Weber State University's annual Christmas concert will be presented today at St. Joseph's Church in Ogden at 5:30 and 8 p.m.
Featured will be the combined WSU Choirs and Symphony Orchestra in a program that will include Vivaldi's Gloria and "Silent Night," the latter in the original German.Also, on Friday, Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. the WSU Chamber Choir will perform a program of Christmas music at Ogden's First United Methodist Church.
Admission each night is $3 ($2 students and senior citizens), available at the door.
- THE SALT LAKE VOCAL ENSEMBLE concludes performances of its Christmas concert tonight at 7 in Elim Lutheran Church, 575 23rd St., in Ogden. With Mark Pearce conducting, the 19-member ensemble will perform music of Britten, Berger, Vaughan Williams and other contemporary composers. Suggested donation is $5.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH music department will present its 29th annual Christmas Festival at 7:30 this evening in Kingsbury Hall on the U. campus. (An earlier press release had said 8 p.m.)
The Concert Chorale and Chamber Singers will be heard in music of Brent Pierce and Herbert Howells. The A Cappella Choir will sing the French carol "Ding Dong Merrily on High" as well as music of Victoria and Ruth Young. Other works include Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on Christmas Carols," Holst's "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" and a sing-along performance of the "Hallelujah" Chorus from Handel's "Messiah." In addition selections will be interwoven with historical vignettes from the families of the singers.
Tickets are $5 ($3 students), or $12 per family, available at the door.
- THE UTAH FLUTE ASSOCIATION will present a benefit concert for the homeless at 7:30 this evening at Mount Tabor Lutheran Church, 175 S. 700 East.
Performers will include flutists Vivian Harmer Ellsworth, Susan Goodfellow, Jeannine Goeckeritz, Kristen Gygi and Jane Lyman, along with the UFA Flute Quartet, the Silver Winds and Brigham Young University's Sounds of Silver Flute Choir. They will be heard in music of Bach, Haydn, Debussy, Kuhlau, Alain and Astor Piazzolla, among others.
Suggested donation is $10 ($7 students, seniors and UFA members), with all proceeds going to the Homeless Children's Foundation.
- VIVALDI'S CONCERTO for Two Mandolins and Strings will be performed at a concert by the Wasatch Community Symphony Orchestra, to take place at 7:30 this evening at First Presbyterian Church, South Temple and C streets.
Soloing in the Vivaldi will be John Thompson and Patrick Zwick. Under music director Kenneth Kuchler, the orchestra will also be heard in Clark McAlister's "A Christmas Pastorale," narrated by Donald H. Baird; Oksar Boehme's "Russian Dance"; Bill Holcombe's "Saxanova"; Hawley Ades' "A Carol Festival"; and Joseph Maddy's "Festival Finale," based on the hymn "God of Our Fathers."
Admission is free.
- THE UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY music department will present its annual Christmas concert, "Christmas Joy," at 7:30 this evening in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center. Admission is $5 ($3 USU students/ faculty, senior citizens and youth), or $12 per family, available at the door.
Performing will be the USU Symphonic Band, Chorale, Women's Choir, and the Percussion, Trombone, Tuba-Euphonium and Flute Ensembles. Included among the offerings will be Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride," a carol sing-along and a combined performance of the concluding selection, "A Christmas Portrait."
In addition the school will present its Christmas Choirfest Friday, Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Logan Tabernacle. Featured will be carols by John Rutter., excerpts from Bach's "Christmas Oratorio," as performed by the 95-voice University Chorale, and traditional French carols sung by the University Women's Chorus.
Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
- THE SALT LAKE SYMPHONIC CHOIR gives the first of three Christmas concerts, "We Three Kings," tonight at 8 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Madeleine. With Joseph R. Casperson conducting, the choir will sing traditional anthems and carols of the season, with an organ segment by cathedral organist Gregory Glenn. Admission is free.
- THE JAY WELCH CHORALE and Orchestra will offer a program of Christmas music Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Temple Square Assembly Hall.
Included will be selections from Mendelssohn's "Elijah," Berlioz's "L'Enfance du Christ," Britten's "Ceremony of Carols" and Handel's "Messiah," interspersed with music of Holst, Chadwick and Franz Gruber.
