Lawrence Loh is music director of Symphoria, the successor to the Syracuse Symphony, where he has helped build a 21st-century model of a modern orchestra. He previously served as music director of the West Virginia Symphony, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, and as artistic director and principal conductor of Syracuse Opera. He was also associate conductor of the Dallas Symphony and associate and resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony, where he frequently returns.

Mr. Loh’s recent guest conducting engagements include the North Carolina Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, National Symphony, Utah Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, and Cathedral Choral Society at Washington National Cathedral. His summer appearances include the festivals of Grant Park, Tanglewood, Chautauqua, Sun Valley, and Bravo Vail!

Mr. Loh has assisted John Williams on multiple occasions and has worked with a wide range of artists from Chris Botti and Ann Hampton Callaway to Jason Alexander and Idina Menzel. He earned an artist diploma in orchestral conducting from Yale School of Music and also holds degrees from Indiana University and University of Rochester.

Michael Covert (Narrator) is a singer, actor, and pianist who studied musical theater at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Denver. He has performed in presentations of Big Band Beat, Little Miss Sunshine, Bonnie & Clyde, The 3 Little Pigs, Forever Plaid, and Post Office.

Jonah Daugavietis (Charlie Brown) lives in Vacaville with his parents and two sisters. He made his stage debut as Michael in Peter Pan with Solano Youth Theatre in 2019 where he also appeared as Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas in December 2022. He has also appeared as Olaf in Starbound Theatre’s production of Frozen, Jr. and Rooster in J&S Performing Arts Center’s production of Annie, KIDS.

Hailey Matta (Lucy) has recently appeared as Summer Hathaway in School of Rock: The Musical with Palo Alto Players, in Seussical with Woodside Community Theater, and as Silena Beauregard in The Lightning Thief with Peninsula Youth Theater. In addition to acting, she also performs with her middle school choir and recently joined an a cappella group.

Michael Starr (Charlie Brown) can be seen in episodes of Disney+’s Encore! and Eric Andre’s Bad Trip on Netflix. Select past credits include Come Fall in Love at the Old Globe, Romy & Michele at 5th Avenue Theater, Mamma Mia! And A Chorus Line at the Hollywood Bowl, and shows with the Godspeed Opera House, Phoenix Theater Company, Berkshire Theatre Group, Disneyland, Hartford Stage, LA Opera, Musical Theater West, 3D Theatricals, and La Mirada Theater.

Natasha Adorlee is an Emmy Award–winning choreographer, filmmaker, composer, and dancer based in San Francisco. She was the final Artistic Fellow with Amy Seiwert’s Imagery and has performed with Robert Moses’s Kin, ODC/Dance, and Kate Weare & Co. Since winning 10 international awards for her short film Take Your Time in 2018, Adorlee has established herself across multiple fields. Her commissions include Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works, Kansas City Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Richmond Ballet, BalletX, Oklahoma City Ballet, Tulsa Ballet II, Ceprodac, Ballare Carmel, Ballet22, and Arizona Ballet II. Beyond the stage, she has created original works for Pixar Animation Studios, Oculus, National Geographic, and The New Yorker. Adorlee founded Concept o4 to expand access to dance through multimedia experiences. She is the recipient of the Grand Prize at the Palm Desert Choreography Festival, a Jacob’s Pillow Fellowship, and a 2025 National Choreographers Initiative selection.

Kelsey McFalls (Lucy) trained at American Ballet Theater, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and American Repertory Ballet. She has worked with PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, Sacramento Ballet, Dance Theatre of San Francisco, Company C, Peninsula Ballet Theater, Kambara+Dancers, American Contemporary Ballet, and American Repertory Ballet.

Marco Doherty (Adult Linus) has appeared in The Little Mermaid at 5th Avenue Theater, Spamalot at the Hollywood Bowl, and Chasing the Song at La Jolla Playhouse. He graduated from UCLA with a BA in theater.

Juliann Witt (Sally) began her training at the California Academy of Performing Arts and has danced with DTSF, Nol Simonse, Bellwether Dance Project, Fullstop Dance, Concept o4, RAWdance, Garrett + Moultoun Productions, and Robert Moses’ KIN.

Isolde Lin (Sad Tree) is eight years old and currently a ballet student at ODC. She took her first ballet class at the age of three in Tokyo and continued to study ballet after moving to San Francisco. Her favorite styles of dance are ballet and contemporary.

