“I get goosebumps when I’m on stage and there’s a symphony behind me,” Diego Navaira said. “Because there’s certain songs of my dad’s that get me emotional already, and then to hear it with these beautiful arrangements that Troy Peters has made, it just takes it to a whole different level.”

The audience on Saturday will see Act 2 of the holiday ballet featuring ballet folklórico performers in colorful traditional attire alongside ballet dancers and the classical Tchaikovsky music with San Antonio-inspired embellishments.

“I think of it like all-stars of San Antonio indie music,” said Troy Peters, YOSA’s music director. “And for me, I just think it’s kind of cool to have several of these musicians be folks who grew up steeped in Mexican American culture and Tejano music, but are also 100 percent fluent with the language of the Beatles and that confluence of cultures, which is what this city is all about.”

“The orchestra under Peters’ baton glowed, the brass blazing and the strings silky smooth.”

“Peters and the VSO gave it their best and played their hearts out—and the audience responded in kind.”

“Peters… is also a gifted conductor. His ideas are well considered, and he knows how to communicate them to his musicians. “