The exalted sounds of the holidays are handed down year after year with generations worth of sacred Christmas music and favorite holiday songs all enjoying the limelight. From Handel’s Messiah to Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, the undeniably, holly jolly music permeates the season.
Two celebrated Lompoc ensembles are putting on respective Christmas concerts at the city’s well-known classical and art music venue, the First United Methodist Church, during the first weekend of December. The Lompoc Valley Master Chorale will be sharing The Splendor of Christmas concert with a guest brass ensemble and organist on Dec. 5 and 6. The Lompoc Pops Orchestra will be welcoming a guest conductor and a guest vocalist to the orchestra’s annual Christmas Concert on Dec. 7.
The First United Methodist Church boasts a high ceiling and wide hall, a perfect architectural amplifier for the weekend’s music. Appropriately, the weekend will begin with the Lompoc Valley Master Chorale performing sacred Christmas music composed for the vaulted ceilings and stone walls of the cathedrals of the high Renaissance, explained chorale director Kathleen Hacker. The ultimate church instrument, the organ, will be joined by the clear, bright tone of a brass ensemble.
“I think the organ and brass together make just a spectacular, joyous music,” Hacker said. “I just think there is nothing more exciting than the choir singing with accompaniment by the brass and organ, and what could I use but music from the era that used those instruments so much.”
Serious music calls for serious musicians, and the Lompoc Valley Master Chorale has called on the efforts of titans. Commanding the organ keys will be a Russian-born virtuoso with a doctorate of musical arts in organ performance, Katya Gotsdiner-McMahan. The Holiday Brass will be making up the rest of the instruments, with John Ernest and Mike Davis trumpeting, Jon Titmus on French horn, and Ken Kugler playing trombone.
The Master Chorale’s program continues into more contemporary pieces inspired by old scriptures, hymns, and carols. Gotsdiner-McMahan will wow with a solo organ performance of Toccata on “Veni Emmanuel,” and the Holiday Brass will serve up a fun Christmas medley. The wide expanse of Western musical history is on full display in this concert, including a long-forgotten type of song.
“Our scholar group from the chorale will sing the Past Three O’Clock chorus, which has kind of a street feel to it,” Hacker said. “This comes from an English tradition. In London, they would have the night watchman, and they would call out the time, and sometimes they would do it with music, and over time it became music groups that would sing the time as they walked down the street.”
After the chorale has decked the hall with voices, the Lompoc Pops Orchestra takes its turn festooning the First United Methodist with instrumental music. The Pops is currently looking for a new director/conductor and is welcoming a guest conductor to each concert this season in hopes of finding a good fit. Local musician, teacher, and conductor Keith Waibel will take the reins of the sleigh for this Christmas Concert, which will feature sparkling strands of melodies wreathed in rhythms bouncing like bowls full of jelly.
“Music, of course, it’s a universal way of expressing emotion, including the whole gamut of emotions” Waibel said. “So what you want to do is transport people through the use of music and the wonderful sounds they hear and the wonderful visual of the orchestra and transport them to whatever place in the holidays that felt good for them, whatever was an enjoyable experience.”
The Lompoc Pops Orchestra will perform holiday favorites from the orchestral canon, like Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride and other more contemporary composers. Though the Pops is used to contemporary orchestral music, it will dip into the classical world for a few Christmas-time favorites that will feature guest vocalist Deanna Delore. Delore, who owns a voice studio in Arroyo Grande, will lend her soprano voice to Franz Schubert’s iconic Ave Maria and Pietro Yon’s Gesù bambino.
“This concert is both a worshipful and secular experience of the holiday, and so we really want to provide that to the people of the Lompoc Valley,” Waibel said. “The community really is lucky to have the Lompoc Pops Orchestra, and it’s thanks to a really wonderful board of directors that have made the orchestra live and will give it a great future.”
Holiday brass
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society presents a concert featuring the Yuletide Brass performing holiday favorites on Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 311 S. Broadway, Santa Maria. Cost is $30, $25 for seniors and military, $12 for students. More information is available at 925-0412, info@santamariaphilharmonic.org, or santamariaphilharmonic.org.
Roll with the Riptide
The Riptide Big Band performs a Big Band Christmas concert on Dec. 7 from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at the Elwin Mussell Center, 510 Park, Santa Maria. Cost is $10. More information is available at 922-4806, judybluenote@gmail.com, or riptidebb.com.
Masters at the mission
The Santa Ynez Valley Master Chorale performs for the La Purisima Founding Day Concert on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. at the La Purisima Road, 2295 La Purisima Road, Lompoc. Cost is $6. More information is available at 733-3713 or lapurisimamission.org.
Fresh off D’Vine
The D’Vine Wine Bar and Bistro features live music by Sean Wiggins and Paul Houston on Nov. 29. Andrew Beal performs Dec. 6. Shows happen at 7:30 p.m. at the D’Vine Wine Bar and Bistro, 107 W. Ocean Ave., Lompoc. More information is available at 430-8356 or dvinewinebarandbistro.com.
Marquez on the mic
The Radisson Hotel presents live music Fridays and Saturdays including Juan Marquez performing Nov. 28 and 29 and Dec. 5 and 6 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Radisson, 3455 Skyway Dr., Santa Maria. More information is available at 928-8000.
Live at Lucia’s
Lucia’s Wine Co. offers an open mic event for musicians and poets on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Live music by Robert Herrera is featured Nov. 28. John Vilente performs live Nov. 29. Louie Ortega performs Dec. 5. Michael Nunez performs Dec. 6. Friday and Saturday concerts happen from 6 to 9 p.m. at Lucia’s Wine Co. Tasting Room, 126 E. Clark Ave., Orcutt. More information is available at 332-3080 or lucias-wine-co.com.
Get down at the Maverick
The Maverick Saloon offers live entertainment each weekend including the Molly Ringwald Project performing on Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. Concert on the Deck with Jerry Stickel is Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. The Lifters perform live Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. The Rincons perform Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. Concert on the Deck with Suburbanoid is Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. Michael-Ann with Fiddle and Pine performs Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. at the saloon, 3687 Sagunto St., Santa Ynez. More information is available at 686-4785 or mavericksyv@aol.com.
Contact Arts Editor Joe Payne at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 3, 2014.