Dec. 11, 13 & 14
Very Merry POPS
About This Concert
Houston’s biggest holiday spectacle returns! Cozy up with friends and family and celebrate the best time of the year with Ali Stroker, the Houston Symphony, and a merry chorus. Featuring sparkling decorations, your favorite carols, and a special visit from Santa, this concert delivers instant holiday cheer.
What To Expect?
Houston’s treasured holiday tradition continues to deliver magical holiday cheer, 26 years and counting!
Jones Hall’s iconic towering Christmas tree makes the perfect holiday card backdrop
Fun for the whole family; (plus tickets make for a great holiday gift!
Program
J. WASSON
Hark! The Herald Trumpets Sing
Arr. M. WILBERG
“O Come, All Ye Faithful”
J. WILLIAMS
“Somewhere in My Memory” from Home Alone
MARKS/HARDY
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
BERLIN/BENNETT
“White Christmas”
LEONTOVICH/HAYMAN
“Carol of the Bells”
MARTIN-BLANE/D. McKENZIE
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
R. WENDEL
Christmas à la Valse
HOLST/R. W. SMITH
“In the Bleak Midwinter”
Arr. HARRIS
“O Tannenbaum”
J. TYZIK
A Christmas Overture
J. TYZIK
Hanukkah Suite
MARKS/HAYMAN
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
GUARALDI/M. NAUGHTIN
“Christmas Time Is Here” from A Charlie Brown Christmas
PIERPONT/P. HEMMER
“Jingle Bells?”
TORMÉ-WELLS/RIDDLE
“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
COOTS/HOLCOMBE
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
MURRAY/S. AMUNDSON
“Away in a Manger”
HANDEL/S. AMUNDSON
“Joy to the World”
Tickets
In-Hall Tickets
Bringing A Group Of 10 Or More? Click Here for Group Sales
Thursday, Dec. 11
7:30 P.M. at Jones Hall
Saturday, Dec. 13
7:30 P.M. at Jones Hall
Sunday, Dec. 14
2:00 P.M. at Jones Hall
Sunday, Dec. 14
7:30 P.M. at Jones Hall
Livestream Access
Saturday, Dec. 13
7:30 P.M. at Jones Hall
Your Music. Your Season. Your Way.
Pick 3 or more concerts and enjoy big savings with our Pick Your Own Subscriptions. Choose your favorite performances — in-hall or livestream — and save up to 43%. Click Here to Start Saving
Your Music. Your Season. Your Way.
Pick 3 or more concerts and enjoy big savings with our Pick Your Own Subscriptions. Choose your favorite performances — in-hall or livestream — and save up to 43%.
Click Here to Start Saving
Artists

Brett Mitchell
conductor
View Biography

Ali Stroker
vocalist
View Biography

Houston Symphony Chorus
View Biography

Anthony J. Maglione
director, Houston Symphony Chorus
View Biography
Sponsors
Title Sponsor
Presenting Sponsor
Holiday Series
Grand Guarantor
Video enhancement of Houston Symphony concerts is made possible by the Albert & Ethel Herzstein Foundation through a special gift celebrating the foundation's 50th anniversary in 2015
Extras
Additional Information
Doors Open:
60 mins. pre-concert
Prelude:
No Prelude
Duration
Approx. 120 mins
Intermission
20 mins.
Age Limit
Age 6+
Visitor Info
Parking and Directions
Learn More >In-Hall Experience
Learn More >Ticket Policies
Learn More >Accessibility
Learn More >You Might Also Like
Celebrate the holiday season with the Houston Symphony. From Handel’s Messiah and Very Merry POPS to Merry-achi Christmas, jazz favorites, concerts for the whole family, and beloved film scores—this is the music that makes the season.
View Full Season
Friday, Oct. 31–Sunday, Nov. 2
From Stage to Screen: Broadway Meets Hollywood
Thursday, Dec. 11–Sunday, Dec. 14
Very Merry POPS
Friday, Jan. 2–Sunday, Jan. 4
A Nat King Cole New Year
Saturday, Jan. 17–Sunday, Jan. 18
Arturo Sandoval: Journey To Freedom
Friday, Feb. 6–Sunday, Feb. 8
Piano Man: The Music of Billy Joel
Friday, Apr. 3–Saturday, Apr. 4
Disney’s Fantasia In Concert
Friday, Apr. 24–Sunday, Apr. 26
Icon: The Voices that Changed Music
Friday, May. 29–Sunday, May. 31
Lights! Camera! Music! 100 Years of Epic Film Scores

