American Festival Pops Orchestra

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AMERICAN FESTIVAL POPS ORCHESTRA PRESENTS "HOLIDAY POPS! SONGS OF THE SEASON" ON DEC. 22 AT 8PM

Released Nov. 26, 2012

AMERICAN FESTIVAL POPS ORCHESTRA “HOLIDAY POPS! SONGS OF THE SEASON"

Hylton Performing Arts Center: Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 at 8 p.m.

Center for the Arts: Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012 at 8 p.m.

MANASSAS and FAIRFAX, Va., Nov. 26, 2012 – Northern Virginia’s own American Festival Pops Orchestra (AFPO) comes home for the holidays with a dazzling musical celebration that is sure to warm the hearts and brighten the Christmas spirits of young and old alike. Under the baton of its founder and artistic director, Anthony Maiello, the American Festival Pops Orchestra Holiday Brass Quintet will perform festive holiday favorites such as “The Holly and the Ivy,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” featuring special guest narration by Rick Davis, the executive director of the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas. The concerts will culminate with an audience sing-along of cherished Christmas carols.

AFPO presents “Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season” at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 at 8 p.m. as part of its Hylton Presents season, sponsored by Prince William Hospital. Prince William County is the Hylton Presents Holiday Performances Sponsor for 2012-2013. A pre-performance discussion will begin 45 minutes prior to the performance in the Hylton Center’s Buchanan Partners Art Gallery.

AFPO also brings “Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season” to George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax as part of its Great Performances at Mason season. A pre-performance discussion, free to ticketholders, will begin 45 minutes prior to the performance on the Center’s Grand Tier III and is sponsored by the Friends of the Center for the Arts.

The American Festival Pops Orchestra comprises more than 60 professional musicians from the greater Washington, D.C. area and includes members of United States military ensembles and regional symphonies, George Mason University music faculty and a select number of talented young musicians from George Mason University’s School of Music.

Presently the associate director of development and recruitment in George Mason University’s School of Music, Anthony Maiello makes professional appearances both nationally and abroad conducting music festivals; adjudicating ensembles; and presenting clinics, lectures and workshops. He conducted musical activities for the Gold Medal Ceremonies at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.; served as musical director for Music Festivals International; was selected as president of the International Association of Jazz Educators – N.Y. State Chapter; and is a guest clinician for Yamaha Corporation and Warner Bros. Publications. Maiello has served as the associate conductor of the McLean Orchestra in McLean, Va., and was appointed an honorary conductor of the United States Navy Band. He was also a participant in the National Conducting Institute with Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra, to which he has lent his services as a cover conductor.

For more information about this performance and the American Festival Pops Orchestra, please visit afpo.gmu.edu. The American Festival Pops Orchestra will perform “Cinema Magic” at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax on Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 8 p.m. with guest composer Vincent Oppido leading a live film score recording, and guest artist Joe Robinson, former principal oboe with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Please visit cfa.gmu.edu for more information.