We are presenting Christmas with the KSO, our annual celebration of the festive season, on Saturday, December 11 in the Oasis Church. There are two performance times: 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm. The concert features a sparkling programme filled with music to delight the whole family. Joining the KSO on stage is dazzling local soprano Rachel Casponi and guest conductor Cosette Justo Valdés, as well as the jubilant return of the KSO Chorus.

Guest soprano Rachel Casponi is a performer, director and educator holding a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Drama from University of Windsor and a Master of Music from the University of Western Ontario. She has worked across Canada including with BC’s North Peace Community Choir that she led at their Carnegie Hall performance. A regular performer with the Chamber Musicians of Kamloops and director of local choirs, Rachel teaches for Kamloops-Thompson School District and Kamloops Music Collective.

Guest conductor Cosette Justo Valdés was born and raised in Cuba by amateur musicians who instilled their love of music in her. At 18 she saw a symphony orchestra for the first time and immediately knew she wanted to be a conductor. After graduating from the national Institute of the Arts in Cuba in 2009 she was appointed Music & Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Oriente in Santiago, Cuba’s second-most important orchestra. There she conducted premieres for some of Cuba’s best-known composers, and the Cuban premiere of Domenico Scarlatti’s La Dirindina, including designing the costumes, sets, super-titles, and directing the overall artistic production. In 2018 she earned her Master’s Degree at the State University for Music & Performing Arts in Germany. She had the opportunity to conduct many orchestral, choral, and chamber ensembles throughout Europe while remaining Music Director of the OSO in Cuba. In January of 2019 she became the Assistant Conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Christmas with the KSO features a collection of festive hits from the Baroque and beyond with works by Handel, Charpentier, Mozart, Vaughn Williams, Holst, and more.

Tickets are $40 for Adults, $15 for Youth (under 19), and can be purchased from Kamloops Live! Box Office at 250-374-5483 or www.kamloopslive.ca.

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