Program Notes: Nightmare Before Christmas & Halloween Spooktacular!

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY 2023/24

DISNEY CONCERTS PRESENTS:

TIM BURTON’S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

LIVE IN CONCERT TO FILM

PERFORMED BY YOUR COLORADO SYMPHONY

CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, conductor

Friday, October 27, 2023 at 7:30pm

Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 7:30pm

Boettcher Concert Hall

Disney

Tim Burton’s

“The Nightmare Before Christmas”

In Concert Live to Film

Featuring the Voice Talents of:

CHRIS SARANDON

CATHERINE O’HARA

KEN PAGE

WILLIAM HICKEY

GLENN SHADIX

PAUL REUBENS

Friday's concert is dedicated to Mark and Marianne rinehart and andra, Louise, and Greta ZeppeLin

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY 2023/24

A BURTON/DI NOVI Production

Music, Lyrics & Score by DANNY ELFMAN

Based on a Story and Characters by TIM BURTON

Adaptation by MICHAEL MCDOWELL

Screenplay by CAROLINE THOMPSON

Produced by TIM BURTON and DENISE DI NOVI

Directed by HENRY SELICK

Soundtrack available on WALT DISNEY RECORDS

This film is rated “PG.”

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Music by Danny Elfman

© 1993 Buena Vista Music Company

Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts. All Rights Reserved

CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND 36 MINUTES INCLUDING A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION

FIRST TIME TO THE SYMPHONY? SEE PAGE 7 OF THIS PROGRAM FOR FAQ’S TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE GREAT!

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY 2023/24

SYNOPSIS

First released in 1993, Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” was directed by Henry Selick (“James and the Giant Peach”) and based on a story and characters by Tim Burton. The film follows the earnest-but-misguided adventures of Jack Skellington, Halloween Town’s beloved Pumpkin King, as he attempts to take over the Christmas holiday. Against the advice of Sally, a lonely rag doll who has feelings for him, Jack enlists three mischievous trick-or-treaters – Lock, Shock, and Barrel – to help him kidnap Santa Claus. The film is rated “PG.”

ABOUT DISNEY CONCERTS

Disney Concerts is the concert production and licensing division of Disney Music Group, the music arm of The Walt Disney Company. Disney Concerts produces concerts and tours, and licenses Disney music and visual content to symphony orchestras and presenters on a worldwide basis. Disney Concerts’ concert packages include a variety of formats, such as “live to picture” film concerts and themed instrumental and vocal compilation concerts and range from instrumental-only symphonic performances to multimedia productions featuring live vocalists and choir. Current titles include the Star Wars Film Concert Series (Episodes IV-VII), Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Fantasia, Pixar In Concert, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice In Wonderland, Frozen, Ratatouille, The Pirates of the Caribbean series (Episodes I-IV), and Silly Symphonies, which last year collectively accounted for over 400 performances in many of the world’s top concert venues, including Lincoln Center, Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Tokyo Forum and the Hollywood Bowl. Numerous new concert packages and touring productions from Disney’s portfolio of studios, including Disney’s feature animation and live action studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel, are currently in development.

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY 2023/24

CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, conductor

Australian conductor Christopher Dragon is the Music Director of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and Resident Conductor of the Colorado Symphony. He joined the Colorado Symphony in the 2015/2016 Season as Associate Conductor – a position he held for four years. For three years prior, Dragon held the inaugural position of Assistant Conductor with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, which gave him the opportunity to work closely with Principal Conductor Asher Fisch.

Dragon has a versatile portfolio ranging from live-to-picture performances including Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, a wide variety of collaborations with artists such as the Wu-Tang Clan, Cynthia Erivo and Joshua Bell, to standard and contemporary orchestral repertoire such as Danny Elfman’s Violin Concerto, Eleven Eleven; all areas of which he has become highly sought after. Christopher has become known for his charisma, high energy and affinity for a good costume, consistently delivering unforgettable performances that has made him an audience favourite.

Recent highlights include his successful debut with the San Francisco Symphony, performances of Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton with Danny Elfman reprising the role of Jack Skellington and historic performances with Nathaniel Rateliff at Walt Disney Concert Hall and David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Upcoming debuts include the WRD Funkhausorchester, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.

Christopher is highly sought after as a guest conductor and has worked with San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Utah Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Modesto Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra

Sinfônica de Porto Alegre and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In Australia, he has guest conducted the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. His 2015 debut performance at the Sydney Opera House with John Pyke and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was released on album by ABC Music and won an ARIA the following year

He has also conducted at numerous festivals including the Breckenridge and Bangalow Music Festivals, with both resulting in immediate re-invitations. At the beginning of 2016 Dragon conducted Wynton Marsalis’ Swing Symphony as part of the Perth International Art Festival alongside Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Christopher began his conducting studies in 2011 and was a member of the prestigious Symphony Services International Conductor Development Program in Australia under the guidance of course director Christopher Seaman. He has also studied with numerous distinguished conductors including Leonid Grin, Paavo and Neeme Jarvi at the Jarvi Summer Festival, Fabio Luisi at the Pacific Music Festival and conducting pedagogue Jorma Panula.

