Holiday music filled the Heritage Center Theater on Friday, Dec. 1, as Southern Utah University’s Department of Music presented their annual holiday concert. As the final Masterworks performance of the year, the concert contained performances from each of SUU’s large ensembles.
Jazz Band One was the first to take the stage with Gordon Goodwin’s “Sing, Sang, Sung.” The piece is a reimagining of the jazz standard “Sing, Sing, Sing,” originally composed by Louis Prima. Adam Lambert directed the group.
Their performance was followed by Luminosa, the women’s choir on campus. Under the direction of Kristin Briggs, the singers performed a vocal arrangement of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky’s beloved “Nutcracker” ballet. “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella” concluded their portion of the concert.
OPUS, directed by Andrew Briggs, opened their section of the concert with “O Sacrum Convivium” by Kim André Arnesen. The piece depicts a Christian sacrament. The traditional “Sing We Now of Christmas,” arranged by Keith Bradshaw, the associate dean of the College of Performing and Visual Arts, was OPUS’s final piece.
Next to take the stage was the Concert Choir with “Thixo Onothando,” arranged by Michael Barrett. The piece is a popular South African song of praise. Rounding out the choral section of the performance, the Concert Choir concluded with “Norwegian Alleluia,” another piece by Arnesen.
SUU’s Wind Symphony performed next under the direction of Lambert. Randol Bass’ interpretation of “The Night Before Christmas” was first with narration by Bradshaw. “Russian Christmas Music” by Alfred Reed concluded the Wind Symphony’s performance. Despite its festive name, the piece is a concert band standard that is often performed year round.
Xun Sun directed the Symphony Orchestra, who performed two selections from “The Nutcracker Suite” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. They began with “Pas Des Deux,” or the duet of love theme, and finished with “Waltz of the Flowers.”
Each ensemble returned to the stage for the final piece of the concert. The combined SUU music ensembles performed “A Christmas Festival” by Leroy Anderson, a collection of several popular Christmas carols such as “Silent Night,” “Joy to the World” and “Jingle Bells.”
Audience members exited the theater to the sounds of the brass ensemble, who performed carols in the lobby after the concert.
The holiday concert was live streamed and can be viewed here. SUU’s music ensembles are made up of music majors and non-majors alike. For more information on how to join and upcoming performances, visit the music department’s website.
Author: Gracie Butterfield
Photos courtesy of SUTV-9
Editor: Tessa Cheshire
accent@suunews.ne
