Copious Notes

Jefferson Johnson, director of choral activities at the University of Kentucky, leads the choirs and the audience in singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" at Saturday night's "Collage" performance. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.Com.

The University of Kentucky choirs’ holiday “Collage” concert has always been a little hard to get a handle on. No specific group is highlighted beyond a few minutes and there is no defined style, except really good music.

It’s just something you have to see, and this year’s edition is something to see.

More than 330 musicians are involved in the show that was presented Saturday night at UK’s Singletary Center for the Arts and will be presented again at 3 p.m. Sunday.

It’s a wide range of musicians. The UK Choirs are ostensibly the stars of the show, but they constantly cede the stage to other acts such as the UK Steel Band, the Lexington Singers Children’s Choir, the Alluring hand bell ensemble and some of UK’s newest faculty.

The show started in grand fashion with the combined choirs and organist Schuyler Robinson’s rendition of “Adeste fideles” (”O Come All Ye Faithful”). Then the show quickly minimalized to new UK guitar instructor Dieter Hennings with a classicaly intricate rendition of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” that had a bluesy warmth. Then the show built up again to the Steel Band, the Children’s Choir and a performance of “Santa Baby” by Paws & Listen — one of several numbers with that distinct mid-20th Century pop Christmas vibe we remember from things like celebrity holiday TV specials.

And that’s how the evening went, shifting styles and ensembles to create a show that truly lived up to its picturesque title.

The highlights included a sumptuous “Ave Maria” by the UK Men’s Chorus which highlighted their precision and sensitivity; the UK Chorale’s “Estampie natalis” with the UK Chorale and viola faculty Deborah Lander  leading an intriguing ensemble of cello, piccolo and percussion; and new voice faculty Cynthia Lawrence making you forget all those other “O Holy Nights” you’ve heard.

A few years ago, UK President Lee Todd said the UK School of Music was “on fire,” and “Collage” served as an apt illustration of that. Since then, UK has hired some stunning faculty like Lander and Lawrence, and “Collage” served as sort of this mirror showcase where the audience could see the quality of the program and how it must be attracting high quality new faculty members.

Several UK students also got to cap off very good performance years, including violinist Jessica Miskelly in a rich “Carol of the Bells” that altered my perception of it as strictly a vocal piece, SummerFest’s “Once on This Island” star Tai-Kristin Smedley singing “Somewhere in my Memory” and Reginald Smith Jr. as a featured soloist in the concert closer “Betelehemu.”

A lot of directors might have flipped the Act I finale of Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus with the African number performed by the combined choirs and the UK African Percussion Ensemble. But with that lineup, UK director of choral activities Jefferson Johnson ended the evening showing off the great skill and diversity of the School of Music.

All that, and it was a great Christmas concert too. That’s really all we need to know.

Musicians in the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Singers and UK Chorale settle onto the stage of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the Our Lincoln performance Feb. 2, 2009. Photo by Jonathan Palmer.

The presentation of Our Lincoln at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in February was undeniably a big deal for Kentucky arts and humanities.

Artists who live and work here were presented on one of the nation’s most ­prestigious stages along with hometown kids who have made good and a few international stars, such as violinist Mark O’Connor. A production conceived and produced in Central Kentucky went to an international arts showplace and acquitted itself admirably.

I sat with a Washington cameraman who went on at length about how great the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra is. It was one of numerous anecdotes about seasoned Washington arts observers who were impressed with Our Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln played by Jim Sayre of Lawrenceburg, left, and Henry Clay played by George MGee of Georgetown put the finishing touches on their costumes outside the entrance to the Kennedy Center.

But it is understandable that this might be lost on people who weren’t among the 1,463 people who saw the ­performance, given while the state was in the throes of an ice storm. ­Overseeing recovery ­efforts forced Gov. Steve Beshear to cancel his plans to attend.

But now Beshear and anyone else who would like to see the show can catch it in Michael Breeding’s PBS-quality DVD, which has just been released.

After raising the money to get the program to ­Washington, the Kentucky Humanities Council had to go back to the well for an ­additional $6,500 to produce the DVD, with the total costs to be recouped through sales.

What we can now see is that Breeding and his crew captured the proceedings in stunning detail, with shots that take the viewer onto the stage with the performers and also relay the grandeur of the occasion.

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