Scene from a previous Los Alamos Community Winds Holiday Prism Concert. This year’s concert will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Crossroads Bible Church. Courtesy/LACW
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
Be prepared to hear a whole genre of holiday music divide and subdivide into a wide spectrum of seasonal tunes. This audio spectacle is aptly called the annual Holiday Prism Concert, hosted by the Los Alamos Community Winds (LACW) at 7 p.m., Saturday at the Crossroads Bible Church.
According to the program notes, the concert is like a prism breaking up light; it showcases music and local musicians in all their varied components.
LACW Musical and Artistic Director Ted Vives further explained that the wind ensemble will be broken up into small performance groups, and the stage will be shared by other local groups such as the Los Alamos Flutes, the Los Alamos Clarinet Choir, members of the Los Alamos Choral Society, Nathaniel Gates and Friends and others.
“It’s much more of an individual expression of everyone’s musical abilities,” Vives said. “It puts the performance in a different format that shows we have a lot of talented people in this town. I think the musicians appreciate that and it provides a unique opportunity for the audience to see that there is more than what can be done with just having the ensemble on the stage.”
The concert is also unique in how it is staged. Rather than everyone congregating on a single stage, the performers will form a circle and there will be a continuous stream of music.
Speaking of music, Vives said each performance group selects their own music but for the ensemble’s pieces he said he was selective with what he chose.
“I want to pick pieces the audience will enjoy,” he said. “I look for pieces that are not necessarily your standard holiday fare.”
He explained one thing that has greatly influenced him was a performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during a conference. The orchestra played an original work called “Christmas in Chicago”, that highlighted different places in around the city and how it celebrates the season. Vives said he feels Los Alamos could do something similar.
So, this year the winds along with the Choral Society will be premiering “Christmas in Los Alamos.” Vives said he hopes everyone enjoys it and adopts the piece as the town’s holiday song.
“We are really excited to introduce the community to this.”
He added he sees this concert as more than just an event in the community – it is the LACW’s holiday gift to Los Alamos.
Vives said this concert is a way “of a community coming together … and that is my idea for this concert, that we get together as members of the community and make this our community gift of music … ideally, I would love to do a two hour concert for everybody and fill the auditorium with as many members as we can get.”
Admission to the Holiday Prism Concert is free but there is a $15 suggested donation.
The music doesn’t stop with the Holiday Prism Concert; Vives said LACW is planning a big weeklong celebration for Mozart’s birthday in March. He said there will be films shown at SALA Event Center along with lectures and master classes March 9-14. The week will conclude with a gala and concert on March 14.
