Boston Civic Symphony to Celebrate the Holidays at Roxbury Community College

The Boston Civic Symphony, currently celebrating its 100th season, will present its Holiday Concert on Sunday December 15th at Roxbury Community College’s Media Arts Center.  Noted baritone Philip Lima and The Boston Latin School Chorus conducted by Ryan Snyder, will join the orchestra in a concert that is certain to make the spirits bright for audiences of all ages. 
 
“This holiday concert has been a tradition at Boston Civic for decades, and it is always a joy to welcome such good friends to be part of it,” said Civic’s Music Director Francisco Noya.  “We’ve prepared a wonderful program that includes our guest artists Philip Lima and the Boston Latin School Chorus, conducted by Ryan Snyder, which has joined us for the past 3 holiday concerts.”
 
The program will include holiday favorites including selections such as the Troika movement from Prokofiev’s Lt. Kije Suite; Philip Lima singing Pietro’s Gesù Bambino; and the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.  Civic Associate Conductor Ken Yanagisawa will lead Symph Hanukkah, an orchestral medley of popular Hanukkah tunes.  The Boston Latin School Chorus will perform several songs a cappella and join Lima for Do You Hear What I Hear?
 
“We are expecting a special appearance by a dear friend of all.  However, his travel plans are up in the air, so to speak,” said Noya, with a wink.  “Much depends on the availability of his full team of reindeer.  Our fingers are crossed. 
 
“But, of course, we are most excited, as we are every year, to welcome our audience to join us in singing the songs of the season.  The wonderful Philip Lima will lead the sing-along, joined by the Boston Latin students and our audience.”
 
Philip Lima has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops and over seventy orchestras, choral societies, and concert series across the United States. He has been acclaimed for his performances with numerous orchestras of Lee Hoiby’s setting of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s  “I Have a Dream” speech; and is featured on the recording of pioneering African American composer Florence Price’s Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight that won the 2020 American Prize for the Performance of American Music.  A native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Lima is the Assistant Chair of Berklee College of Music’s Voice Department.
 
Ryan Snyder came to Boston to study music at Berklee College of Music, and while student teaching at Boston Latin School, took a permanent position on the faculty. Now in his twentieth year, he continues making music at Boston Latin School as the choral director and has taught instrumental music and music theory throughout his musical journey. His choirs regularly perform at festivals and collaborate with the Handel and Haydn Society.  He also works with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra as a coach in the Intensive Community Program.
Japanese American conductor Ken Yanagisawa is the Associate Conductor of the Boston Civic Symphony, and he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting at Boston University.  He recently served as assistant conductor for the BU Opera Institute productions of Ned Rorem’s Our Town and Mozart’s Così fan tutte as well as for the BU Symphony Orchestra & Symphonic Chorus performance of Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem at Boston Symphony Hall. 
 
Francisco Noya is a prominent figure in the Boston and New England music scene, where he has earned a reputation as a versatile interpreter of symphonic and operatic literature. Noya began his professional career in his native Venezuela, as conductor of the Youth Orchestra of Valencia, one of the original ensembles of “El Sistema.” After earning advanced degrees in composition and conducting from Boston University, Noya was appointed to serve as assistant conductor of the Caracas Philharmonic and assistant to the music director of the Teatro Teresa Carreño, one of the most prestigious theaters in Latin America.
 
In addition to serving as music director of the Empire State Youth Orchestra in Albany, New York for ten seasons, Noya has appeared as guest conductor of the Boston Symphony,  Boston Pops, Baltimore, Nashville, San Antonio, and Omaha Symphony Orchestras, among others.  He has been a member of the Conducting faculty at Berklee College of Music for nearly 24 years. 
 
Other concerts in the Boston Civic Symphony’s Centennial Season include Wagner's Overture to Meistersinger on March 9th; George Walker's Trombone Concerto, and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 7; and April 27th a celebration of unity and joy with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.  
 

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