Home for the Holidays – Program

The CBS Band is home for the holidays,
with a night of fabulous live music,
a delicious turkey dinner, and festive raffles!

The CBS Concert Band and Jazz Band perform at
All Saints Parish Hall
Saturday, November 29, 2025

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Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree   arr. Jerry Nowak   
Brenda Lee recorded the rockabilly Christmas classic in 1958, when she was only 13 years old.
In 2023, she released a music video ▶ for the song, and the song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Lee the oldest artist ever to top the Hot 100, at age 78! The song also set the record for the longest period of time between an original release and its topping the Hot 100 (65 years).

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All I Want For Christmas Is You   arr. Paul Murtha   
Recorded by Mariah Carey in 1994, this familiar tune ▶ has become a perennial favourite. The best-selling Christmas song of all time in the US, it now annually re-enters charts worldwide in the weeks before Christmas and has reached number one in over 30 countries.
Carey has taken advantage of it’s popularity and her honorific title of “Queen of Christmas” by posting a video every year since 2019, around midnight on November 1, saying when it is officially time to play the song.
Arranged here for solo tenor sax with big band, the opening rubato section is followed by a medium tempo shuffle groove.

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Frosty the Snowman   arr. Jerry Nowak   
This popular winter song first recorded by Gene Autry in 1950 ▶, was written after the success of his recording of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” the previous year. Like “Rudolph”, “Frosty” was subsequently adapted to other media including a popular television special.
It is generally regarded as a Christmas song, although Christmas itself is never mentioned in the lyrics.
Ella Fitzgerald released a jazz version on her 1960 album “Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas” ▶.

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer   arr. Jerry Nowak   
Here’s the Johnny Marks composition that became a No. 1 hit for Gene Autry on the U.S. charts in Christmas 1949 ▶. The song is based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward department store.
A memorable version is Burl Ives’ 1964 recording ▶ for the soundtrack of the holiday TV special.
In 2024, Autry’s recording was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being ”culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.

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A Holly Jolly Christmas   arr. Jerry Nowak
Most famously performed by Burl Ives, this song also featured in the 1964 “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” TV special, in which he voiced the narrator, Sam the Snowman. Ives recorded a new version ▶ of it for his 1965 Christmas album “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas”.
In 2011, Michael Bublé released a cover of the song ▶ on his album “Christmas”, one of the best-selling Christmas albums worldwide.

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I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day   arr. Jerry Nowak   
This Christmas carol is based on the 1863 poem “Christmas Bells” by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It tells of the narrator hearing Christmas bells during the American Civil War, but despairing that “hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men”. After much anguish and despondency the carol concludes with the bells ringing out with resolution that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep” and that there will ultimately be “peace on earth, good will to men”.
Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1956 ▶, using a melody composed by Johnny Marks.

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The Christmas Waltz   arr. Jerry Nowak   
“The Christmas Waltz” was written for Frank Sinatra in 1954 ▶ by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. Ironically, like Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” and Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride”, it was composed in the heat of summer.
It has been covered many times over the years by a wide variety of artists, including Peggy Lee (1960) ▶, Doris Day (1964) ▶, the Carpenters (1978 ▶, remixed in 2024 ▶), Harry Connick Jr. (2003) ▶, She & Him (2011) ▶, and most recently Laufey (2022) ▶.

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A Charlie Brown Christmas   arr. Paul Murtha   
Charlie Brown and the other Peanuts characters have starred in many television specials since “A Charlie Brown Christmas” ▶ in 1965, including classics like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown“; “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving“; and “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown“. These often holiday-themed specials explore the characters’ everyday struggles and emotions, and are still available on streaming services today.
Vince Guaraldi‘s music provided a level of jazz sophistication for the popular television specials, and his holiday offerings ▶ were some of the best!
This medley includes “Linus and Lucy” ▶; “Skating” ▶; “O Tannenbaum” ▶; and “Christmas Time Is Here” ▶.

