Two youth choirs, nationally acclaimed guest soprano join guest conductor/pianist Rich Ridenourin Home for the Holidays
Muskegon, Michigan, November 22, 2022— West Michigan native, pianist, and consummate performer Rich Ridenour will lead the West Michigan Symphony during its Home for the Holidays concert, putting a fresh twist on a beloved local tradition of joyful, heartwarming family fun, seasonal favorites, and a carol sing-a-long. Joining him for this year’s performance—scheduled for 7:30 pm Friday, December 16—will be soprano Amy Mahoney, the Grand Haven High School Choir, and West Michigan Symphony Children’s Choir. Sponsored by Warner Norcross Judd and Mike & Kay Olthoff, the performance will be held in the Frauenthal Center, 425 W. Western Avenue in downtown Muskegon. For tickets, starting at $19 for adults, $10 for students, call 231.727.8001, visit the Frauenthal box office or purchase online at www.westmichigansymphony.org.
Selections will include Ridenour’s and other arrangements of Leontovich’s “Carol of the Bells,” “Walking in the Air” from The Snowman, “Believe” from Polar Express, “Merry Christmas Darling” by the Carpenters, “Christmastime is Here” from A Charlie Brown Christmas, Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song,” Mathis’s “O Holy Night,” and music from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, to name a few.
Critics hail pianist and conductor Rich Ridenour as amazingly versatile, masterfully musical and wickedly funny. Mr. Ridenour established his career performing his own musical arrangements of classical masterworks and today’s popular piano favorites. With hundreds of engagements to his credit, Mr. Ridenour has performed with the orchestras of Dearborn, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Evansville, Elgin, Owensboro, and many others. He has collaborated with renowned performers such as Martin Short, Carol Lawrence, Smokey Robinson, Larry Gatlin, Richard Hayman, and Jennifer Holiday.
Soprano Amy Mahoney was featured in worldwide television broadcasts of The Birth of Christ by Andrew T. Miller filmed at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin and narrated by Liam Neeson. She reprised the role at Christmastime 2013 at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Her New York debut was in Jerome Kern’s Oh, Lady! Lady!, and she was seen on Live from Lincoln Center performing with the New York Philharmonic in Camelot. She recently sang the roles of Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi and Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica with Opera Southwest and Clorinda in La Cenerentola with Madison Opera.
Health and Safety Protocols for 2022-2023 Season Proof of vaccination (or a negative test) is no longer required for concert attendance. Masks are optional while county COVID levels remain at low or medium, and will be provided free of charge at all entrances.
About the West Michigan Symphony An anchor cultural organization headquartered in Muskegon, West Michigan Symphony, led by Music Director Scott Speck, is a resident performing group at the Frauenthal Center, where its eight-concert season is the most visible part of a larger artistic enterprise of far-reaching community benefit. At its live listening room, The Block, just down the street, it mounts 15 performance events annually featuring jazz, classical, folk, ambient and other offerings. WMS concerts and education events bring 16,500 people—more than 30% of whom are children and students—downtown annually, making it the largest performing arts organization on the West Shore.