Native San Franciscan Nicholas Korkos (Charlie’s Gang) has performed with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Aszure Barton & Artists, SF DanceWorks, Hubbard Street 2, Loni Landon Dance Project, Zhukov Dance Theatre, Robert Moses’ KIN, project agora, tinypistol, the Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera Omaha, and developed new work with Sonya Tayeh, Josh Prince, and Reed Luplau. In addition to performing, Mr. Korkos teaches and choreographs at various schools including the LINES Ballet School BFA and training programs, Gibney Dance, and Peridance Center in New York. In 2021 he conceived, directed, choreographed, and performed in the dance film Being Alive, a Dance. As a photographer, Mr. Korkos has photographed for Opera Philadelphia, the Cincinnati Symphony, Opera Parallèle, and his work has been seen in numerous publications including the New York Times.

Erik Debono (Charlie’s Gang) is a San Francisco native and has trained with Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Joffrey Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, and London Contemporary Dance School. Upon earning his BFA at Adelphi University, he performed works for Lar Lubovitch, Frank Augustyn, Earl Mosley, Manuel Vignoulle, and Orion Duckstein, while choreographing his own works and composing music for other choreographers. Over the years he has worked with the Metropolitan Opera, dawson-dancesf, Oakland Ballet, Post Ballet, Parsons Dance, and Yayoi Kambara.

Working under the moniker “Clyde Dimension” he independently creates music ranging from electronic, industrial, hip-hop, dance score, and pop. His project All That We Hold was composed for Audrey Thao Berger and Noah Wang’s dance performance presented with APICC for the 24th annual United States of Asian America Festival. An excerpt of the score was shared with Catherine Caruncho’s dance film (fun)ction presented at Lincoln Center.

bio

Mia J. Chong (Christmas Tree) is a choreographer and dancer from San Francisco. Her work has been performed by Post:ballet, BODYSONNET, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, UC Berkeley’s Chamber Chorus, Berkeley Ballet Theater’s Studio Company, Shawl Anderson Youth Ensemble, ODC Dance Jam, and others. She has danced with ODC/Dance, Robert Moses’ Kin, Dance Theatre of San Francisco, and Concept o4. She has received a Princess Grace Award, Chris Hellman Dance Honor, and Jacob’s Pillow Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship, among other honors. She earned a BA from New York University and is currently pursuing an MS in arts administration and cultural entrepreneurship at Northeastern University.

Allie Papazian (Christmas Tree) is from Los Angeles, trained at Interlochen Arts Academy, and was a member of the inaugural class in the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA at Dominican University of California, where she graduated summa cum laude in 2010. While in college she danced professionally with Mark Foehringer Dance Project SF and Zhukov Dance Theatre. Upon graduation she joined the Compañía Nacional de Danza in Madrid, where she danced for five seasons. Later she joined ODC/Dance for their 2015–16 season. After freelancing and working with Bay Area companies including Post:ballet, Kambara+Dancers, and Dance Theatre of San Francisco, she returned to ODC/Dance as a company member in 2019.

Jenelle Gaerlan (Christmas Tree/Santa) is a multi-disciplined creative and freelance dancer from Portland, Oregon. Having trained under BodyVox’s Junior Artist Generator program, she has danced for DarVejon Jones Dance Ensemble, BodyVox Dance Company, Soulskin Dance, FRAY Show at Stanford Live, and now dances for Robert Moses’ KIN in San Francisco, Embodiment Project, and Concept o4. She also reps Assassins Crew from the West Coast, rooting her style in house dance with essences of waacking and breaking, and participates in classes, cyphers, and battles. She is currently the co-artistic director of ODC Seeds Youth Company and teaches at the Alonzo King LINES Dance Center as well as East Bay Center for the Performing Arts.

San Francisco Symphony Chorus
The San Francisco Symphony Chorus was established in 1973 at the request of Seiji Ozawa, then the Symphony’s Music Director. The Chorus, numbering 32 professional and more than 120 volunteer members, now performs more than 26 concerts each season. Jenny Wong was named Chorus Director in September 2023.
The Chorus can be heard on many acclaimed San Francisco Symphony recordings and has received Grammy Awards for Best Performance of a Choral Work (for Orff’s Carmina burana, Brahms’s German Requiem, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8) and Best Classical Album (for a Stravinsky collection and for Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 8).

David J. Xiques, Guest Chorus Director
Guest chorus director David J. Xiques is the former assistant director for the San Francisco Symphony Chorus where he also sang professionally as a member from 1993–2022. He is professor of music at the Kodály Summer Certification Program at New York University. Xiques has prepared the SF Symphony Chorus for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Orff’s Carmina burana, Handel’s Messiah, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. He conducted the Chorus onstage in Davies Symphony Hall for the 2016 Día de los Muertos concert. His students from SFSU twice sang with the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra in performances of Holst’s The Planets and have joined the SF Symphony and Chorus in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.