Details

What: Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10; 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11

Where: Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis

Tickets: $35-$55 general, $17.50-$55 students; www.mondaviarts.org or (530) 754-2787

The Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra return to the Mondavi Center for a pair of concerts with a “Home for the Holidays” theme at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11. The concerts will be recorded, with the goal of creating a holiday album for the group.

“We will be showcasing several pieces that are new to our annual holiday program,” said conductor Donald Kendrick. “We are doing some beautiful arrangements from a wonderful composer, Barlow Bradford, who is conductor of the Utah Chamber Artists.”

Much of Bradford’s music has been recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and performed by the Dallas Symphony Chorus and other groups.

Kendrick added, “We’re doing a setting Bradford has written of ‘Winter Wonderland’ that’s got eight-part harmony for the choir, and we’re contrasting that with his setting of ‘Away In A Manger,” which is chillingly beautiful.

“We’re doing Bradford’s setting of an old Austrian carol, ‘Still, Still, Still,’ and his setting of ‘Silent Night.’ Last year, we performed Bradford’s setting of ‘Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,’ which brought the house down, so we’re returning that to the program this year as well.”

Kendrick said the choral society and orchestra also will perform some new pieces by British composer John Rutter.

“What would Christmas be without John Rutter?” he asked. “We’re doing his piece ‘The Colors of Christmas,’ which is charming and alluring, and his ‘Donkey Carol.’

“I’ve known John Rutter since 1985; he would come and work with Mel Olson at Fremont Presbyterian Church in Sacramento — they did his Requiem — and Rachel Kessler of Davis sang some of the solos.”

“We are opening the concert with a piece that was written for the Dallas Symphony — the ‘Personent Hodie’ by Lara Hoggard. For that piece, the choir will be standing out amongst the audience, holding candles.”

And for something familiar, the chorus and orchestra will perform Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride,” which is “an energetic tune everybody loves,” Kendrick said.

“For a long time, people have been asking us when we would record a holiday album. So we will record some of the really quiet pieces on Saturday afternoon, without an audience. Then we will record the Saturday night and Sunday afternoon concerts, and hopefully blend the best performances into a holiday CD” that would come out sometime in 2012.

“For people who are looking for something to give as a present this year, we have reprinted 1,000 of our special cookbooks. Members of the chorus contributed their favorite recipes; I have a recipe in there, too,” Kendrick said.

The first printing sold out, and people keep asking for copies, he added.

Tickets for the concert are $35-$55 general, $17.50-$55 students, available through the Mondavi Center box office, www.mondaviarts.org or (530) 754-2787.

The two holiday concerts will be the Sacramento Choral Society’s only appearances at the Mondavi Center during the 2011-12 concert season. On April 14, the Choral Society will perform William Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast” at the Sacramento Community Center Theatre, and on June 2 the group will perform sacred works by Monteverdi, Mozart, Mendelssohn and others at Fremont Presbyterian Church in Sacramento.

— Reach Jeff Hudson at [email protected] or (530) 747-8055.

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Donald Kendrick, conductor of the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra, basks in the glow of the audience’s appreciation following last year’s concert. This year’s concerts will be recorded for the production of a long-awaited holiday CD, due out sometime in 2012. Courtesy photo

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Sacramento Choral Society singers raise their voices in song at the 2010 “Home for the Holidays” concert in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis. This year’s edition of the annual concert will be presented at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11. Courtesy photo

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