Home for the Holidays with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra combines seasonal favorites, storytelling, and more! Guest conductor Geoffery Larson, renowned Irish-American Baritone Emmett O’Hanlon, Notre Dame Concordia Octet, and Southold Dance Theater unite with the Symphony to create South Bend’s favorite holiday performance.
Hear favorite Christmas carols such as “Silent Night” as well as holiday classics like “Deck the Halls” and “White Christmas” with O’Hanlon and the Notre Dame Concordia Octet! Revel in the Southold Dance Theater as they join the Symphony and guest conductor Geoffery Larson on stage. Experience South Bend’s favorite holiday program on Saturday, December 17, at 7:30 p.m. or Sunday, December 18, at 2:30 p.m. at the beautiful Morris Performing Arts Center.
This spectacular show creates memories for the entire family! Tickets start at $19.
Bring a non-perishable food item and Get a Ticket!
Help us fill the shelves at St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Joseph County’s food pantry! Bring a non-perishable food item to Home for the Holidays concerts on December 17 or 18 and receive a complimentary ticket to the next Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks Series concert, Kahlor and Brahms, on March 4, 2023!
Special thanks to TCU Wealth Management, Crowe LLC, and Stanz Foodservice. The South Bend Symphony Orchestra acknowledges additional operating support from the Indiana Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. Jordan Lexus of Mishawaka proudly supports the 90th Season Guest Artists like Emmett O’Hanlon.
How To Buy Tickets
ONLINE – www.morriscenter.org/upcoming-events
PHONE – Morris Performing Arts Center Box Office 574-235-9190
(10 am – 2 pm, Tuesday – Thursday)
IN-PERSON – Visit our friends at the Morris (211 N. Michigan St., South Bend) during the times listed above or two hours before any performance.
To view the 2022-23 Season schedule, visit www.southbendsymphony.org
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About the South Bend Symphony Orchestra
Embarking on its 90th season, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra is the region’s only professional orchestra and is committed to engaging the community in all it does. In addition to being recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and other state and local arts funding organizations, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra is the recipient of the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County’s 2019 Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence, which recognizes the best-run nonprofit organization in St. Joseph County, Indiana.
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About Geoffrey Larson
American conductor Geoffrey Larson is the founding Music Director of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra. At home on both the symphonic and operatic stage, he serves as Chorus Master and Assistant Conductor of Berkshire Opera Festival. Geoffrey’s adventurous, multi-genre projects have harnessed the storytelling power, rich variety, and universal relevance of orchestral and operatic music to engage new audiences.
In December 2021 Geoffrey was awarded second prize in the Concurso Internacional de Dirección de Orquesta in Almería, Spain, after competing with 126 conductors from 26 countries. He was also named a semifinalist in the Arthur Nikisch International Conducting Competition, a finalist in the Lanyí Conducting Competition, and one of three finalists for the Respighi Prize in Conducting.
With a deep commitment to the music of our time, he has given the premieres of numerous works and has collaborated with composers such as Gabriel Prokofiev, Erberk Eryılmaz, Nancy Galbraith, Reza Vali, and Leonardo Balada. Passionate about equity of access and increased inclusion in classical music, Geoffrey’s performances with the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra each feature works by a composers of under-represented groups, such as women and people of color.
In the world of opera, he has collaborated with artists such as Tamara Wilson, Sebastian Catana, Caroline Worra, and Daniel Belcher. Working closely with baritone Sherrill Milnes, he served as Assistant Conductor for Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague, the site of the work’s premiere. His opera credits include Puccini’s La bohème, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Chabrier’s L’étoile, Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied, and Verdi’s La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Falstaff.
Geoffrey is currently completing a doctoral thesis at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the mentorship of Arthur Fagen and Thomas Wilkins. He has served as Assistant Conductor of IU Opera and Ballet Theatre, working with David Neely, Kevin Murphy, and Walter Huff. He previously studied with two-time Grammy Award winner Robert Page at Carnegie Mellon University, where he conducted performances
and recording sessions of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic. His recording with the Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Music Ensemble appears on NAXOS Records.
