Phil Keaggy will join the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra Saturday for its annual Holiday Pops concert.
The Youngstown native first attracted attention as the guitar player for Glass Harp, a Mahoning Valley band that signed with Decca Records and toured with some of the top acts in rock music. Keaggy abandoned secular music in the early '70s and became a contemporary Christian artist who has won six Dove Awards.
Keaggy continues to tour and record as a solo artist while also regrouping with his old bandmates John Sferra and Daniel Pecchio for the occasional Glass Harp gig.
For Saturday's concert, Keaggy will play holiday favorites as well as his own music, and he is one of several guest artists on the program.
Also performing will be Natalie Sprouse, winner of the 2011 Youngstown Symphony Orchestra Vocal Competition. She will sing "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables" and the Mariah Carey Christmas favorite "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
The Youngstown Connection, a vocal group made up of students in Youngs-town City Schools, will perform "Winter Wonderland" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" accompanied by the orchestra and fourth grade elementary students from West Boulevard and Stadium Drive schools in Boardman will be led by Dean Wilson on "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
String students from Christina Gant Sterling Strings Studio in Canfield will play a medley of seasonal songs, and local industrialist Greg Smith will lead the orchestra on Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" after winning the opportunity to conduct the musicians at the recent Symphony Ball.
The concert starts at 8 p.m. Saturday at Powers Auditorium, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown. Tickets range from $40 to $55 and are available at the DeYor box office and by calling 330-744-0264.