Irish tenor headlines Spokane Symphony’s Holiday Pops

Courtesy of Spokane Symphony Ronan Tynan serves as guest artist for the Spokane Symphony’s Holiday Pops concerts.

In the Spokane Symphony’s traditional Holiday Pops concerts, some things never change:

• The orchestra will play “Sleigh Ride.”

• Santa will make a brief conducting appearance.

• Several thousand voices will join in an audience Christmas singalong.

Yet even in a holiday tradition, not everything remains the same.

This year, the most obvious change is in the timing of the concerts. They come earlier in the season than usual, moving up a week or two to make room for “The Nutcracker,” later than usual on Dec. 18-20.

Yet the most significant change this year is that the symphony has landed Ronan Tynan, one of the world’s top Irish tenors, as guest artist.

Tynan was one of the Irish Tenors until 2005, when he launched a solo career. You may have heard him sing at numerous 9/11 memorial services in New York, at President Ronald Reagan’s funeral and at Yankee Stadium, where he has sung “God Bless America.”

This weekend, however, his numbers will have a more festive theme.

“It will be all of the Christmas favorites, or, as we say in Ireland, it will be all of the potboilers,” said Tynan, by phone from his home in New York.

His part of the program will include “Adeste Fideles,” “Mary’s Boy Child,” “O, Holy Night,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and a big holiday medley.

These tunes will all be backed by the symphony, under the direction of Resident Conductor Morihiko Nakahara. The Spokane Symphony Chorale, directed by Julian Gomez Giraldo, will also perform several songs, including “We Need a Little Christmas.”

Tynan is a fine choice for a holiday concert, because his own story is so inspirational. He grew up on a farm in Ireland and wasn’t really a singer – although he and his father used to sing together while milking the cows.