performed major works by Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven and has staged performances of Gilbert & Sullivan. The Chorale performs for many religious, civic, fraternal, and historical organizations and maintains three special programs; the Conducting Intern Program; the Awards for Excellence Program; and the Young Artists Program.

Artistic Director Amanda Santo earned her Masters in Vocal Performance from The Hartt School of Music. She is a graduate of Rhode Island College and a graduate student of Constance Rock at the University of Connecticut. Santo has performed a number of orchestral, chamber and operatic works and is also the musical and stage director for the Opera Workshop Program at the CCRI and is an adjunct professor at the Warwick campus.

URI Symphony

Orchestra

The URI Symphony Orchestra organized in the 1930’s. Currently under the direction of conductor Ann Danis, this organization continues to thrive with skilled student and community musicians rehearsing each week. They present four major concerts of classical, romantic, and contemporary literature each year. The Orchestra is one of three major ensembles at URI. Ann Danis, Director of Orchestral Activities, is in demand as a performer on violin and viola, a stringed instrument clinician, and a guest conductor throughout the country. She founded the Ocean State Chamber Orchestra in 1991 and the Ocean State Youth Orchestra in 1999 and has served as the Artistic Director and Conductor for both organizations. Ann has been assistant conductor for the Rhode Island Philharmonic, education director for the Rhode Island Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra and Music Director for the Quincy Symphony and the Fall River Symphony. Danis graduated with High Honors from the New England Conservatory of Music and studied with George Zazofsky where she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in violin performance and studied with George Zazofsky and Joseph Silverstein.

URI Concert Choir

The URI Concert Choir is a select group specializing in great choral repertoire from the Renaissance to the present. The URI Concert Choir has performed in Ireland and Italy and recently made its Carnegie Hall debut as part of a larger choir directed by Mark Conley. Conley is Director of Choral Activities. He is a conductor, composer and singer, and has conducted numerous choral ensembles. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in the spring of 2009 conducting a performance of Haydn’s Te Deum for the Empress Marie Therese. He supervises URI’s choral program, directs the Concert Choir, and instructs students in music theory and ear training. He has directed or performed with the Aspen Opera Theater Center, Intermountain Opera, Ocean State Lyric Opera, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Papagena Opera, Ocean State Chamber Orchestra and the Bozeman, Helena and Butte Symphony Orchestras.

When St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church was closed in 2000, former parishioners worked with art lovers to save the building that had been a second home to French Canadian immigrants and mill workers since the early 1900s. A small but determined group saved the building and incorporated as the St. Ann Arts & Cultural Center. The Diocese of Providence turned ownership of the building over to the center in 2007. Today it continues to expand its programming while striving to preserve and maintain a national historic landmark.

The Bobby Hackett Theater at the CCRI in Warwick was renovated in 2013 and serves as the event space for all performing arts programming at the Community College of Rhode Island. Organized into four quadrants, the circular performance space is surrounded by seating and is accessible by elevator; however due to reconstruction of the elevator in the Round Building, elevator access will be through the Main Building and across the second floor ramp into the Round Building.

Tickets will be available at the door for all performances at $10 per person, with children under 12 free with ticketing required. They are also available at www.WSORI.org.