Tony DeSare to sing with Columbus Symphony Dec. 2-4 at Ohio Theatre
For Tony DeSare, the Great American Songbook is seldom greater than at Christmas.
The 46-year-old jazz vocalist is the featured guest artist for the Columbus Symphony’s “Holiday Pops Spectacular” Friday through Sunday at the Ohio Theatre.
The music will befit the season, but don’t let that distract you from the quality of the songs themselves, DeSare said.
“A song like ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ — not only is it a really good holiday song, but it’s just a great song anyway,” said DeSare, who lives in Atlanta. “It’s a great melody, a great lyric, it’s bittersweet, it’s beautiful.”
That tune — which achieved immortality thanks to Judy Garland in the classic MGM musical “Meet Me in St. Louis” — is one of a bevy of seasonal favorites to be performed by DeSare with the Columbus Symphony.
Other classics on tap include “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” Such music is beloved, DeSare said, “not just because it reminds them of getting gifts and Christmastime — although that’s powerful — but it’s also because it’s truly great music.”
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And DeSare — last heard in Columbus in the spring during concerts with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra — is a truly terrific talent, said Columbus Symphony Principal Pops Conductor Stuart Chafetz.
“He’s a virtual encyclopedia, really, all things American Songbook,” Chafetz said. “He’s able to take an old-timey hit and address it to something a little bit more contemporary.”
Diverse selection of holiday favorites
While some Christmas songs, such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” have a heartfelt flavor, many other songs to be performed by DeSare and the symphony strike other notes.
“I’m doing like a rock shuffle version of ‘Let It Snow,’ and doing ‘Christmastime is Here’ from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ and stuff that’s just purely childlike joy,” DeSare said.
Then there’s DeSare’s variation on “Jingle Bells” (with the vocalist at the piano).
“His ‘Jingle Bells’ medley is off the charts,” Chafetz said. “I can’t wait to share that with the Columbus audience. They’re going to be on the floor laughing.”
The vocalist will also perform a Christmas-themed composition of his own, “Christmas For You and Me.”
“I wrote it actually the day after Christmas,” DeSare said of the original song. “You really don’t know if a song’s going to work until you can do it for people, so I had to wait really a whole other year to play it for people because you can’t get a good measure on a Christmas song after Christmas. I started performing it the following Christmas. And then people really responded to it and really liked it.”
Strong symphonic support throughout
Backing up DeSare will be the symphony, whose “Holiday Pops” programs have been a staple for decades.
“To hear (DeSare’s) beautiful voice crooning these awesome hits with the Columbus Symphony, adding sort of that velvety hot chocolate, eggnog-y sound to it, makes it so much more enjoyable,” Chafetz said.
The Columbus Children’s Choir will be heard on several pieces, including “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
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Also on the bill will be “Festive Sounds of Hanukkah” performed by the symphony, as well as dancer Eboni Edwards and narrator Z.F. Taylor performing choreographer Gamal Brown’s Kwanzaa-themed piece “Kuumba.”
DeSare and company appreciate the way that holiday concerts can become annual traditions for concertgoers.
“It’s an important part of people’s lives and their childhood memories,” DeSare said. “It’s a wonderful thing.”[email protected]
At a glance
The Columbus Symphony will perform its “Holiday Pops Spectacular” at 8 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St. Tickets start at $18.70. For more information, visit columbussymphony.com.
Read More: Tony DeSare to sing with Columbus Symphony Dec. 2-4 at Ohio Theatre