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Florida Orchestra releases first holiday CD

 
You can buy Holiday Pops Live!, recorded last year, online, at this year’s show or at the orchestra’s offices.
You can buy Holiday Pops Live!, recorded last year, online, at this year’s show or at the orchestra’s offices.
Published Dec. 9, 2014

If you're doing the local thing this holiday, buying local handicrafts and serving local veggies on your Christmas platter, don't forget about the music.

The Florida Orchestra has released a recording of its 2013 holiday pops concert, Holiday Pops Live. It's the first album on the orchestra's new record label, TFO Live.

Principal pops conductor Jeff Tyzik led the orchestra and the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay in three performances last December. The resulting CD is a fun holiday romp with orchestral fullness. There's Sleigh Ride with a funky mallet breakdown. There's Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas from Home Alone 2. There's Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's arrangement of The Nutcracker Suite.

The CD is a short listen at just 33 minutes, but it's the kind of thing you could play on loop a couple times during your holiday fete. One more eggnog pairs well with one more Wexford Carol, you know?

The album is available at floridaorchestra.org for $10 plus a $3.50 fee. If you want to avoid the service charge, order it through the ticket center or stop by the orchestra's St. Petersburg offices.

One more option: Bring it full circle and get the disc in the lobby at this year's seasonal pops concert, Home for the Holidays, conducted by Tyzik. Friday's performance is sold out, but there are still tickets for 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Mahaffey and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

Contact Stephanie Hayes at shayes@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8716. Follow @stephhayes.