Other Temple Square offerings this week - with groups performing every day - include a concert by the Salt Lake Symphony and Pro Musica Friday, Dec. 10, also at 7:30 p.m. in the Assembly Hall. David Dalton will lead the orchestra in Torelli's "Christmas Concerto," Elgar's "Sospiri" and music of Handel and Vaughan Williams, while Bryce Rytting will direct extracts from Bach"'s Cantata 140, Berlioz's "L'Enfance du Christ" and Britten's "Ceremony of Carols."
On Saturday, Dec. 11, also at 7:30 p.m. in the Assembly Hall, the Eleanor Kennard Chorale will present a program of traditional carols and holiday songs by the likes of John Rutter, Alfred Burt, Gordon Young and Irving Berlin ("White Christmas").
Admission to each is free, but limited to those 8 and older.
- THE MORMON YOUTH SYMPHONY and Chorus will present the Ogden edition of their annual Christmas concert Monday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Weber State University's Dee Events Center. The special Family Night program will be directed by Robert C. Bowden. Admission is $1 at the door.
- THE SOUNDS OF Christmas bells will be heard as Brigham Young University's Panoramic Steel presents a concert Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall of the Provo school's Harris Fine Arts Center.
Directed by Ronald Brough, the group will begin the concert with the Catalonian Carol "Fum, Fum, Fum" arranged by Wilberg and Gibson. The program will also include holiday pieces such as Lord Kitchener's "'Mas' in South," "Let it Snow," "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." Tickets are $6 ($4 BYU students/faculty and senior citizens).
- NEVADA DANCE THEATER brings its "Nutcracker" to the Dixie Center Cox Performing Arts Theater in St. George for two performances, 4 and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8. Artistic director Vassili Sulich presents his own version of the Christmas favorite, based on a tale of E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Tickets for the production, sponsored by the Dixie College Celebrity Series, are $10, $6 youth and $2 Dixie College students for the matinee; $12, $9 and $2 for reserved seating in the evening.
- "THE NUTCRACKER" according to Ballet West will begin its Christmas season in Ogden this year, at Weber State University's Browning Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday through Friday, Dec. 8-11, at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.
The company takes its full-scale production to Ogden, with the Utah Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Terence Kern. Tickets range from $9 to $17, still available for all evening performances in advance at the Ogden Symphony/ Ballet Association, 2580 Jefferson Ave. (399-9214), or at the door. Half-price student-rush tickets may be purchased at half-price a half hour before the performance.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Percussion Ensemble will present an "Evening of Christmas Percussion" Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Gardner Hall. Under Douglas Wolf, the group will present a wide range of holiday selections. There will also be an appearance by the U. Drum Line.
Admission is $3 ($2 students) at the door.
- PIANIST DIAN BAKER will be the featured soloist on the annual Christmas concert of the Utah Valley Symphony Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 8 and 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Provo Tabernacle.
Baker, who is on the faculty of Brigham Young University and, with her husband Roger Drinkall, makes up the Drinkall-Baker Duo, will be heard in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1. Clyn Barrus will conduct the orchestra in this, a selection of musical sleigh rides and the traditional holiday sing-along.
In addition composer Marden Pond will lead a suite from his ballet "The Little Prince," based on the story by Antione de Saint Exupery. The ballet was premiered in 1984 at Kingsbury Hall.
Tickets each night are $5 ($4 students/seniors), with parking available at the Nu Skin Terrace.
- MENOTTI'S OPERA "Amahl and the Night Visitors" in its American West Symphony and Chorus production moves this week to First Presbyterian Church, South Temple and C streets. Performances will be at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 7 and 8.
Leading the cast as Amahl and his mother are Steven Wilkin and Marsha Stephens, with Eric Glissmeyer, John Prather, Charles Kiskaddon and Merlyn Hanks. Joel Rosenberg will conduct, with stage direction by Donna K.W. Johnson.
The program will also include instrumental selections by Vivaldi, Mozart and Monteverdi. Tickets are $4 and $6, available at the door.
- ROBERT SHAW'S "The Many Moods of Christmas," four medleys of 18 familiar carols, will be performed by the West Valley Symphony, West Valley Symphonic Chorus and the Northern Utah Choral Society at a concert Wednesday, Dec. 8, in Abravanel Hall.
