It just isn’t Christmas without hearing Frank Sinatra crooning Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas or Bing Crosby’s smooth take on White Christmas
Locals can enjoy some of those holiday favourites when Kelowna vocalist Robert Fine joins the Okanagan Symphony for An OSO Christmas at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre Dec. 20.
“For our annual Christmas performance, we put the OSO front and centre to play all of your seasonal favourites,” said Rosemary Thomson, OSO music director. “This show is a great performance for audiences of all ages and features local artist Robert Fine, who will show off his inner crooner with the wonderful standards White Christmas and The Christmas Song. This is a concert that will most definitely have you leaving in the Christmas spirit.”
Fine has been keeping the big band legacy alive since 1999. It was that year he won a Frank Sinatra singing contest performing timeless classics in Atlantic City,
He has since been featured on CBC’s Basic Black with Arthur Black and highlighted in Westjet magazine.
Fine has had the opportunity to sing all over the world including performances at the World Exposition in Japan, various corporate events in Germany, Jamaica, across the U.S., and Canada. He has performed at the Pacific National Exhibition with Dal Richards and his orchestra and has previously sung with the Okanagan Symphony.
Fine has recorded five albums, which can be heard daily on AM 600 Radio in Vancouver. His recording of a live concert performance with the swinging 14-piece Dreamland Band was released in December, 2008, with all proceeds going to the B.C. Cancer Foundation.
To date, his recordings have raised more than $50,000 for local charities.
Conducting the OSO for this holiday special will be Dennis Colpitts, who traditionally performs in the horn section with the symphony.
An OSO Christmas takes the stage at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre Sunday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $56.25/adult, $49/senior 65-plus, and $26.75/youth 18 and under, available at the Ticket Seller box office. Call 250-549-7469 or order online at www.ticketseller.ca.
