Palm Beach Symphony releases album of holiday favorites

Palm Beach Symphony has released its first album, “Sounds of the Season,” featuring holiday favorites from classical and popular music.

“Palm Beach Symphony has performed wonderful 'Sounds of The Season' holiday concerts for broadcast by Sinclair Broadcasting’s digital and streaming platforms for the past three years and the results have been so fantastic we were encouraged to create a holiday CD,” Music Director Gerard Schwarz said in a prepared statement. “The musicians have delivered a warm and welcoming soundtrack to the holidays that we know everyone will enjoy.”

The album is produced by multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning producer Carlos Fernando Lopez. It is available to stream and purchase on all major platforms, and is distributed by LandL Entertainment and Sony Latin America.

Palm Beach Symphony is conducted on the recording by Schwarz, a 14-time Grammy Award nominee.

The recording features Schwarz’s recasting of George Frideric Handel’s Concerto Grosso in F (Op. 6, No. 9) as a concerto for brass quintet and orchestra. Two movements of the piece are on the recording along with Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, and the carols “Silent Night” and “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”

The recording also offers classical favorites including “Glory to God” and “Hallelujah” from Handel’s oratorio “Messiah,” followed by a suite of music from Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker." The suite includes favorites such as the “Overture Miniature” and spirited dances including the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”

The symphony also delivers Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and the composer’s “Christmas Festival” medley of eight popular carols and “Jingle Bells.”

“Some might consider ‘Sounds of the Season’ to be the apex of this season, and I would agree that it is where all ascending lines now converge, but it is far from the peak,” Palm Beach Symphony CEO David McClymont said in a press release. “We will performing the first of five new works we have commissioned by American composers this season and plan to continue our upward trajectory in our 50th anniversary season next year.”

For more information, contact the symphony at 561-655-2657.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Symphony releases album of holiday favorites