Also included on the 8 p.m. program will be the Overture from Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel," Leroy Anderson's "Christmas Festival" and the "Waltz of the Flowers" from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." Robert Lentz and Stephen Baker conduct, with tickets $7.50 at all ArtTix locations, $5 from orchestra and chorus members or $5.50 at the door.
For information call 969-4480.
- THE COMPOSERS GUILD will present its "New Sounds for Christmas '93" Thursday, Dec. 9, at Daynes Music Co.'s Steinway Hall, 156 S. Main.
Featured on the free program will be music of Bernita Anderson, Kathy BVaer, Robyn Buttars, Brian Jackson Fetzer, Ruth Gatrell, Susan Jeffery, Lynnette Loughton, Lloyd Miller, Haruhito Miyagi, Charlene Newell and Jeff Nowak. Afterward audience members will have a chance to meet the composers.
- CENTRAL UTAH BALLET takes the stage at Gunnison Valley High School in Gunnison, for its fifth annual "Nutcracker" are Friday, Saturday and Monday, Dec. 10, 11 and 13, at 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday. Tickets are $5 and $7.
The company of 200 consists of private dance students, Snow College students and Sanpete County residents.
All leads have gone to central Utahns, said artistic director and choreographer Vivian Kosan Bagnall. "We could hire guest dancers, but it's important to keep this `Nutcracker' homegrown," she said. "We will give awards this year to those who have participated in all five `Nutcrackers.' All our bills are paid, and we continue to add to our costumes and scenery."
- MOUNTAIN WEST BALLET opens its ninth annual "Nutcracker" on Friday, Dec. 10, with nine performances scheduled in the Mount Jordan Middle School, 9360 S. 300 East in Sandy, sponsored by the Sandy Arts Council.
A cast of more than 85 represents 10 different ballet schools throughout the Salt Lake Valley, along with members of Mountain West Ballet, ages 14-18, in principal roles.
Carina Linton will alternate as the Sugar Plum Fairy, partnered by Michael Connolly. Linton, 16, studies concurrently at the University of Utah, and has had scholarships to the San Francisco, Joffrey and Pacific Northwest ballet schools. Connolly, 17, moved from Sandy to California where he has danced with the Fresno Ballet for three years. Both are students of the Academy of Ballet Arts in Sandy.
Gary Horton, formerly of Ballet West will again portray Drosselmeier. Karen Chatterton, artistic director and choreographer, notes changes and additions to the ballet to accommodate increasing skill of many dancers, and new costumes for some scenes.
Performances are Dec. 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16-18 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 11 and 18 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 adults, $3 children and seniors, at the door.
- THE SALT LAKE MEN'S CHOIR, under its new artistic director, Douglas Kinney, will present its annual Christmas concert Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 11 and 12, at 7 p.m. at Wasatch Presbyterian Church, 1626 S. 1700 East.
Kinney joins the group after three years as associate conductor of Virginia Opera and music director of the Spectrum Young Artists Program. He is on the faculty of the University of Colorado.
Under the theme "Christmas Comes Anew," the choir will offer music ranging from Beethoven and Vaughan Williams to Jule Style and Irving Berlin. Accompaniment will be by piano, organ, percussion and flute.
Tickets are $10 from choir members or $12 at the door. For information call 485-2989.
- THE TREBLE CLEF Women's Chorus will present a holiday program Saturday, Dec. 11, at 8 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 203 S. 200 East. Under Mark Howarth, the 28 member group will present the premiere of Utah composer Arlen Card's "If Ye Are Faithful" together with carols from France, Spain, England and the United States.
- THE RALPH WOODWARD Chorale and Salt Lake Children's Choir will combine for a pair of concerts Saturday, Dec. 11, in the Provo Tabernacle and Sunday, Dec. 12, in Salt Lake City's Cathedral of the Madeleine. Starting time for each is 8 p.m., with tickets available in advance at Smith'sTix and Keith Jorgensen's Music or at the door.
Featured will be seasonal music of the 20th century, including Flor Peeters' "Entrata Festiva," Gerald Finzi's "My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord" and the Poulenc Gloria, the last with soprano Carol Nelson as soloist. The final work of the evening will be Honegger's "Cantata de Noel."