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White Christmas   arr. Roger Holmes   
It was a peaceful song that became a wartime classic. Its unorthodox, melancholy melody, and mere 54 words, expressing the simple yearning for a return to happier times, sounded instantly familiar when sung by America’s favorite crooner. Bing Crosby‘s version ▶ is the world’s best-selling single, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.
In the musical film Holiday Inn, the composition won the 1942 Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song would feature in another Crosby film, the musical White Christmas, which became the highest-grossing film of 1954.

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Once Upon a December   arr. Adrian Wagner   
“Once Upon a December”, from the 1997 animated musical film Anastasia, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song ▶.
The melody of this song reprises a lullaby sung to young Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia by her grandmother, Dowager Empress Marie:
On the wind, ‘cross the sea, hear this song and remember
Soon you’ll be home with me, once upon a December
The Dowager Empress commissions a music box that plays the lullaby as a gift for young Anastasia, to comfort her while her grandmother is away.
The film was adapted as a musical play which premiered on Broadway in 2017, and has since spawned multiple productions worldwide.

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Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas   arr. Mark A. Craig   
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was originally heard in the classic 1944 movie Meet Me in St. Louis, sung by Judy Garland ▶. Frank Sinatra also recorded a version ▶ in 1957, with modified lyrics, changing “try to muddle through somehow” to “hang a shining star on the highest bough”.
In 1995, American singer Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland, recorded a cover ▶ of the song, reworked as a “virtual duet” with her mother.
It is the most curious of all Christmas tunes – an old movie-musical plot song that acknowledges that not every holiday may be inherently joyful. Despite a lyric change that made it more cheerful over the years, it can be both hopeful and sad to hear. It has also become a standard, even though there is not one signature version.

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A Most Wonderful Christmas   arr. Robert Sheldon   
Some of the most popular Christmas selections of all time are contained within this delightful arrangement: “Winter Wonderland“, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas“, “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town“, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (reprise!), and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” in cheery settings that lift the spirits!
Cross-cued solos abound, while the swing sections and jazz inspired ballads will have you tapping your feet and singing along.

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside   arr. John Moss   
Written by Frank Loesser (of “Guys and Dolls” fame) in 1944, for him and his wife to entertain at a housewarming party, this call and response duet was popularized in the 1949 film Neptune’s Daughter, starring Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalbán, Betty Garrett and Red Skelton. It went on to win the Academy Award in 1950 for best original song.
This clever arrangement features a duet with alto and tenor saxophones.

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The Nightmare Before Christmas   arr. Michael Brown   
Jack Skellington, bored with Halloween, wants to bring Christmas joy, but his actions put Santa in danger. Sally must fix the mess.
The classic animated movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas” features deliciously sinister music by composer Danny Elfman (writer of “The Simpsons” theme!).
A unique offering for the holiday season, this medley includes: Overture ▶; Christmas Eve Montage ▶; Sally’s Song ▶; This Is Halloween ▶ and End Title ▶.

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Feliz Navidad   arr. Chris Sharp   
The song is big, bright, punchy, and warm; it could melt away all the snow in “White Christmas”!
Just 20 words in English and Spanish make up its lyrics. And when José Feliciano sings it ▶, he is nothing short of gushing in his desire to spread holiday joy: “From the bottom of my heeaaartt!!!” You can feel all that joy and earnestness, even if you don’t quite know what “Prospero año y felicidad” means.
Retaining all the Latin feel of the original, the percussion section drives this arrangement.

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Sleigh Ride   Leroy Anderson   
Another perennial Leroy Anderson favorite!
Though composed during a severe heat wave in the summer of 1946, this piece has been a fixture with holiday concerts for almost eighty years. The song does not make any specific reference to Christmas, but the seasonal imagery has made it very much associated with the holiday. It’s hard to think of a sleigh in winter without thinking of Santa!
For some amusement, watch Shaquille O’Neal, in black tie and tails, make his conducting debut leading the Boston Pops Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus in this rendition ▶.

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The Polar Express   arr. Jerry Brubaker   
A young boy who has grown sceptical of Santa Claus is shocked to see a train stop outside his window on Christmas Eve, destined for the North Pole!
Released in 2004, The Polar Express was the first feature-length film to be entirely created using motion capture technology. Tom Hanks voiced not one but six different characters in the movie: the Conductor, the Hobo, Santa Claus, the Ebenezer Scrooge puppet , the Narrator, and the nameless boy protagonist, who is known only as ‘Hero Boy’.
You can ride the Polar Express at tourist attractions around the world now! You’ll find Polar Express-themed rides and trains in the Grand Canyon, Canada’s Badlands and in the UK.
This blockbuster Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard film score has been masterfully arranged here for symphonic band. The medley includes “Believe” ▶; “The Polar Express” ▶; “When Christmas Comes to Town” ▶; and “Spirit of the Season” ▶.

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Christmas Lights   arr. Chris Sharp   
Inspired by the computer-controlled holiday lighting displays set to driving rock “soundtracks,” this arrangement draws from the likes of Mannheim Steamroller and The Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Featuring these familiar Christmas carols presented in a classical/rock fusion style:”Carol of the Bells“; “Coventry Carol“; “Toyland“; “Good Christian Men, Rejoice“; and “The Holly and the Ivy”.

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Fairytale of New York   arr. Sean O’Loughlin   
The boys of the NYPD choir were singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells were ringing out for Christmas day!
Recorded by the Celtic punk band The Pogues and featuring singer Kirsty MacColl, “Fairytale of New York” ▶ was released in 1987 and has remained an enduring and popular holiday favorite ever since. Comprised of two main sections, the opening is melancholy and lyrical, followed by the second part in a driving and energetic Irish-flavored groove.
The NYPD does not actually have a choir, it’s their Emerald Society Pipes and Drums who appear in the music video. They didn’t know the words to “Galway Bay“, so are instead singing the “Mickey Mouse March“!
For a special treat, watch Jimmy Fallon and Saoirse Ronan nail their rendition on the Tonight Show ▶.

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A Home Alone Christmas   arr. Paul Lavender   
The themes from the first two “Home Alone” movies are included in this delightful showcase for the holidays. You will love the fun and heartwarming songs from these now classic films.
Titles include: “Somewhere in My Memory” ▶; “The Plaza Hotel” ▶; “My Christmas Tree” ▶; “Setting the Trap” ▶; “Christmas Star” ▶; and “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas” ▶.

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Happy Xmas (War Is Over)   arr. Tom Wallace   
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” ▶ is a Christmas song and protest anthem by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in 1971. It originated from a 1969 peace campaign they launched against the Vietnam War, featuring billboards in major cities declaring, “WAR IS OVER! If You Want It — Happy Christmas from John & Yoko”.
The song’s message — calling for an end to fear and war, for hope and peace — is still applicable today.
This setting of the stirring yuletide hit starts quietly and builds steadily to a rousing conclusion.

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Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24   arr. Bob Phillips & George Megaw   
As seen in the mind-boggling Trans-Siberian Orchestra stage show! ▶
This thought-provoking medley ▶ of the Christmas tunes “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “Carol of the Bells” (reprise!) portrays a lone performer playing Christmas carols in the midst of the Bosnian war, reflecting on the power of music to bring hope.

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Celtic Carol   arr. Robert W. Smith   
What better choice for an encore than this simply spectacular seasonal selection that has become a signature Christmas piece for the CBS Concert Band?
The familiar Celtic tune “Greensleeves” ▶ used in the carol “What Child Is This?” ▶ takes on a folkdance character here that really gets whipped into a frenzy! Active woodwind parts and folk drum effects build the momentum until you are completely caught up in it, with much the same appeal as music from “Riverdance“.

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MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR
Jeff Stentaford

CONCERT BAND MUSICIANS

JAZZ BAND MUSICIANS

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Projectionist
Ryan Murphy

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“Wishing you a most wonderful Christmas!”

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