A scene from a past Los Alamos Community Winds holiday concert. Courtesy/LACW
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Los Alamos Community Winds is offering its annual Holiday Prism Concert 7 p.m. Dec. 16 at Crossroads Bible Church.
This concert is free, but donations are accepted.
The Holiday Prism Concert is not the run-of-the-mill traditional holiday programs; the Community Winds has put a unique twist on its seasonal concert.
The Winds Music and Artistic Director Ted Vives explained the concert’s name, Holiday Prism, is literally translated into the concert. Like a prism bending light so that it appears separated into rainbow colors, the Los Alamos Community Winds breaks up its ensemble into different groups around the concert venue to perform seasonal and holiday-themed pieces.
Vives said the Community Winds will be joined by the Los Alamos Flutes and the SaxAtomics as well as tenor Rene LeClaire and other soloists.
“It is just a fun thing,” he said. “We go from the stage to the back of the auditorium. It keeps the audience involved all the way through the performances. It is just something we hope will be a little bit different.”
The community seems to appreciate the twist; Vives said this is typically the Community Wind’s best attended performance of the year.
As far as this year’s program, Vives said the some “jazzy” numbers will be performed as well as traditional tunes. As Vives put it, everything from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” to “Sleigh Ride” and other traditional pieces will be featured.
“It’s just going to be fun,” he said. “We look forward to presenting it to the community.”
Vives said the idea for the concert was inspired by a similar show that the Eastman School of Music would host in the 1970s. He said it was used as a recruiting tool to showcase what the school had to offer. Musicians were split up and would perform separately. To really emphasize the idea of a prism, Vives said the entire auditorium would be in the dark and a spotlight of different colors would shine down on the performers.
What makes this year’s concert special is the chance to spotlight other music groups in the community and perhaps even attract them to join the Los Alamos Community Winds, Vives said.
“One of the things that’s nice is it allows us to give a little more recognition for the players in the area” he said.
If interested in joining the Community Winds, please visit https:////www.lacw.org or email at info@lacw.org. The Los Alamos Community Winds is always looking for new members and is open to all. There are no audition requirements – members only need to know how to play an instrument. The Community Winds rehearses 7-9 p.m. Tuesdays Los Alamos High School.
The Holiday Prism Concert is just one of several concerts that the Community Winds has planned. March 9, it will host A Vocal Celebration concert and on May 11, the concert, Music from the Stage and Screen, will be held.