"YULETIDE CELEBRATION" TOUR JOINS OREGON SYMPHONY
FOR BANK OF AMERICA HOLIDAY POPS CONCERT
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Portland, Ore. … Tap-dancing Santas and life-size reindeer puppets celebrate the holiday season Broadway-style with music, theater, dance and puppetry as the Oregon Symphony presents "Yuletide Celebration," a Bank of America Pops family concert Dec. 15 through Dec. 18 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and Dec. 14 at Salem's Smith Auditorium. Featuring virtuoso soloists, dazzling costumes and show-stopping choreography, the concert is sponsored by Bank of America. Media support is provided by KPTV's Oregon 12, News Radio 750 KXL and Media America.

"Yuletide Celebration" combines traditional symphonic holiday music and sing-alongs with production elements similar to that on Broadway, including professional dancers, actors and singers. The concert stars vocal soloists Roberta Gumbel and Brad Little and includes performances by acclaimed opera singer Anthony Roth Costanzo, actress Susan Speidel, gymnast, juggler and dancer Tony Palomino and Stephanie Cadman, the top female solo tap dancer at the 1998 World Tap Dance Championships in Germany.

The program also includes an appearance by Santa in his sleigh, a troupe of tap-dancing Santas, puppets, and re-tellings of favorite Yuletide tales, set to a symphonic backdrop of holiday music. The Oregon Symphony will perform arrangements created specifically for "Yuletide Celebration" by the show's conductor, Jack Everly, including holiday favorites, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "O Tannenbaum," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Hanukkah Festival" Overture and "O Come All Ye Faithful."

The first "Yuletide Celebration" was created for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1986 when discussions with local dance and theater companies led to the idea of creating a show that would incorporate elements of all three art forms while keeping the focus squarely on the orchestra. Now in its 16th year in Indianapolis, Yuletide Celebration is one of the orchestra industry's major success stories. In 2000, the orchestra sold more than 43,000 tickets to 27 nearly sold-out shows.

Performances are scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 16, at 3 and 8 p.m., Monday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 8 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Representatives from the Oregon Food Bank will accept non-perishable food item donations before the performance. An additional performance is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. in Salem's Smith Auditorium. Tickets range in price from $25 to $63 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.

Jack Everly

The multi-faceted conductor Jack Everly will become Principal Pops Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra beginning with the 2002-2003 season. He has been Music Director of the ISO's holiday production of Ameritech's "Yuletide Celebration" since 1994 and has also appeared frequently on the Orchestra's Pops Series. In the fall of 1998 Everly accepted the position of Music Advisor for the Symphonic Pops Consortium, an alliance formed by several major orchestras, including the ISO, to create and produce theatrical pops events.

Everly is a regular guest conductor on the world's concert, opera and ballet stages. In addition to Indianapolis, he has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, DC), the National Symphony of London, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Teatro Colon, the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Saint Louis, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, as well as at the Lake George Opera Festival and with the opera house orchestras of Kennedy Center, Sao Paulo and the Teatro Massimo. Engagements this season include the Baltimore, Milwuakee and Cincinnati Pops symphony orchestras.

Artists with whom Everly has collaborated include Ella Fitzgerald, Diane Schurr, John Raitt, Sarah Brightman, Mary Martin, Marilyn Horne, Carol Burnett, Gary Morris, Itzhak Perlman and Frederica Von Stade.

Everly served as Music Director with American Ballet Theatre for 14 years. Originally appointed by Mikhail Baryshnikov, his international schedule with the renowned company included thousands of performances and dozens of world premiere productions at Lincoln Center's famed Metropolitan Opera House. The company's famously eclectic repertoire ranges from Stravinsky's Violin Concerto and Brahms' Third Symphony to the well known classics "Swan Lake," "The Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," "Giselle," "Coppelia" and "Nutcracker." Artists of dance for whom Everly has conducted include Rudolph Nureyev, Twyla Tharp, Sylvie Guillem, Cynthia Gregory and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Everly has also worked with composer Marvin Hamlisch on productions of "They're Playing Our Song" and "A Chorus Line" as well as pops concerts with many of America's leading symphony orchestras. Most recently they joined forces on Broadway for the musical version of Neil Simon's film "The Goodbye Girl" starring Bernadette Peters and Martin Short. Other Broadway Music Director credits include "Hello, Dolly!" starring Carol Channing and "Show Boat" with Donald O'Connor.

Television appearances for Everly include the PBS "A Salute to Broadway" for the "In Performance At The White House" series as well as the PBS telecast from the Metropolitan Opera House of the Prokofiev-MacMillan "Romeo and Juliet" starring Natalia Makarova.

Everly's discography includes numerous Broadway cast recordings and "Everything's Coming Up Roses: The Complete Overtures of Broadway's Jule Styne." For this recording, he created the critical editions as well as conducted. In Hollywood he served as Music Director for the Disney film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

At home in New York City, Everly is an avid collector of classic films and music from the stage and cinema.

Roberta Gumbel

Roberta Gumbel has appeared with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Michigan Opera Theatre, Indianapolis Opera, The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Opera Festival of New Jersey and Opera Memphis. She has sung with the Los Angeles Philharmonic's New Music Group, Scarborough Chamber Players of Boston, Tanglewood Music Center, The Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Ms. Gumbel's Broadway credits include "Showboat" and "Ragtime." In 1999 she created the role of the mother in the Off-Broadway production of "Running Man," which USA Today ranked as one of the top ten new theatre pieces of the year.

Brad Little

Brad Little recently appeared in the road company of "The Phantom of the Opera" playing The Phantom. He recently cut his first CD, "Brad Little UnMasked." Before the tour, he was in the Broadway production of, "The Phantom Of The Opera" playing the role of Raoul. His other Broadway and National tour credits: "Cyrano, the Musical," (Captain De Castel Jaloux); "Fiddler on the Roof," with Topol; and "Anything Goes." He's also performed throughout many of America's regional theatres. This year Brad performed his solo concert to rave reviews with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra. Please visit www.bradlittle.com.