Author: Robert Sandla

Robert Sandla has been the editor in chief of Symphony since 2007. He was previously editor in chief of Stagebill, in the communications departments of the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center, and an editorial consultant for New York City Ballet and other performing-arts groups.

Review: No Name Pops’ Holiday Show, with Dancing Santas, Yuletide Favorites, and a Tune by Jason Kelce

Posted on December 5, 2023 by - News Briefs

In Saturday’s (12/2) Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Dobrin reviews the holiday show of Philadelphia’s No Name Pops orchestra: “It’s not every day that you get a kickline of two singers and eight dancing Santas…. Most of the tunes at these concerts led by conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez are traditional Christmas carols and standards … The No Name Pops Choir and Gospel Choir of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas … kicked up the program’s verve several notches…. You don’t get much more Philly than Jason Kelce, whose ‘Santa’s Night’ got an orchestral version world premiere…. ‘Santa’s Night’ is a single by Kelce, a center for the Eagles … It’s a ballad in three-quarter time … Clever of Lopez-Yañez, who did the orchestration, to assign a quick spotlight moment to the sax near the end—an ode to Kelce, who plays the sax. Lopez-Yañez doubled as emcee for the evening, and he’s plenty likable. The newly named principal pops conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra … deftly handled his most challenging assignment: conducting a girl and boy from the audience who were invited to come up and play sleigh bells and a percussion whip in Leroy Anderson’s ‘Sleigh Ride.’ ”