By LOIS KINDLE
The South Shore Symphony Orchestra is set to present its annual Christmas concert, Making Spirits Bright, and judging by its program, you won’t want to miss it. The 90-minute performance will take place at 2 p.m. Dec. 11 in the 300-seat sanctuary of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 1239 Del Webb Blvd. W, Sun City Center. The doors open at 1:15.
The concert is open to the public.
You’ll hear favorites, such as “O Holy Night,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” as well as “Bugler’s Holiday,” “A Canadian Brass Christmas, the concert suite from “The Polar Express,” Leroy Anderson’s “A Christmas Festival” and selections from the “The Nutcracker.”
Admission is $20. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church office or by calling 813-634-1252. They will also be available at the door. A discount is offered to groups of 15 people or more.
Season ticket packages are $75. The five tickets they include can be used individually, one concert at a time, or in any combination you like. They make a great Christmas gift for someone special in your life.
About the orchestra
The South Shore Symphony Orchestra’s first concert was in May 2010. Its current music director and principal conductor, June Hammond, joined the orchestra as principal bassoonist that October, became associate conductor in 2011 and assumed her lead role in 2015.
A tenured, full-time, associate professor at St. Leo University, Hammond has played principal bassoon for the Lakeland Symphony Orchestra since 2018.
The South Shore Symphony Orchestra performed at the United Methodist Church of Sun City Center until 2014, then moved to the United Community Church of Christ for the next five years. When that church closed in 2019, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church became its home.
Unlike many community orchestras, the 40-member South Shore Symphony Orchestra pays its professional musicians and sustains itself through ticket sales, grants from the Interfaith Social Action Council, Community Foundation Tampa Bay and Arts Council of Hillsborough County, and private, anonymous donations.
SOUTH SHORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PHOTO
The South Shore Symphony Orchestra will present Making Spirits Bright at 2 p.m. Dec. 11 in the 300-seat sanctuary of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Sun City Center. Ticket sales are underway.
“As a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, donations are tax-deductible, appreciated and needed to sustain and grow the symphony orchestra,” Hammond said.
The orchestra rehearses and performs five concerts annually, performing at St. Andrew from October through late March or early April. Its musicians, some of whom have been with it since its inception, range in age from 20 to 83.
The music performed, which includes a mix of light classical, romantic and pops, is primarily based on audience preferences determined though focus groups and ticketholder surveys.
“We focus on giving our audiences what they want to hear,” Hammond said. “Our goal is to provide a high-quality musical experience that leaves them glad they came and wanting more.”
After Making Spirits Bright, the South Shore Symphony Orchestra’s remaining concerts of the 2022-2023 season will be Symphonic Journeys on Jan. 22, Love is in the Air on Feb. 19 and America the Beautiful, March 26.
For more information, call 813-634-1252.