Episode 51: Heifetz for the Holidays

Happy Holidays! This episode features Heifetz faculty, alums, and special guests perform beloved carols, Baroque gems, and custom arrangements of holiday classics, played in Heifetz Holiday Tour stops in Baltimore, Washington, and beyond, and capped off with the annual Heifetz Holiday Homecoming concert in Staunton, Virginia.

This Episode’s Playlist 

Trad, arr. Alasdair Fraser: Shetland Set:
Christmas Day Ida Moarnin/Lady Spence’s Reel/Sleep Soond
Kiarra Saito-Beckman, violin | Zhihao Wu, cello
Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.10.2018

Tchaikovsky, arr. Lynne Latham: Nutcracker Suite
I. Overture
II. March
III. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
IV. Arabian Dance
V. Trepak
Danny Yehun Jin, violin | Kiarra Saito-Beckman, violin | Matt Cohen, viola | Zhihao Wu, cello
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.16.2018

Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, Op. 37a
XII. December [EXCERPT]
Stefan Petrov, piano
Linehan Concert Hall, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.17.2017

Antonio Vivaldi: Christmas Concerto in B-flat, RV 270
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegro
Angela Chan, violin solo | Julia Angelov, violin | Kayleigh Kim, violin | Matt Cohen, viola | Dilshod Narzillaev, cello
Kreeger Museum of Art, Washington, DC
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.19.2019

Anon: Greensleeves, to a Ground
Rachell Ellen Wong, violin | Coleman Itzkoff, cello
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.19.2019

Trad., arr Matthew Naughtin: Christmas Feast: Five Ancient Carols for Strings
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Gaudete
Carol of the Bagpipers
Coventry Carol
Verbum Caro Factum Est
Jihyun Baik, violin | Julia Angelov, violin | Jane Taerim Kim, viola | Rachel Taylor, cello
Horowitz Theatre, Howard Community College, Columbia, MD
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.10.2023

Arcangelo Corelli: “Christmas” Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 8
I: Vivace – Grave: Arcate, sostenuto e come sta
II: Allegro
III: Adagio-Allegro-Adagio
IV: Vivace
V: Allegro
VI: Largo. Pastorale ad libitum
Chloé Kiffer, violin | Rachell Ellen Wong, violin | Ji-Won Song, violin | Nikita Borisevich, violin | Andrew Gonzalez, viola | Coleman Itzkoff, cello | Nicholas Mariscal, cello | Stefan Petrov, harpsichord
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.18.2015

Mikola Leontovych: Ukrainian Bell Carol
Minchae Kim, violin | SoHyun Ko, violin | Jerome McCoy, viola | Dilshod Narzillaev, cello
WTJU Studios, Charlottesville, VA
WTJU Recording | 12.08.2022

Irving Berlin, arr. Nate Sabat after Jascha Heifetz: White Christmas
Chloé Kiffer, violin | Stefan Petrov, piano
Francis Auditorium, Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA
Heifetz Institute Recording | 12.18.2015

Go Deeper

• View the 2023 Heifetz Holiday Homecoming, recorded in the friendly confines of Francis Auditorium, on the Mary Baldwin University campus in Staunton, VA.
• Listen to the special holiday broadcast on A LIttle Day Music with WVTF Music host Luke Currie, featuring our 2023 Heifetz Holiday Tour troupe in the WVTF Performance Studio!
• Freshly updated for 2023, check out the Heifetz Holiday Music Channel on Soundcloud!