conductor
Brett Mitchell
Hailed for presenting engaging, in-depth explorations of thoughtfully curated programs, American conductor Brett Mitchell currently serves as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony and Artistic Director and Conductor of Oregon’s Sunriver Music Festival.
He previously served as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony (2017–21), Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra (2013–17), and Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony (2007–11) and Orchestre National de France (2006–09).
In May 2025, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Mitchell stepped in for his subscription debut with the New York Philharmonic, leading three performances of Kevin Puts’s The Brightness of Light featuring soprano Renée Fleming, followed by the complete score of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé featuring the New York Philharmonic Chorus.
Working widely as a guest conductor, Mitchell has made appearances with the Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, National, North Carolina, Oregon, Pasadena, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Vancouver symphonies; the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; the Cleveland and Minnesota orchestras; the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; the Grant Park Festival Orchestra; and a two-week tour with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Mitchell also regularly collaborates with the world’s leading soloists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Itzhak Perlman, Kirill Gerstein, Conrad Tao, Rudolf Buchbinder, James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Leila Josefowicz, and Alisa Weilerstein.
Born in Seattle, Mitchell holds degrees in conducting from the University of Texas at Austin and composition from Western Washington University. His two principal professional mentors were Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel.

Anthony J. Maglione
director, Houston Symphony Chorus
Conductor, Composer, Producer Anthony J. Maglione is Director of Choral Studies at the University of Houston and Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus. He joins the Moores School of Music faculty from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, where he was the Director of Choral Studies and held the Robert H. McKee Chair of Music. Choirs under his direction have appeared at state, regional, and national conventions, released internationally-distributed commercial recordings, and have twice been named “Runner Up” for the American Prize in Choral Performance, College/University Division. A frequent collaborator, he has prepared choirs for performances with the American Spiritual Ensemble, Boston Camerata, The Canadian Brass, Joyce DiDonato, Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Kansas City Civic Orchestra, The King’s Singers, Kings Return, and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
An often-performed and commissioned composer with a growing national reputation, Maglione’s music has appeared at state, regional, and national-level conventions, on TV, in video games, and has been recorded on Albany Records, Centaur Records, GIA Choral Works, and Gothic Records. Several of his choral works are published on James Jordan’s “Evoking Sound” choral series through GIA Publications as well as “The Amanda Quist Signature Choral Series” on Gentry Publications. In 2018, Maglione’s cantata for soloists, choir, and orchestra, The Wedding of Solomon, premiered at the American Guild of Organists National Convention. The Miami University Men’s Glee Club premiered Maglione’s On Life at the 2019 National ACDA Conference. In early 2020, Verdigris Ensemble premiered his extended dramatic work Dust Bowl as part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project in Dallas, Texas. Dust Bowl was recently revised and performed again in 2024 at the Wyly Theatre in Dallas through funding in-part from the National Endowment of the Arts. From 2023 to 2025, Maglione served as Composer-In-Residence with Te Deum, a professional choir based in Kansas City.
As a producer, Maglione lends his ears to recording projects around the country and recently received national attention through his production work with Sam Brukhman and Verdigris Ensemble on Betty’s Notebook by composer Nicholas Reeves. This ground-breaking, programmable art music is the first of its kind and the first to be sold using blockchain technology.
As a tenor, Maglione has appeared with renowned organizations such as Artefact Ensemble, Cappella Romana, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, Kantorei KC, The Same Stream, The St. Tikhon Choir, Sunflower Baroque, and Spire Chamber Ensemble.
A sought-after clinician and frequent guest conductor, Maglione teaches workshops and has conducted All-State and honor choirs in California, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. He holds degrees from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, East Carolina University, and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Houston Symphony Chorus
The Houston Symphony Chorus is the official choral unit of the Houston Symphony and consists of highly skilled and talented volunteer singers. Over the years, members of this historic ensemble have learned and performed the world’s great choral orchestral masterworks under the batons of Juraj Valčuha, Andrés Orozco Estrada, Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, Robert Shaw, and Helmuth Rilling, among many others.
In addition, the Chorus enjoys participating in the Houston Symphony’s popular programming under the batons of conductors such as Steven Reineke and Michael Krajewski. Recently, the ensemble sang the closing subscription concerts with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. Singers are selected for specific programs for which they have indicated interest. A singer might choose to perform in all 45 concerts, as was the case in a recent season, or might elect to participate in a single series. The Houston Symphony Chorus holds auditions by appointment and welcomes inquiries from interested singers.

Ali Stroker
vocalist
Ali Stroker is a Tony Award winner for her role as Ado Annie in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! She made history as the first actor in a wheelchair to appear on Broadway in Deaf West’s acclaimed revival of Spring Awakening and the first actor in a wheelchair to win a Tony.
She was a series regular on the Netflix series, Echoes, and starred in the Lifetime holiday film, Christmas Ever After. Ali recurred in the final season of Netflix’s Ozark and in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.
She co-wrote the novel The Chance to Fly and its sequel, Cut Loose!; and she wrote the children’s book Ali and the Sea Stars.
She was recently seen opposite Matthew Broderick in Babbitt at Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC and played Lady Anne in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III.
She has performed her one-woman show all over the country. Her mission to improve the lives of others through the arts is captured in her motto: “Turning Your Limitations Into Your Opportunities.”