Violinist Lindsey Stirling ready to thrill Pennsylvania audiences

With a fluffy, white drum major hat atop her head, and a straw vaudeville hat within arm's reach, Lindsey Stirling casts a sideway glance while seated behind an upright-turned dresser drawer bearing mismatched red and black letters.

That's an intriguing photo choice to publicize her Christmas tour.

"That photo represents so well how our shows come together," Stirling said. "There's a little brainstorming, gluing things together, sewing things, making them seem new. From the craft stores to my closet and finally, there's a show."

A show called the Lindsey Stirling Christmas Program, pairing her violin virtuosity and graceful pirouettes with popular holiday songs from a festively bedazzled stage.

"People out there are so ready for Christmas music," Stirling said last week by phone. "I learned a few years ago, as I was on stage spinning around in a Toy Soldier costume, not to do Christmas shows before Thanksgiving. But after Thanksgiving, people are ready for it."

Pennsylvania fans get two December chances to savor Stirling's dazzling skills and stage spectacle; 8 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh (tickets $39.75 to $104.25 at trustarts.org) and 8 p.m. Dec. 16 at The Theater at Santander Arena in Reading ($39-$99 at ticketmaster.com).

"It's a fun show. Of course, I realize I'm totally biased, but fans have told me it's my best Christmas show yet," Stirling said with an enthusiastic tone befitting her effervescent performances. "It's so full of switches and entertainment and variety, there just isn't a chance for you to get bored, even if you were dragged there by your wife. You'll enjoy the comedy and heartfelt moments and sparkly costumes and surprises."

Concertgoers can count on action from the YouTube catapulted, classical-dubstep fusion artist whose hour-long “Lindsey Stirling: Home for the Holidays” special drew 100,000 viewers who saw her hanging by her hair for a thrilling Cirque du Soleil-inspired aerial display during her hit “Crystallize.”

The regular music video for "Crystallize," has logged 252 million YouTube views, featuring Stirling playing violin while dancing and doing super heroine-style kicks in a Colorado ice cave.

She's like a one-woman Trans-Siberian Orchestra, with an electronic dance music edge.

For her Christmas shows, "I'm joined by two amazing bandmates and four really incredible dancers, so it's a pretty full stage."

The 35-year-old Arizona native avidly helps design her stage sets and videos.

"I'm super hands-on, not because I'm a control freak but because I enjoy it," she said. "I studied video production at BYU, and love getting to use what I learned."

She's got a favorite costume for this fourth annual holiday tour.

"At the end of the show, we do 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," and that gets a little sassy, and I'm wearing a red and very sparkly outfit."

Appearing on her 2017 Christmas album "Warmer in The Winter," her take on the "Grinch" classic includes a music video that's "Moulin Rouge" inspired.

"Yes, when working on that music video, I said burlesque — but family-friendly — is what we're going for," she said.

With each swipe of her custom-made violins, she stirs emotions on Christmas songs like "What Child is This?" and "Silent Night;" conjures a beauty and power to "Carol of The Bells" and projects the fanciful whimsy of "Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairy" performed with dance choreography.

Her other albums, including 2019's critically praised "Artemis," are secular, though a Christmas program comes naturally to Stirling.

"Christmas music is always so nostalgic; it takes us back to our childhood," Stirling said. "Each song is a memory time capsule, and one song can hold so many traditions. And it's fun to take those songs and put our own twist to them."

The "Warmer in The Winter" album and her current tour both include Leonard Cohen's exalted "Hallelujah."

"I know it's not a Christmas song, but it always felt like a bit of a Christmas one to me, so I put it on my Christmas album," Stirling said. "I do it every night on tour, and it still gives me the feels."

Her concerts include her signature, spinning dance moves that benefit from her second-place finish in Season 25 of ABC's "Dancing With The Stars."

"If I had (DWTS' pro dancer) Mark Ballas with me, I'd bust out a foxtrot," Stirling said, describing the three months of training for that 2017 season as "intense."

"It made me a better dancer, a more confident dancer, and those skills that I learned have not gone to waste," Stirling said.

Another reality competition show, NBC's "America's Got Talent," first thrust Stirling into the national spotlight. She was 23 then, and billed as the "hip hop violinist," as she reached the quarterfinals of that 2010 season best remembered as the career launching pad for Richland Township singing sensation Jackie Evancho.

"That was an important part of the Lindsey story," Stirling recalls. "That show was the first time I publicly called attention to myself as a performer, and said, 'Hey world, I'm ready.' I learned so much and I'm grateful I got kicked off the show because it forced me to dig deeper and ask myself, 'Am I really ready to face this industry?' Because you have to stand up once you fall, and when you get criticism not let it destroy you. That's the most important thing."

Her platinum-selling, theater-packing success long ago silenced skeptics who'd never seen a dancing violinist.

Stirling combined the two skills because she always wanted to be a complete entertainer.

"I thought I could make it more fun, as I got into music that was more contemporary, like EDM."

Now she's a role model and style icon with a brand-new line The Intentional Beauty by Lindsey Stirling, a 12-color eyeshadow palette infused with Citrine crystal believed to facilitate positive energy and creativity.

"Intentional Beauty has been a lot of fun. I started that during COVID," she said. "It's not about outer beauty, but inner beauty. I loved the idea of when putting on my makeup to spark my inner joy and confidence, not to cover something up."

That inner joy soon shall resonate from two stages in Pennsylvania, which she looks forward to visiting.

"I love the architecture in Philly and Pittsburgh," Stirling said. "We don't see a lot of cool old architecture like that in the West. It feels historic. And when we're playing anywhere near Philadelphia, we always make sure after the show to get a Philly cheesesteak."

Scott Tady is the local Entertainment Reporter for The Beaver County Times and Ellwood City Ledger. He's easy to reach at stady@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @scotttady.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Stirling performances: 1-of-a-kind violinist plays Xmas concerts in PA