Celebrate the Season with your favorite holiday tunes. American Idol finalist and country music star Brooke White and the Syracuse Pops Chorus join Symphoria for CNY’s favorite tradition. A special appearance by Syracuse’s own community Gospel Chorus will be featured on this program as well, thanks to Cora Thomas. Additional evening performance at 7:30 PM.
PROGRAM
O’LOUGHLIN: Holiday Wonder
CUSTER: Chanukah Festival Overture
WHITE/O’LOUGHLIN: O Come All Ye Faithful
BERLIN/MOSS: White Christmas
WHITE/O’LOUGHLIN: Silent Night
ARCARI: A Christmas Tiding
FRY: O Holy Night
SILVESTRI: A Christmas Carol Main Title
SMITH: How Majestic Is Your Name
WHITE/O’LOUGHLIN: I Love Christmas (The Girl with Glasses)
WHITE/O’LOUGHLIN: Christmas Card
WHITE/O’LOUGHLIN: Be Good
O’LOUGHLIN: We Three Kings
ANDERSON: Sleigh Ride
SILVESTRI/BRUBAKER: Polar Express
FEATURED ARTISTS

Recent collaborations include such artists as Sarah McLachlan, Adele, Josh Groban, Pentatonix, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Diana Ross, Journey, Melissa Etheridge, Weird Al Yankovic, Blue Man Group, Janelle Monáe, Audra McDonald, Hall and Oates, Gloria Estefan, the Indigo Girls, Diana Krall, Itzhak Perlman, Natalie Merchant, Chris Isaak, Pink Martini, Brandi Carlile, The Decemberists, Martina McBride, Josh Ritter, Gloria Gaynor and others. The Los Angeles Times calls his orchestrations “...magnificent and colorful” while adding “...even more dimension...” to the compositions. Daily Variety heralds Sean’s writing as “most impressive ...” with a “wide range of coloring in the orchestra...” that “...adds heft and rolling energy.
Through his growing number of commissioned and published works, Sean is excited to continue contributing to the rich history of orchestral and wind band literature. His music is published by Excelcia Music, Hal Leonard and Carl Fischer. He is a frequent guest conductor with professional orchestras around the country and abroad. An annual ASCAP Special Awards winner, Sean was a composition fellow at the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles, and holds composition degrees from New England Conservatory and Syracuse University.

Most people attribute Brooke's sound to the golden era of singer-songwriters like Carole King and Joni Mitchell. While the music of 70s made its mark on her, it’s the undeniable influence of country legends like George Strait, Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, and The Judds who she grew up listening to in Arizona that come soaring through her vocal cords. For years she's tried holding back that innate twang.
“It wasn't uncommon after a vocal take for the producer to suggest I try another take that was ‘a little less country’,” White recalls of previous projects. In the back of her mind she'd always told herself she'd "get to Nashville... where all the country gold is made."
However, after years of trying to get there and ultimately crossing paths with producers and co-writers Chris Qualls and Eric Straube, the songstress realized she didn’t necessarily need to book a plane ticket to Nashville to make a country record. “Country is a feeling,” she goes on, “it’s about experiences. The songs are stories. It’s heart-driven music... and I found that feeling writing with Chris and Eric right here, close to home."
High Hopes & Heartbreak, released in 2009, was Brooke’s first post-Idol album. She later went on to comprise the duo Jack & White alongside Jack Matranga, releasing Gemini (2011), Winter (2012), Undercover (2012), and Lost (2014).
On the heels of releasing Brooke White Christmas in 2012, she delivered a show-stopping performance on NBC’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting. In 2014, Brooke recorded Never Grow Up: Lullabies and Happy Songs, which featured collaborations of original lullabies, and in 2019 she released Calico.
Off the stage, Brooke has hosted “Live From The Red Carpet” for TV guide, judged the Miss America pageant, and starred as lead roles in two TV movies: Change of Plans, that aired on FOX, and Banner 4th of July, for the Hallmark Channel.
If you follow her on Instagram, you'll catch glimpses of her free-spirited nature raising two little birds, London, 6, and Sonny, 2. Juggling both motherhood and music is the circus she calls "living the dream.”
