Guests give voice to Philharmonic holiday performance

Friday, Dec. 10, 2004 | 8:49 a.m.

For Christmas music touted as glorious and ambitious, Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Hodie" often gets passed up in performances for the more-familiar "Messiah" and traditional standards.

Some may even know the British composer more for his "Fantasia on Greensleeves," also known as "What Child is This?"

This season, however, the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Las Vegas Master Singers will perform selections from "Hodie," incorporating the voices of the University Children's Chorale, soprano Christine Seitz, baritone Tod Fitzpatrick and tenor Alphonse Anderson.

The "Holiday Celebration" performances Saturday and Sunday at UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall mark the second year in which the young orchestra offers a more serious holiday program in the concert's first half, following last year's "Magnificat."

The program's second half features the 100-voice children's choir performing light-hearted holiday music, including Leroy Anderson's "A Christmas Festival."

Under the direction of assistant director Richard McGee, the philharmonic will also perform John Williams' "Music From 'Home Alone.' "

Weller said that he and Jocelyn Kaye Jensen, director of the Master Singers, selected "Hodie" for this year.

"The very last chorus, which is an affirmation of Christmas, is a beautiful Anglican," Weller said. "It sounds glorious."

Seitz, a soprano, is director of UNLV Opera Theatre and has performed with opera companies throughout the country, including the Manhattan Opera in New York, the Los Angeles Opera and the Seattle Opera.

Fitzpatrick, a baritone, is an assistant professor of music at UNLV who has performed as soloist for symphonies around the country, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra.

Anderson, a tenor, is associate professor of voice at UNLV and has performed with national and international symphonies, including the Warswaw Symphony and the Krakow Symphony.

Why "Hodie" is not performed as often as other works, Weller said he can only speculate.

"It takes a large orchestra and it's very difficult for choruses," he said. "Surprisingly there are many performances of it this Christmas. Boosey & Hawkes (music publishers) are getting a lot of requests. I don't know if there's something in the water, or what."

The philharmonic has been presenting holiday concerts since 1999. Past performances include Christmas carols, "Messiah" and selections from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker."

"It's good to see that this holiday concert has taken root as a holiday tradition," Weller said. "For many (performers) it's the favorite concert."