Los Cantantes del Lago, the 55-member choral group directed by Timothy G. Ruff Welch for 14 years, is gearing up to perform two concerts consisting of well-known carols and the Christmas piece, “A Ceremony of Carols,” by Benjamin Britten.
The concerts will be on Tuesday, December 8 at 7 p.m., and Wednesday, December 9, 4 p.m., in the large Auditorio de la Ribera in La Floresta.
The flowing Britten piece, which has touches of Gregorian chant, was written in 1942 while the composer was on a ship headed to England from the United States. The languages used are Latin, Middle English and Early Modern English, which was the language of Shakespeare. The singers will have musical accompaniment by Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra principal flautist Antonio Dubatovka, harpist Guadalupe Corona, piano and percussion.
The closing carol will be a memorial performance of “Praise to the King” to honor former choir member Bill Vincent, who composed the carol. Vincent, who also handled sound and light for Los Cantantes and was very well known at Lakeside, died Monday.
When Welch started directing Los Cantantes del Lago the group consisted mainly of expats. Now about a third of the singers are Mexican citizens.
“Many people don’t realize how diverse we’ve become,” he pointed out. “And our ages range from 13 to 85.”
Welch has led the group on several international tours, including Greece, Turkey, Ecuador and Canada.
“In April, we’re going to Cuba,” he added.