Boston Pops 2022 Holiday Season Includes Arturo Rodriguez's Musical Setting Of NOCHE DE POSADAS and An Appearance By Heather Headley

One of New England's most popular Christmastime traditions, the 2022 Holiday Pops season, under the direction of Keith Lockhart, offers 34 evening and matinee concerts, December 1-24, at Symphony Hall, festively decorated for the season. Programs will feature the Boston Pops Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus (led by James Burton) in holiday favorites, alongside new and lesser-known arrangements of seasonal classics-as well as a highly anticipated visit by Santa Claus. As with past seasons, patrons on the orchestra level can order food and drink from their café-style tables.

Extending a longstanding tradition of sharing Holiday Pops with cities throughout New England, the 49th annual Holiday Pops season will take Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra on the road for performances in Worcester, Mass. (Dec. 2); Storrs, Conn. (Dec. 3); Manchester, N.H. (Dec. 10); and Lowell, Mass. (Dec. 18).

Highlights of the season include

• Boston Pops holiday favorites: the annual presentation of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," David Chase's perennially popular arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride," Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Greensleeves, and a festive sing-along

• New program additions: "On Christmas Night," composed by Tanglewood Festival Chorus conductor James Burton; a poignant pairing of traditional Ukrainian carols; and Arturo Rodriguez's musical setting of Noche de Posadas (The Night of Las Posadas), featuring narration and beautiful imagery from author and illustrator Tomie dePaola's children's book projected on screens above the orchestra

• Six Kids' Matinees on Dec. 3, 10, 11, 17, 18, and 24: shorter programs with no intermissions, including a special presentation of the classic "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" with accompanying animated film, a family-friendly food selection with special holiday treats, and an opportunity for photos with Santa Claus

• A Holiday Pops Sensory-Friendly Concert on December 3, at 10:30 a.m.: for kids and others on the autism spectrum and their families, with relaxed house rules, reduced volume and lighting levels, extra space for movement, available noise-reduction headphones, designated quiet rooms and support spaces, and modified food concessions

• A Company Celebration at Pops: Broadway star Heather Headley is the vocal soloist for the corporate Holiday Pops fundraiser on Wednesday, December 7

This year's Kids' Matinees and the Sensory-Friendly Concert (12/3) both feature the Holiday Pops Singers, an eight-member vocal ensemble made up of professional singers from choirs throughout the greater Boston area. The Metropolitan Chorale, under the direction of Lisa Graham, will be the featured chorus for the December 17 and 21 Holiday Pops performances at Symphony Hall, as well as in the performances in Worcester, Storrs, Manchester, and Lowell.

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