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY 2023/24

FILM CONCERT PRODUCTION CREDITS

President, Disney Music Group

Ken Bunt

SVP/GM, Disney Concerts

Chip McLean

VP, Disney Concerts

Gina Lorscheider

Business Affairs, Disney Concerts

Darryl Franklin

Phil Woods

Elena Contreras

Addison Granillo

Operations, Disney Concerts

Brannon Fells

Royd Haston

Marketing & Publicity, Disney Concerts

Maria Kleinman

Lisa Linares

Technical Supervision

Epilogue Media

Music Preparation

Booker T. White Productions

For Bookings Inquiries: TeamWass.com

Emily Yoon

Erika Noguchi

HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR!

PERFORMED BY YOUR COLORADO SYMPHONY

WILBUR LIN, conductor

Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 2:30pm

Boettcher Concert Hall

DUKAS The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

HERMANN Theme to Pyscho

JOHN WILLIAMS “The Sorcerer’s Stone” & “Harry’s Wondrous World” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Suite

SAINT-SAËNS Danse macabre, Op. 40

REVUELTAS Scherzo from Noche De Los Mayas

BARTÓK Dances of Transylvania

BRAHMS Hungarian Dance No. 5

MUSSORGSKY Night on Bald Mountain

STRAUSS II Overture from Die Fledermaus

RAVEL “The Fairy Garden” from Mother Goose Suite

CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES WITH NO INTERMISSION

FIRST TIME TO THE SYMPHONY? SEE PAGE 7 OF THIS PROGRAM FOR FAQ’S TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE GREAT!

FAMILY BIOGRAPHY

WILBUR LIN, conductor

Known for his creative programming and inviting stage presence, Wilbur Lin’s career has taken him to symphony halls and opera theaters across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Taiwan. Recently appointed Music Director of the Missouri Symphony, Lin also joins the conducting staff of the Colorado Symphony as assistant conductor in 2023.

Lin’s 2022/23 season saw his debuts with the Rochester Philharmonic, Oak Ridge, Ann Arbor, and Elgin symphonies, and a return to Indiana’s Richmond Symphony. His other recent highlights include his debut with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, opening its 2021/22 season, a new studio recording with pianist Eric Zuber and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and conducting and covering the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops where he recently finished his tenure as assistant conductor (2019-2022).

In addition to his positions with the Colorado, Cincinnati, and Missouri symphonies, in recent years, Lin has conducted the Chamber Philharmonic Taipei, Manchester Camerata, Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil (El Salvador), Taipei Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony, Liverpool Mozart, Academy Orchestra of Taiwan Symphony, Richmond Symphony (IN), and LaPorte Symphony orchestras. As a cover conductor, Lin has worked with, notably, the Taiwan Symphony, Cincinnati Ballet, and Minnesota orchestras. In his role as the assistant conductor of the Colorado Symphony, Lin also serves as the Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra.

A graduate of Riccardo Muti‘s Italian Opera Academy, Lin’s operatic endeavors include conducting Verdi’s Macbeth at Teatro Alighieri (Ravenna, Italy), Die Zauberflöte and Barber of Seville with the Winter Harbor Music Festival (Winter Harbor, Maine), Menotti’s The Medium and Amelia Goes to the Ball as the conductor of Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, IL), and has coached and performed as a pianist with the Indianapolis Opera, Indiana University Opera Theater, Reimagining Opera for Kids, and the Cincinnati Ballet. In 2022, Lin led a new workshop production of Robeson by Scott Davenport Richards at the Cincinnati Opera.

Lin held the position of Taiwan Symphony Orchestra International Talent Fellow (2019-2021), Weiwuyin Opera (Taiwan) Conducting Fellow (2019-2020), Lord Rhodes Scholar (2013-2014), was a two-time recipient of Mortimer Furber Prize for Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), and holds a doctoral degree in orchestral conducting from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Lin has studied with Arthur Fagen and David Effron at Jacobs, Clark Rundell and Mark Heron at the RNCM, and Apo Hsu at the National Taiwan Normal University. He has also received conducting coaching with, notably, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Riccardo Muti, Sir Mark Elder, Helmuth Rilling, and has assisted Louis Langrée, James Gaffigan, and John Morris Russell, among others.

PHOTO: LAI YUEH-CHUNG