He participated in master classes at London’s Royal Academy of Music at the personal selection of George Hurst, and he studied at the Pierre Monteux School under the tutelage of Michael Jinbo. During a concentrated half year of study in Vienna, Austria, he studied harmony with Gerold Gruber at Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien and opera conducting with Wolfgang Harrer. He has benefited from additional studies with Carl St. Clair, Patrick Summers, Peter Erös, Ronald Zollman, and Michael Christie.
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About Emmett O’Hanlon
Irish-American baritone Emmett O’Hanlon’s 2022 – 2023 season sees his house debut with Austin Opera as Figaro in Gregory Boyle’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, conducted by Stephanie Rhodes Russell. Mr. O’Hanlon also returns to Deutsche Oper am Rhein for his role debut as Pierrot in a new production of Die Tote Stadt, and a reprise of his acclaimed run as the title role in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, as well as a return to Irish National Opera to sing Simon in The First Child. Concert appearances include a concert with the New York Philharmonic celebrating the works of Stephen Sondheim presented by Bravo! Vail Festival, a holiday concert with the South Bend Symphony, and a special concert at the Sun Valley Festival with tenor Emmet Cahill focused on music from the leading men of Hollywood’s “golden age.”
The 2021 – 2022 season saw Mr. O’Hanlon’s house debut with Irish National Opera as Simon in Donnacha Dennehy and Edna Walsh’s The First Child, conducted by Ryan McAdams and presented as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival. Mr. O’Hanlon also joined the ensemble at Deutsche Oper am Rhein which saw his role debut as Count in Le nozze di Figaro, as well as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Silvio in Pagliacci, and Kaiser Overall in Der Kaiser von Atlantis. He also appeared in Austin Opera’s annual gala, Serenata, and with Hawaii Opera Theatre’s Re-emerging: HOT in Concert gala in Honolulu. In concert, Mr. O’Hanlon appeared with mezzo soprano Isabel Leonard and tenor Emmet Cahill in Scenes from a New York Stage at the Blue Building in Manhattan.
Operatic highlights include Mr. O’Hanlon’s role debuts as the title role in Don Giovanni, the role of Kaiser Overall in a new production of Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis, and Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, his role debut as Malatesta in Don Pasquale with the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, his role debut as Silvio in Pagliacci with Opera San Jose, and Maximillian in Bernstein’s Candide with Des Moines Metro Opera. Mr. O’Hanlon also made his role debut as Gaston in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at the Paramount Theater. Highlights at Lyric Opera of Chicago include The Second Priest in Die Zauberflöte, Wagner in a new production of Faust, and Dancaīre in Carmen, where he also covered the roles of Valentin in Faust, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Marullo in Rigoletto, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Captain in Yevgeny Onegin. Additional operatic highlights include his debut at Des Moines Metro Opera in a new production of Britten’s Billy Budd singing The Novice’s Friend and covering the title role, as well as covering the title role in Yevgeny Onegin, singing Bartley in Vaughn Williams’ Riders to the Sea, The Traveller in Britten’s Curlew River at the Juilliard School, and the Soldier in a workshop of Scott Wheeler’s The Sorrows of Frederick the Great in partnership with the Metropolitan Opera.
Concert work includes his debut with the New World Symphony for Unanswered Questions: A Leonard Bernstein Journey, conducted by Edwin Outwater. Recital appearances include being presented by Opera Birmingham at Brock Recital Hall at Samford University, and with Sun Valley Opera.
In addition to his operatic and concert career, Mr. O’Hanlon joined the group Celtic Thunder in 2014, as a featured artist. Highlights of his time with the group include appearances on the 2014 Celtic Cruise, the 2014 Christmas Symphony Tour, and the 2015 Very Best of Tour. He is also featured on both the DVD and CD of
Legacy Vol I & II, as well as the re-release of their albums Heartland, The Show, Take Me Home, Heritage, and Voyage I & II.
Honors and awards include being named a finalist in the 2017 Operalia competition, a finalist in the south regional finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, 2nd place in the Verismo Opera competition, 3rd place in the Gerda Lissner Foundation competition, and an encouragement award from the Opera Index competition.
Mr. O’Hanlon holds a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Additional training includes participation as a Bel Canto young artist at Caramoor Opera, studies at La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy, a summer with Oberlin in Italy, and the “Julliard in Paris” project, sponsored by the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation.