The Southern Ozarks Community Orchestra with the Willow Springs Arts Council announces
their holiday concert “All is Calm… then the Bells Ring”. This will be their final concert of the
2025 season on Sunday, December 14 @ 3 pm at the Historic Star Theater in Willow
Springs. MO. Tickets are available at the door for $10 each and children under 5 will be
admitted free. We encourage all to come out and warm your souls & raise your spirits with beautiful music.
“All is Calm”, is a beautiful rendition of Silent Night that seems to float around the room as it moves from solo instrument to instrument. Holiday classics are featured in “Christmas at the Movies” with Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Miracle on 34th St, The Polar Express & The Nightmare Before Christmas. We feature our string section with “Carols of Olde”, “Horse Sleigh” & “In the Bleak Midwinter”. Rounding up this festival of songs you will hear “Christmas Favorites”, a medley of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”, “Silver Bells” & “The Christmas Song”. A traditional holiday fanfare sounds out in “From the Realms of Glory”. Then to a fun mix of Pierpont & Sousa with “Jingle Bells Forever”, A very exciting “Mad Russian’s Christmas”, from The Trans Siberian Orchestra which made an updated arrangement ofTchaikovsky’s classic piece. As a special treat for you we are bringing back our Handbell Choir to perform some traditional pieces. We are hoping to have a few more surprise groups that will just make the holidays sound like they are here for all.
SOCO is fortunate to have many gifted musicians from the surrounding cities, including
several current and former music teachers from Ava, Cabool, Houston, Mountain Grove,
Mountain View, Thayer & West Plains, bringing their energy and musicianship to our group
and making it a joy to share with you!
Jodie Forbes, our musical director and conductor since 2017, has lived in this area for over
40 years. She has been a music teacher in Cabool, Houston, and Willow Springs, and is
currently giving private lessons for the Stars Foundation and playing in several musical
groups during her spare time. Jodie graduated with honors and a Bachelors of Music in
education from the Dana School of Music, a part of Youngstown State University in Ohio.
The Southern Ozarks Community Orchestra is sponsored by the Willow Springs Arts Council
and has served the area since 2009. For more information on SOCO and the Arts Council,
visit the Arts Council website at www.willowspringsartscouncil.org and Southern Ozarks
Community Orchestra on Facebook. Our orchestra & small ensembles are available for
performance.
Anyone that is interested in joining our group, please reach out to Brandy Taylor at 417- 259-7634 or Jodie Forbes at 417-217-0542. We are currently looking for more string players (violins, violas, & cello).
