MERRY CHRISTMAS, DARLING
(Forty sacred, pop, traditional & classical yuletide favorites)
7:30 p.m. Friday, December 15, 2023
7:30 p.m. Saturday, December 16, 2023
Greaves Concert Hall, NKU
The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra’s programming philosophy seeks to presenting works first or at least differently than other orchestras. After 1999, the KSO left the Christmas holidays to local institutions with their annual traditional fare.
Stumbling upon a special edition re-issue of the 1978 Carpenters Christmas Portrait album, KSO music director James Cassidy, found a treasure trove of nearly 40 tunes associated with
Christmas. Traditional carols, pop songs, sacred tunes, standards, even The Nutcracker were all in this wonderful frappe of yuletide favorites featuring Karen and Richard Carpenter, backed by a studio choir and orchestra playing arrangements of Billy May, Peter Knight and Richard Carpenter.
The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s, selling over 100 million singles and albums world-wide. Richard’s piano, writing and producing together with sister Karen’s drums, and inimitable contralto vocals produced a 14-year run of hit recordings
(including 3 number ones), before Karen’s untimely death in 1983.
“I always thought this Christmas album would make a great live concert, but getting it from CD or vinyl to notes on a page, then finding someone, to not necessarily imitate Karen Carpenter, but to bring her vocal style to the mix was going to be a challenge. It all finally came together when KSO long time (27 years) arranger Terry LaBolt moved back to Cincinnati from Bloomington (IU), and agreed to take on adapting the recording to live performance. Terry also recalled a vocalist — Denise Parroco — whom he had worked with at Kings Productions in Mason and in Virginia, who had recently sung “Merry Christmas, Darling” as a video Christmas card to friends (www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ntfe1p8DJU),” Cassidy explained.
It is extremely rare for fans to experience an entire album performed live or enjoy the nostalgia of one of America’s most celebrated recording duos, all wrapped in a bow for KSO holiday audiences.
This season try something old and new for your holiday/arts entertainment by joining Denise Parroco, an octet of professional singers, and the KSO for Merry Christmas, Darling (two nights only) — 7:30 p.m. Friday & Saturday, December 15 & 16 at Greaves Concert Hall on the campus of NKU. For additional info and tickets — kyso.org or (859) 431-6216. (Mistletoe not included.)
MERRY CHRISTMAS, DARLING
featuring Denise Parroco with the KSO Carolers
7:30 p.m. Friday & Saturday, December 15 & 16, 2023
Greaves Concert Hall, NKU
Act I
“It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” Edmund Sears / Richard Storrs Willis
Overture
- “Happy Holiday” Irving Berlin
- “The First Noel” Traditional English Carol
- “March of the Toys” from Babes in Toyland Victor Herbert
- “Rocking” Traditional Czech Carol
- “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” Tommie Connor
- “O Little Town of Bethlehem” Phillips Brooks / Lewis Redner
- “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” Cyril Alington
- “Gesu Bambino” Pietro Yon
- “Angels We Have Heard on High” James Chadwick / Traditional French Carol
“An Old Fashioned Christmas” Richard Carpenter & John Bettis
“The Christmas Waltz” Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne
“Sleigh Ride” Mitchell Parish / Leroy Anderson
“It’s Christmas Time” Al Stillman & Victor Young
“Sleep Well Little Children” Alan Bergman & Leon Klatzkin
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Ralph Blane & Hugh Martin
Santa Claus is Coming to Town” Fred Coots & Haven Gillespie
“The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) Mel Tormé & Robert Wells
“Carol of the Bells” Mykola Leontovych
“Merry Christmas Darling” Frank Pooler / Richard Carpenter
“Christ is Born” Charles Bartolucci / Ray Charles
“O Holy Night” Adolphe Adam
“Home for the Holidays” Al Stillman / Robert Allen
Act II
“Here Comes Santa Claus” Gene Autry / Oakley Haldeman
“Frosty the Snowman” Steve Nelson / Jack Rollins
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Johnny Marks
“Good King Winceslas” John Mason Neale
Winter Medley:
- “Winter Wonderland” Felix Bernard / Richard Smith
- “Silver Bells” Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
- “White Christmas” Irving Berlin
- “Ave Maria” J.S. Bach / Charles Gounod
Nutcracker Selections: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Overture Miniature
- “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”
- “Waltz of the Flowers” Kimberly Russ Olka, piano
“Little Altar Boy” Howlett Peter Smith
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” Kim Gannon / Walter Kent
“Silent Night” Franz Gruber / Joseph Mohr
About Denise
Denise Parroco is an American singer and recording artist from coastal Virginia. She began her career performing as a singer-dancer in live shows, including theme park shows at Kings Dominion and Kings Island, industrial shows, and Department of Defense Overseas Shows, where she entertained U.S. troops throughout the South Pacific and the Mediterranean. She launched out as a solo artist in the Contemporary Christian Music genre, releasing her first solo album, Don’t Give In, on an independent label in 1992. Upon acceptance of a position as the Director of Music & Arts for New Life Christian Fellowship in Chesapeake, VA, she shifted her focus toward leading and directing worship for many years. During that time she and her husband recorded and produced several worship recordings and compilation albums, including albums with churches in Ghana and Belgium. Denise has always held a great love for jazz and standards, and has sung with several jazz bands through the years.
Denise has also worked extensively as a camera actor, spokesperson and voiceover talent. Her credits include Jackson Hewitt, Sprint, Colonial Williamsburg, The Family Channel, America West Airlines, Sodexo, Newport News Shipbuilding, Norfolk Airport, Chesapeake Regional Health Center, Mayflower Movers, Charisma Magazine, Grand Furniture, Regent University, Operation Blessing and Washington Headquarters Service. She and her husband, Jim Parroco, established Parroco Production Group in 1999 as a video and audio production company and successfully expanded into federal government contracting. Denise is currently the Vice President and oversees the company’s operations.
Denise has recently returned to her love of recording and her latest projects are Everything is Beautiful (EP 2020) and Carpenters Tribute (EP 2023). Her new release, Christmastime, was produced by Jim Parroco with arrangements and orchestrations by Emmy-nominated composer Rob Pottorf. Denise is thrilled to be performing with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra in their 2023 Christmas production of “Merry Christmas Darling”.
The Human Race Theatre Company’s tradition of alternative December entertainment gets a new addition with the world premiere of Eric Ulloa’s Reindeer Sessions. 
Ghost Baby, in partnership with creators Janet Vogt Zeitler, Mark Friedman, and Joseph McDonough, is celebrating Repeal Day with a cabaret-like performance of GEORGE REMUS: A New Musical. The music and performers will tell the story of one of America’s most infamous bootleggers and his unbelievable escapades of the early 1900s.
4TH HOLIDAY HAPPENING: A Truly Special Birthday
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 