For their annual December concert, the UCLA choral groups are
ditching their usual program of formal, classical pieces for a more
accessible and festive one.
On Dec. 10, the UCLA Chorale, University Chorus, Chamber
Singers, and UCLA Wind Ensemble will come together to offer an
eclectic mix of holiday music ranging from classics such as
“Carole of the Belles,” to songs sung partially in
Spanish and Hebrew, to traditional favorites with contemporary
spins.
“Audiences will be able to recognize a few of their
favorite pieces and also branch out and hear pieces in other
languages that show the wide range of the chorale’s
singing,” said Annie Clement, a third-year communications
student who is a member of the Chorale.
Some of the unique portions of the program include a swing
version of “Oh Holy Night” and an adaptation of
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” that takes audiences
through what Clement described as a “musicological
journey,” with each verse delivered in a way that emulates a
specific time period and country.
Unlike the formal pieces usually featured in fall concerts, each
song was selected to infuse a sense of holiday festiveness into the
program.
“People are usually attracted to a holiday concert more
than to one including a requiem piece as we’ve done in the
past,” Clement said.
The number of choral groups performing contributes to the
diversity of the show, as the majority of the members are non-music
majors and range in age from first-years to doctoral students.
The range of training and experience of the participants,
however, will not detract from the performance.
“We don’t ask (the students) to perform like
students; we ask them to perform like professionals,” says
Donald Neuen, the lead director of the show and professor of choral
conducting at UCLA.
“It’s the same as in sports. We don’t ask
athletes to play like student-athletes; we ask them to play like
the best NFL players in the world.”
Neuen, who also conducts the Angeles Chorale in Los Angeles and
the Crystal Cathedral Hour of Power, will share the podium with
several doctoral and master students who are studying musical
conducting.
The graduate conducting students will help bring together the
three different choral groups with the UCLA Wind Ensemble, usually
led by Professor Thomas Lee.
“Each group is amazing in its own way,” Clement
said, “but when you combine all of them together it creates
this huge musical force that’s just magnificent.”
Despite the performance taking place the weekend before final
exams, Neuen predicts that the holiday show will fill Royce Hall
with a large audience.
If anything, he believes the timing of the show adds to its
appeal for the performers, as it will give the students a short
reprieve from their studies and help put them in the holiday
spirit.
“(The students) regularly say that this activity in the
arts gives them relief and restores sanity from the pressures of
their majors and other schoolwork,” Neuen said.
Clement agrees, and finds the benefits extend into the audience
as well. She hopes viewers will find joy in watching the
performance.
“I think about it as giving a gift to the audience, with
how much fun they’re going to see us having when we’re
performing for them,” she said.