“Christmas Singalong” will close the program.

“I never did a Christmas show without singing,” Curry said.

The maestroCurry is the musical director and conductor of the Durham Symphony. He was resident conductor and artistic director of the North Carolina Symphony Summerfest for 20 years. He came to the North Carolina Symphony through New Orleans, where he was resident conductor of the New Orleans Symphony.

A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Curry’s love for music began at a young age.

“By the time I realized music was something very special, it was summer right before seventh grade,” said Curry. “At the same time, I discovered Broadway, Hollywood, classical and jazz and some pre-Motown music. Until then, I was the quintessential bookworm.

He said his cultural father figure growing up was US conductor Leonard Bernstein, who conducted televised concerts for young people.

When Curry wrote an eighth-grade book report on what he wanted to do when he grew up, he said, “I want to be Leonard Bernstein.”

“The reason is that he was so accessible,” Curry said. “But more than that, as he said in his first book titled ‘The Joy of Music’, ‘I don’t just want to be a conductor. I want to conduct, I want to compose, I want to write, I want to teach, I want to write concertos, etc.