COMMUNITY MUSICIANS: Ruth Ochs conducts the Westminster Community Orchestra at a free concert on the Westminster campus. The “Holiday Chestnuts and Sing-along” concert is on December 14 at 7:30 p.m.

The Westminster Community Orchestra, conducted by Ruth Ochs, will present their tenth annual family holiday concert on Wednesday, December 14 at 7:30 p.m. “Holiday Chestnuts and Sing-along” will take place in the Robert L. Annis Playhouse on the Westminster Choir College campus of Rider University on Walnut Lane.

While the performance is free, the orchestra will continue its long-standing tradition of accepting free-will monetary donations at the door to benefit and be distributed to area food pantries and service organizations.

The performance will feature holiday favorites such as Leontovich’s Carol of the Bells and Bernard’s Winter Wonderland. The concert will also include Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Dance of the Tumblers” from The Snow Maiden, “Valse Lyrique” by Sibelius, Glazunov’s “Snow Variation” from The Seasons, Chase’s Christmas Favorites, and Bach’s “Gigue” from Orchestral Suite No. 3, as well as orchestra member Beth Gaynor LaPat’s Chanukah Songs. The audience is invited to join the orchestra in Finnegan’s Christmas Sing-along.

Now in her 18th season as conductor and music director of the Westminster Community Orchestra, Ochs has led the orchestra in performances of major orchestral and choral-orchestral works, including symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky. Under her leadership, the orchestra continues to feature ensembles and soloists from the Westminster Conservatory and highlight works by local and under-represented composers.

Ochs holds degrees in musicology from Princeton University, orchestral conducting from the University of Texas at Austin, and music from Harvard University. She is currently a senior lecturer in the Princeton University Department of Music, where she is in her 21st season as the conductor of the Princeton University Sinfonia.

Now in its 38th season, the Westminster Community Orchestra is made up of professional and gifted amateur musicians from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For more information, call (609) 921-7104 or visit rider.edu