Usher in the Holiday Season with the Richmond County Orchestra's Concerto di Natale

Usher in the holiday season during Richmond County Orchestra's annual holiday show Concerto di Natale on Saturday,, December 2nd, 7:30 p.m. at St. John's University, 300 Howard Avenue, Staten Island. Tickets are $15 in advance/$20 at the door, and they are free for students and children. Reserve tickets at https://m.bpt.me/event/6169451.

Attendees enjoy performances of Staten Island Ballroom Dancers, the  Bay Ridge Ballet, dancer Anna Polyachenko and Dragon Kim's Karate in a new “Nutcracker” Christmas Eve Sarajevo with Master CJ Eadicicco and troupe.  Delight in music by Soprano Tatiana Santos Mroczek, The Brighton Heights Reformed Church Youth Choir performing December Fanfare under the direction of  Yvette Washington Wheatley, all accompanied by the full RCO conducted by Maestro Alan Aurelia. Audience members join in a Christmas sing-a-long. 

Featured singer:  Tatiana Santos Mroczek is a junior majoring in psychology and minoring in music at Barnard College of Columbia University.  She has performed at the 5th Annual Shubert Foundation Festival and Lucky Stiff, the 6th Annual Shubert Foundation Festival. Select Community Theatre Credits include: Grease (Sandy), Addams Family (Wednesday), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Philia), Aladdin (Jasmine), Godspell ("Day By Day"), Matilda (Miss Honey), The Varsity Show (V128 and V129 Cast), and XMAS!18 (Associate Director). Television: “Tatiana and Angelica LIVE” on Spectrum/CTV (Director, Writer, and Host). Ms. Mroczek performed at Radio City Music Hall, Fienstien's/54 Below, Don't Tell Momma, The Cutting Room, and the St. George Theatre, where she had her own sold-out show “Tatiana Mroczek and Friends Sing Broadway Classics.” She was Miss Staten Island 2022. 

Featured Dancer: Anna Polyachenko is a dancer/teacher whose dance performance experience includes performing at Busch Gardens, Disney World, and the Ailey Citigroup Theater. She has also performed in the Christmas Show at the St. George Theater and with the Phoenix Dance Company. Ms. Polyachenko has studied at the Broadway Dance Center, the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Conductor Alan Aurelia founded the Richmond County Orchestra in 1998 to provide Staten Island with the best of live musical performances. Maestro Aurelia has served on the music faculties of Borough of Manhattan Community College, Brooklyn College, College of Staten Island, Wagner College and The Staten Island Conservatory of Music. He is a regular guest conductor in Massa, Italy. Under his leadership, the RCO has performed at such prestigious venues as the Guggenheim Museum and Carnegie Hall.

About Richmond County Orchestra: 

Founded in 1998, under the direction of Maestro Alan Aurelia, The Richmond County Orchestra continues its effort to enhance the musical and cultural life of Staten Island and students throughout NYC and strives to inspire a love of music through a presentation of the classical repertoire and programming that encourages interaction with audience members. The orchestra offers live performances in the three council districts of Staten Island, presenting works of living composers as well as music from the past, providing its listeners with an opportunity to explore a new artistic language. In addition, the RCO offers educational innovations designed to capture the interest of young students who want to pursue a career in music. Musicians from the RCO have gone into NYC high schools and middle schools and coached students in after-school programs which have culminated in Side-By-Side concerts with the students and the Orchestra. 

  

The popularity of the RCO has grown so much over the years that they have been called upon to perform in various venues throughout the tristate area, including at Carnegie Hall, NYC; the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Natural History, Fairfield University, Washington Square Park, Asbury Park and more. Tickets to all Richmond County Orchestra concerts are free for students and children.