Christmas with the APO

Steven Byess and the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra announces the much anticipated “Christmas with the APO” on Sunday, December 21, 2013 at 7:30 PM at the Arend Arts Center.  Enjoy one of Arkansas’ greatest collaborative musical holiday celebrations featuring Grammy award winning soprano, Leona Mitchell, the Ozark Bronze Handbell Ensemble and the University of Arkansas Children’s Choir.

Grammy Award winning Soprano, Leona Mitchell has emerged as one of America’s most beloved and celebrated artists. Miss Mitchell spent 18 Seasons as a leading Spinto Soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in New York where she portrayed many dramatic and lyric roles in masterpieces such as Aida, La Forza Del Destino, Il Trovatore, Manon Lescaut, La Bohème, The Masked Ball, Madame Butterfly, Turandot, Madame Lidouine, and several by Mozart and Handel.

She has three DVD’S with The Three Tenors: “Ernani” with Luciano Pavarotti,“Turandot” with Placido Domingo and “Carmen” with Jose Carreras. Ms. Mitchell has sung for five United States Presidents: Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and for George Bush Sr. when he was Vice President.

Leona sang at some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses: The Berlin, Australian, Rome, Caracalla, Vienna, Paris, London, Chili, Buenos Aires, Canadian, Mexican, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Santa Fe, Bordeaux, Marseille, Parma and Hamburg companies, to name a few. One of her favorite performances was as Aida in Egypt.

Leona Mitchell collaborated with most of the major symphonies of the world. Many of the World’s Greatest Conductors have worked with Miss Mitchell: Zubin Mehta with The New York Philharmonic, James Levine and The Chicago Symphony, Seji Ozawa, The Boston Philharmonic, Kurt Mazur with The Israeli Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel and The Cleveland Orchestra with whom she collaborated to record the first full version of Porgy and Bess.

The Ozark Bronze Handbell Ensemble, under the direction of Lee Ann Kendrick, is an auditioned community handbell ensemble made up of ringers from the Northwest Arkansas area. Founded in 2006 by Kerry Johnston, this ensemble is dedicated to providing the highest level of English handbell ringing to its audiences. The group rings 5 octaves of Malmark handbells, 4 octaves of Schulmerich handbells, and 4 octaves of Malmark Choirchimes.

The University of Arkansas Children's Choir, directed by Heather Milholland, will put you in the holiday spirit as these talented young singers present your favorite Christmas carols. The University of Arkansas Children's Choir is an auditioned ensemble performing both locally and nationwide including prestigious venues such as Northwestern University and Carnegie Hall.

Single tickets for this performance – $25 for adults, $10 for college students, and $5 for students. (ages 5 – 18).  Tickets may be purchased online www.arkansasphilharmonic.org or you may also call 479-841-4644.
All performances will be held at the Arend Arts Center, 1901 SE J Street, Bentonville, AR  72712 located on the campus of Bentonville High School.
The Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra is a 501(C)(3)