The Mid-Texas Symphony celebrates its 37th season with a joyful Christmas Concert of superb orchestral and choral holiday music on December 14, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. in Jackson Auditorium on the Texas Lutheran University campus in Seguin. Maestro David Mairs and our area’s only professional orchestra present Christmas Bells a thoughtful and thoroughly delightful festival of stirring Christmas music fare featuring local guest artists. The River City Ringers of San Antonio, a Handbell Ensemble, the Mid-Texas Symphony Chorus, and the Children’s Chorus of New Braunfels area schools, performing music for handbells and orchestra by Holst: St. Paul’s Suite – Dargason, Vivaldi: Magnificat, Bach: Suite No. 3 in D major – Three Dances and Air on a G string, along with arrangements by Maestro Mairs: Carols from Afar, and Anderson: Sleigh Ride. St. Paul’s Suite – Dargason, by Gustav Holst is the finale of a composition for strings. Holst wrote the piece in 1912 in honor of St. Paul’s Girls’ School in the United Kingdom where he was Director of Music. He was grateful to the school which built a soundproof studio for him. Antonio Vivaldi’s Magnificat is a famous hymn composed around 1719 in several settings for choir, including soprano, alto and tenor soloists, as well as for violin, viola, cello and organ. Suite No. 3 in D major – Three Dances and Air on a G string, by Johann Sebastian Bach, is a Baroque composition written as a set of “dances”, which by the 18th Century was music primarily performed and listened to rather than danced to. The Air is not really a dance movement but the French translation for Aria. Carols from Afar, arranged by Mairs, is a celebratory collection of favorite holiday carols and hymns performed by the orchestra and choruses. The festive concert finale, Sleigh Ride, by Leroy Anderson, is a popular piece performed mostly during the Christmas season. It was originally conceived of during a heat wave in July 1946. In February 1948, Anderson finished the work and in 1950, Mitchell Parish wrote the lyrics about a person who would like to ride with someone in a sleigh on a winter’s day. The Mid-Texas Symphony family invites you, your family and your friends, to make this wonderful Christmas Concert a part of your holiday plans this year and every year! Come experience our professional orchestra, come see your friends and neighbors on stage and make this a Family Tradition along with hundreds of your neighbors who appreciate the talents of the Mid-Texas Symphony orchestra and its featured local guest artists and choruses. Tickets for Christmas Bells ($10-$30) are available through the Mid-Texas Symphony’s on-line ticketing system at www.mtsymphony.org or by calling 830-372-8089. Tickets will also be available at the door. Like the Mid-Texas Symphony on Facebook!