Judy and Wes Whitmore
With Irvine Barclay Theatre present
Swingin’ Through the Holidays
THE BARCLAY JAZZ & BEYOND ORCHESTRA
Shelly Berg - The Tom and Mayumi Adams Music Director
Featuring ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY AND KIRK WHALUM
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 at 8pm
Artist Sponsor
James McGaugh and Andrea Roberts
Media Sponsor
KJazz
This performance will include a 15-minute intermission.
Shelly Berg: Music Director/Piano
Ann Hampton Callaway Vocals
Kirk Whalum: Saxophone
Saxophones
Sal Lozano
Michael Czają
Alex Johnson
Frank Fontaine
Tim Mckay
Trombones
Ryan Dragon
Joey Sellers
Charlie Morillas
Tiffany Johns
Trumpets
Ryan Deweese
Miles Mcallister
Harry Ostrander
Sarah Bauza
Rhythm Section
Adam Alessi: Drums
Nick Schaadt: Bass
Will Brahm: Guitar
Danny Taylor: Percussion
Set One
Boom Boom
Composed by Bob Brookmeyer
Featuring The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Composed by J. Fred Coots/Haven Gillespie, arranged by Shelly Berg
Featuring Ann Hampton Callaway and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
The Christmas Waltz
Composed by Sammy Cahn/Jule Stein, arranged by Shelly Berg
Featuring Ann Hampton Callaway and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
The Christmas Song
Composed by Mel Tormé/Robert Wells, arranged by Shelly Berg
Featuring Kirk Whalum and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
Winter Wonderland
Composed by Feliz Bernhard/Richard B. Smith, arranged by Stephen Guerra
Featuring Ann Hampton Callaway, Kirk Whalum, and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
All I Want for Christmas Is You
Composed by Mariah Carey/Walter Afanasieff, arranged by Kirk Whalum and Shelly Berg
Featuring Kirk Whalum and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
Jingle Bells
Arranged by Ed Calle
Featuring Ann Hampton Callaway, Kirk Whalum, Shelly Berg and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
Set Two
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy “a la Calypso”
Composed by Peter I. Tchaikovsky, arranged by Etienne Charles
Featuring The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
This Christmas
Composed by Donny Hathaway/Nadine McKinnor, arranged by Etienne Charles
Featuring Kirk Whalum and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
God Bless My Family
Composed by Ann Hampton Callaway, arranged by Shelly Berg
Featuring Ann Hampton Callaway and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
Composed by Sammy Cahn/Jule Stein, arranged by Mike Tomaro
Featuring Ann Hampton Callaway, Kirk Whalum and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Composed by Kim Gannon/Walter Kemp, arranged by Shelly Berg
Featuring Ann Hampton Callaway, Kirk Whalum and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
Medley – We Wish You a Merry Christmas/Deck the Halls
Arranged by Shelly Berg
Featuring Ann Hampton Callaway, Kirk Whalum, Shelly Berg, and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra
The history of jazz is closely linked with the history of popular Christmas and holiday songs. The composers are a “Who’s Who” of the jazz canon, including Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, and Frank Loesser. The singers who recorded iconic Christmas songs include Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, and many others—true jazz royalty. Jazz musicians love to improvise on songs with great melodies and chord progressions, and these Christmas classics don’t disappoint.
Swingin’ Through the Holidays features Ann Hampton Callaway and Kirk Whalum joining Music Director Shelly Berg and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra, made up entirely of Orange County musicians. Callaway is a star of jazz, symphony, and Broadway stages, and a composer of beloved songs recorded by Barbra Streisand and others. Kirk Whalum is a soulful and revered jazz saxophonist who rose to fame with his own band and through his work with Whitney Houston.
Act One opens with “Boom Boom” by the great valve trombonist and composer Bob Brookmeyer. He wrote the piece to celebrate a dear friend recovering from a serious illness.
The title refers to the beating of a robust heart, and the piece showcases the virtuosity of The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra. Ann Hampton Callaway makes her first appearance of the evening with the Christmas classic “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” The song was written and recorded in 1934, but after Eddie Cantor performed it on his radio show a few months later, it sold 500,000 copies of sheet music and 30,000 records in 24 hours. Ann continues with one of the most beautiful holiday melodies, “The Christmas Waltz,” composed at Frank Sinatra’s request by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. The song was first released as the B-side to Sinatra’s White Christmas, and this magical arrangement by Shelly Berg was written for Renée Fleming’s album Christmas in New York with Friends.
Kirk Whalum then joins the festivities to perform the most popular Christmas song of all time (yes, even above “White Christmas”), “The Christmas Song”, known by its opening line, “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” Mel Tormé co-wrote the song in July 1945 during a sweltering Southern California summer, hoping to “cool off” by thinking of the holidays. Nat King Cole made it a massive hit, and tonight’s arrangement was written by Shelly Berg for the White House National Tree Lighting Ceremony. Ann Hampton Callaway returns to join Kirk Whalum for a swinging version of the 1934 classic “Winter Wonderland.” Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” quickly became a modern standard, and tonight Kirk performs a beautiful version from his recent album How Does Christmas Sound? Act One closes with a chance to highlight our guest artists with the fabulous Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra. Everyone knows “Jingle Bells,” but wait until you hear this burning Afro-Cuban jazz version. You’ll be eager to return for Act Two.
Act Two opens with another classic featuring our orchestra. In 1960, Duke Ellington reimagined Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet as a jazz suite. Tonight we perform a further reimagining: “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” in calypso style by the great trumpeter and composer Etienne Charles. Next, Kirk Whalum rejoins the orchestra for a very special song. In 1970, soul icon Donny Hathaway composed “This Christmas” to represent the African American community with an upbeat, hopeful holiday message—one that still resonates today. Ann Hampton Callaway then performs one of her own compositions. Known also as the composer of the theme for the hit television series The Nanny, Ann shows her lyrical side with “God Bless My Family,” expressing the joy of sharing the holidays with loved ones and the bittersweet memories of those no longer with us. The Southern California summer of 1945 must have been intense, because it not only inspired “The Christmas Song” but also Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne to “beat the heat” by composing “Let It Snow!” Ann Hampton Callaway and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra will keep a fire burning under this cool tune. Kirk Whalum rejoins Ann and the orchestra for one of the most beautiful songs in the holiday repertoire. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” composed in 1943, is written from the perspective of a WWII soldier dreaming of returning home for the holidays—though, as the lyric poignantly reveals, it is “only in my dreams.”
Our holiday celebration closes with a new arrangement written for this performance by The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra and our guest artists—a medley of two traditional Christmas songs written over 300 years ago: “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and “Deck the Halls.” We do wish you and your loved ones a blessed holiday season, and we will send you out of the theater swingin’! — Program Notes by Shelly Berg
The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra is a premier ensemble comprised of Orange County musicians that is dedicated to exploring jazz and popular music through the creation and presentation of unique and entertaining concert programs. Led by Music Director Shelly Berg, The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra brings a fresh approach to the genre through new compositions, compelling arrangements of jazz classics, and collaboration with world-class guest soloists.