Hilaritas spreads Christmas cheer

In its 39th year, Hilaritas, the School of Music's annual Christmas concert, can still pack the Moody Concert Hall like no other event of the year.

To the credit of the University Singers and the Alabama Jazz Ensemble, this is entirely deserved. Hilaritas packs as many of the old holiday standards into a little less than two hours with a variety of traditional and jazzy arrangements and a few surprises. It is safe to call Hilaritas one of the consistently great pleasures on this campus in the holiday season.

Friday night's performance began with an opener medley featuring the collective ensemble - specifically, the University Singers and students playing a variety of strings, woodwind and brass instruments, along with percussionists, a pianist, a bassist and guitarist - performing old standards such as "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

Conducted by Tom Wolfe, the arrangement from past Jazz Ensemble director Steve Sample is jazzy, uptempo and a great way to kick off the concert, as is traditionally done. This opener was accompanied with vocals from the Singers, who surrounded the ensemble dressed in bright, festive clothing adorned with all manners of holiday folderol.

The high points of the evening, for me, were the jazz medleys arranged by Wolfe. Titled "Happy Holiday Medley" and "Stocking Stuffer," these two medleys featured some of the most enjoyable music of the evening, drawing together songs such as "Feliz Navidad," "Bring a Torch, Isabella" and a few recognizable tunes from certain unnamed animated television Christmas classics.

(It's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." And the "Charlie Brown" special. No point in keeping it secret, I guess.)

The sheer craftsmanship of the arrangements notwithstanding, it was here that I was most impressed with the student musicians. Hard though it is to single out one member of the ensemble at large, I must commend the soloists in these sections, particularly Daniel Western and Quintin Bell, for their musicianship. Frankly, these guys were stunning.

The University Singers provided a few extremely enjoyable pieces as well, as conducted by director John Ratledge; "The Little Drummer Boy" was a high point for me, and I was a fan of "Here's a Pretty Little Baby," though the full effect of soloist Katy Mitchell - and, for that matter, later soloist Megan Newman in the Amy Grant song "Breath of Heaven" - was perhaps lost by some acoustical problems with the microphone used by both of them.

I am working under the assumption that both of these ladies were talented performers here (having heard and enjoyed them in many previous performances), but I can't honestly say that I heard them terribly well. The high notes were clear, but the lower parts were lost due to whatever acoustical gremlins there exist in microphones that muddle the effect of soloists. I must admit to not having the best vantage point in the second balcony; perhaps my experience was not shared by those on the floor who bought their tickets a lot sooner than me.

The evening, coupled with two audience-participation performances of "Joy to the World" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" and a surprise from the always-enjoyable men's a cappella group, closed with a finale medley featuring both the Singers and the full ensemble with songs such as "Deck the Halls" and, to cap the evening off, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." It was an appropriate ending to an absolute blast of an evening of music; if the Christmas spirit has not overcome you after leaving Hilaritas, it likely never will. So you deserve coal in your stocking. Or some other Christmas metaphor.