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Adults' Favorite Part Is Seeing Children's Reactions

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By RICH SHOPES

rshopes@tampatrib.com

Published: December 15, 2008

TAMPA - Trombonist Dwight Decker looks forward to the spontaneous singalongs.

Valerie Adams, a violinist, enjoys the end of the show when hundreds of children erupt in screams so loud, "you have to plug your ears."

Once a year for 90 minutes, disadvantaged children from Hillsborough County schools rub elbows with government officials and wealthy donors to watch and listen to a symphony.

The event is dubbed the Holiday Concert and is presented by the Steinbrenner Family Foundation and the New York Yankees. This year's concert on Wednesday marks the 20th year.

"This is a big deal for these kids. Many of the children may never get the opportunity again to listen to a symphony," said Bob Johns, a music teacher at Gibsonton Elementary School who has attended four Steinbrenner holiday concerts.

Jenny Steinbrenner Swindal, daughter of Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, said her father came up with the idea to introduce children from poor neighborhoods to symphonic music. A Christmas concert offered the perfect venue.

The foundation pays for musicians from the Florida Orchestra and rents the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. It provides gift bags - Yankees' T-shirts, caps, bobble heads and a duffel bag - to the hundreds of children. Police and firefighters hand out the gifts.

Steinbrenner has attended every concert, although his health might keep him from this year's.

"In every community where he goes to make a speech, it's always about making a difference to a child and giving back to the community," said Steinbrenner Swindal, who oversees the family's charitable foundation in Tampa.

The annual holiday concert is no different. "It's about the children, seeing their faces when they hear the symphony and see the ballerina," she said.

Athletes have always been a part of the shows. The first featured former Yankees manager Billy Martin. Others have included shortstop Derek Jeter, Hall of Famer Wade Boggs and wrestler Hulk Hogan. The wrestlers are especially popular.

The event became so popular that 15 years ago a second children's holiday show was added, at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

The foundation estimates that 100,000 children, mostly fourth-graders from disadvantaged homes, have attended the invitation-only concerts.

The shows all follow the same format. They start with a medley of traditional Christmas carols and songs by the Florida Orchestra. Three or four selections from the Nutcracker ballet are sprinkled in. Russian dancers and a ballerina hoof across the stage. John and Mary Kay Wilson both perform and emcee the event.

It ends with a sports or wrestling star reciting the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." Last year, Randy "Macho Man" Savage did the honors it.

That's when the wild cheers start. Each year, it's Adams' favorite moment. The 26-year veteran of the Florida Orchestra has performed every Steinbrenner holiday concert.

"We always enjoy the wrestlers. You have to plug your ears. The children scream as loud as they can," she said, laughing.

Decker said he looks forward to the beginning of the show, when the orchestra launches into a medley of Christmas songs. Almost every time, the audience starts singing along unprompted.

"It's one of those bright spots," he said. "It's not meant to be a singalong, but it happens and that's just great."

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