On behalf of all of us at Tilles Center, and all the guest artists who have appeared here this year, let me thank you for being with us for some great performances in 2009. What were your favorites ? For you classical music lovers, was it GUSTAVO DUDAMEL conducting the NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC in January, or YO-YO MA’S performance of the Bach Cello Suites in May? For Broadway show fans, has any Tilles engagement generated as much heat as our spring run of the Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp hit musical MOVIN’ OUT? Great headliners packed a one-two-three punch in the fall: BERNADETTE PETERS on opening night, LINDA EDER and BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL at the October Gala, and singer-songwriter JACKSON BROWNE in a solo acoustic performance in November. Or was your pop favorite a standout at our “Club T” Cabaret? The long-awaited return of KEITH LOCKHART AND THE BOSTON POPS, performing their Christmas show in early December, will be a highlight of the year for many (and, we hope, will become an annual tradition at Tilles Center). How about you dance fans? Family audiences? Add your personal “best list” to this blog, as well as your suggestions for future programming. Our staff and designers are hard at work planning the 2010 – 2011 season, which begins next fall. In the meantime, you’ll soon be receiving your Spring ’10 ONSTAGE brochure (if not, call or write to add your address to our records). Join us often in 2010, and let’s make it another great year for the arts and entertainment on Long Island!

‘Tis the season to be jolly! Tilles Center wishes you and your family all the best, and we have lined up some blockbuster holiday events for you beginning this weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday will feature family-friendly matinees at 2 pm.

On Saturday, Lincoln Center’s perennial Christmas favorite will make its Long Island debut when Dino Anagnost leads THE LITTLE ORCHESTRA SOCIETY in their version of Victor Herbert’s beloved “Babes in Toyland.” Toys will come to life on our stage, and magical melodies will fill the Concert Hall.

On Sunday, KEITH LOCKHART will lead THE BOSTON POPS ESPLANADE ORCHESTRA in their traditional “Christmas with the Pops.” The Pops will be making their first Long Island appearance in more than a decade (and yes, it was here at Tilles, for our 1996 Gala). No one plays the holiday classics better than the Pops, and special guests THE SWINGLE SINGERS will share their own jazzy arrangements of Christmas favorites. The program ends with “A Merry Little Sing Along,” so you will have the chance to join America’s most spirited orchestra to ring in the season.

While we expect a full house for the Pops, we know that some families are cutting back on holiday shows in this recessionary time. If you haven’t seen it, the New York Times is running an editorial blog on the subject (click here to view the article). Feel free to share your comments with us, or of course, comment on the Times’ website. We like to know how you’re doing and what you’re thinking, and we hope to be a part of your holiday here at Tilles Center.

As we begin the holiday season, we want to thank all of our patrons for sharing so many great evenings with us this fall. Many of you have already bought tickets for one or more of our holiday shows, and we look forward to seeing you here. If you haven’t yet made plans with family and friends, check out the wide array of performances coming up in December. The very first weekend, we offer two of the biggest Christmas franchises in entertainment: New York’s Little Orchestra Society in “Babes in Toyland” and Christmas with the Boston Pops (both matinees, on December 5 and 6 respectively). Our own Long Island University ensembles perform December 8 (Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band) and December 13 (Chorus and Chamber Singers). Our longtime resident company The Eglevsky Ballet presents their annual “Nutcracker” December 19 – 21, and the Long Island Philharmonic rounds out the holiday season with their New Year’s Eve spectacular, this year featuring the cast of “Forbidden Broadway.” From our house to yours, happy holidays! We are hard at work on planning next year’s programming, so let us know how you feel about our current offerings, and about new holiday traditions you’d like to see us bring to our stages.

If you’re up for something totally different, check out PARSONS DANCE at Tilles this Saturday in their red-hot collaboration with the lead vocalists of the EAST VILLAGE OPERA COMPANY (EVOC). Titled “Remember Me,” this exciting new work was one of the biggest hits of the New York dance season last year, where I saw it at the Joyce Theater. It proved so popular that the Joyce will bring it back this winter. Thanks to Tilles Center—and our series sponsor the Pall Corporation—Long Islanders won’t be forced to wait until February (or fight the traffic into Manhattan). Since last year’s debut, the work has continued to evolve through additional performances and a taping for PBS. “Remember Me” can only be described as a rock/opera/ballet, fabulously rich in color, spectacle, and raw emotion. Some of the best loved operatic arias—from “Nessun Dorma” to the Habanera from “Carmen”—are brought into a contemporary rock idiom, sung live on stage, and woven into an intense melodrama rivaling anything Verdi and his collaborators ever put on the stage! The dancing is full-throttle. “Remember Me” will leave you breathless. Check it out, and let us know what you think of this new work by one of our favorite choreographers.

Every seat in Tilles Center was filled when singer-songwriter JACKSON BROWNE appeared for the first time on our stage on Saturday, November 7. Long Island fans, accustomed to seeing him at Jones Beach, savored a solo acoustic show in a more intimate setting. The fine acoustics and comfortable ambience of our Concert Hall provided the perfect venue for an evening of songs and stories spanning Jackson’s songwriting career. We got an up-close-and-personal view of his life and of the people, causes and issues that have motivated his creative work. And the songs! Delivered with simple eloquence, they cast a spell that deepened as the evening progressed. Undistracted by the trappings of a band, or of elaborate staging and lighting, we felt the direct impact of words and music from the heart. It was a magical, unforgettable evening. We’d like to hear from those of you that attended, with your suggestions as to other popular performers you’d like to see us showcase. We have our own wish list, but we’d like to compare notes with you.

This weekend, we return to classical music with the SHANGHAI SYMPHONY on Friday, November 13. An important component of Carnegie Hall’s “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices” festival celebrating Chinese culture, the Shanghai Symphony is that nation’s oldest and most acclaimed symphony orchestra. In a tribute to the music of both East and West, they will perform Bao Yuan-Kai’s “China Air Suite” as well as Tchaikovsky’s Overture to “Romeo and Juliet” and Rachmaninoff’s spectacular Piano Concerto No. 2. The featured soloist is Yuja Wang, a rising superstar of the keyboard, taking the classical world by storm at the age of 22! The Asian theme of our weekend will be rounded out Sunday when the sensational YAMATO DRUMMERS OF JAPAN return for a high-energy performance.

On Saturday, we salute our resident orchestra, the LONG ISLAND PHILHARMONIC, as they open their 30th Anniversary Season. Music Director David Stewart Wiley will lead the orchestra in a program to include Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, “Unfinished’. The distinguished guest artist Seymour Lipkin will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, as well as Beethoven’s Fantasy in C minor for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra, featuring the Long Island Philharmonic Chorus under the direction of Frances Roberts.