Chœur de l’Opéra de Dijon

To celebrate December, the Chœur de l’Opéra de Dijon and the Choeur Éphémère d’adultes offer a musical evocation of a sparklingly hedonistic American Christmas. And in the Opera’s foyer-bar, the concert will continue with a festive Jam Session!

In 1954, Michael Curtiz, the film director of the immortal Casablanca, made the musical comedy White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney. This post-war story, of two former GIs whose success as singers puts them in contact with two sisters as talented as they are beautiful, had everything to reinforce the prevailing optimism of the times. Composed by Irving Berlin before the making of the film, the song title has become a classic, with hundreds of versions recorded throughout the world. In this radiant and enchanting spirit, this is a Christmas "made in Broadway", brought to you by Anass Ismat and the Dijon Opera Choir: accompanied by an instrumental jazz ensemble, the joyous inevitability of Let it snow bumps against the naughty playfulness of Sisters; the traditional Jingle Bells, with its imagery of a sleigh dashing through the snow, resonate into the heart of the warmly lit living rooms into which we are all invited, with our near and dear, to enjoy a "merry little Christmas". Celebrated, imagined, « little » or big, Christmas is a religious celebration but also a major part of popular culture, as irresistible as a chorus song!

 + Concert followed by a Jam Session led by the students of the Jazz Department of the CRR Dijon

^{In partnership with the Jazz Department of the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Dijon}

Musical director Anass Ismat
Chœur de l’Opéra de Dijon

Clarinet Pierre-Hervé Angilbert 
Saxophone Jean-François Michel 
Piano Mathilde Claude
Double bass Benoît Keller
Drums Julien Vuillaume

Soprano Julie Dey*
Alto Dana Luccock*
Baritones Henry Boyles* & Jonas Yajure*

With the participation of the Chœur Éphémère d’adultes

_{*Soloists from the Dijon Opera Chorus} 

 ^{Illustration © Gilles Aillaud}

The Christmas song
Swingin’ Christmas Tree
Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Jingle Bell Rock
Blue Christmas
Let it snow!
Jingle Bells
A Song of Santa (medley) 
We wish you a Merry Christmas
Christmas on Broadway (medley)
White Christmas (medley)
Christmas (Baby please come home)
Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree
Variation on ‘Jingle Bells’