Palm Beach Symphony's New Holiday Album

The album features holiday favorites such as Handel's Messiah and Tchaikovsky's Suite from The Nutcracker

Florida's Palm Beach Symphony recently released a festive disc of holiday favorites, entitled "Sounds of the Season." Produced by multi-Grammy producer Carlos Fernando Lopez, the disc is distributed by LandL Entertainment and Sony Latin America.

This, the orchestra's first recording, is conducted by the orchestra's Music Director, Gerard Schwarz, who has made more than 350 recordings across 11 different labels.

The album also features some of Schwarz's own arrangements, including Handel's Concerto for Brass Quintet (second and fourth movements), and Pachelbel's famous Canon, as well as the familiar Christmas carols "Silent Night" and "We Three Kings".

The album also features many orchestral favorites including "Glory to God" and "Hallelujah" from Handel's "Messiah" followed by excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite No. 1, Op. 71A such as the "Overture Miniature" and the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."

Rounding out the recording is Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" and the composer's "Christmas Festival" medley of eight popular carols, and "Jingle Bells."

The album was inspired by the orchestra's popular Sounds of the Season holiday concerts, which have been streamed by Sinclair Broadcasting for the past few years to facilitate access to holiday music during the pandemic.

The album is available on various streaming services here.

"Some might consider 'Sounds of the Season,' to be the apex of this season, and I would agree that it is where all ascending lines now converge but it is far from the peak," said Palm Beach Symphony CEO David McClymont. "We will performing the first of five new works we have commissioned by American composers this season and plan to continue our upward trajectory in our 50th Anniversary Season next year."