Philharmonic plays with a purpose
Foothills Philharmonic, an all-volunteer local orchestra, will mix Christmas carols and charitable giving next Saturday night.
The group will perform its annual Christmas Pops Concert on Dec. 13, accompanied by a toy drive for Cops for Tots.
The drive and concert will take place at the J. Harley Bonds Career Center at 7:30 p.m.
“We’re an organization that exists to give people in the community an opportunity to perform,” Evan Duke, president of the Foothills Philharmonic board of directors, said. “We’re all apart of the community together so we wanted to think of some things we could do to help people around us. That’s when the idea of Toys for Tots got thrown out and we decided to give it a try.”
Duke said last year’s inaugural event brought in more toys than anticipated.
“We had three or four big boxes of toys,” he said. “After last year, there was no question—we knew we wanted to do it again this year. That was one of our best-attended concerts ever. The Marines that were there said it was one of the best turnouts for a Toys for Tots drive they’d ever seen.”
The Foothills Philharmonic Christmas concert will feature popular holiday favorites mixed in with works by the late composer Alfred Reed and by contemporary composer David Lovrien. Duke said the group’s rendition of Lovrien’s work will likely be a fan favorite.
“In Minor Alterations, what (Lovrien) did was take a bunch of Christmas carols and put them in minor keys,” he said. “With this piece, he combined them with several other well-known classical works to up the ante and create a few laughs. There are some pieces in there that, if you know the Christmas carol and you know the Classical work, you’ll be smiling really big. It should be a fun concert.”
As for the toys, Duke said those wishing to make a donation should arrive 20-30 minutes early.
“We’ll have the toy drive right by the entrance to the auditorium so that, as you’re walking in, you can get a program and drop the toy off,” Duke said.
The concert is free admission, but Foothills Philharmonic does accept contributions.
“This is an opportunity to reach out to some of the less-privileged children, who otherwise wouldn’t have a Christmas celebration,” Duke said. “You bring your family out, enjoy a beautiful concert and bring a brand new toy and donate it. It’s a win-win. You can enjoy the concert and wind up helping somebody out with just a very small contribution.”
billy@greercitizen.com | 877-2076
