"Remembering Decembers" Program Book December 2021

Remembering Decembers The Las Vegas Men’s Chorus – Winter 2021

Remembering Traditions • • • •

Sing We Now of Christmas Carol of the Bells Silent Night (Singalong) I Saw Three Ships

Remembering Decembers with Family & Friends • •

Remembering Decembers Somewhere in my Memory

Remembering Hanukkah •

Hanukkah Dance o Featured Small Ensemble – Boogie Woogie Hanukkah

Remembering Hope & Peace o

Featured Small Ensemble – Shalom, Pacem, Peace Featuring Christian Garcia, Cello

• •

Like a River in My Soul I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

*********There will be a 10-minute Intermission********* Remembering Decembers at Home • • •

Mistletoe and Holly Home for the Holidays Medley (Merry Christmas Darling, I’ll Be Home For Christmas, & Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas) Please Come Home for Christmas

Remembering Cozy Decembers by the Fire o o

Piano Feature – The Christmas Song Featuring Laurence Sobel, Piano Featured Ensemble – I Want to Stare at my Phone With You

Remembering Letters to Santa • • •

o Featured Ensemble – The Holiday Season Grown-Up Christmas List Kay Thompson’s Jingle Bells (Encore) My Wish For You This Christmas

Tenor 1 Michael Amesquita

Chris Doucette Erick Fields Mark Haynes Averill Kelley James Koperski Ryan Miller Michael Morell Peter Vega

Tenor 2 Gregory Acosta Isaac Burkholz Marcos Chaljub-Zambrano

TJ Dahna Adam Denzler Paul Fadoul Christian Garcia Mike Nagy Jay Regala Christopher Smith Stephen Trumble Jonathan Tuala

Baritone Chris Aguillar Jim Carter Jeff Chase Frank Coombs Cesar Galaviz Jim Long Reed Merrell Aaron Valentine David Wald

Bass 2 Dennis Aragon Graham Bates Fred Crescente Dominic Gaon Cherokee Hines Ed Humphrey Bernie Russell Aaron Schave Matthew Vance Tim Vogl

LAS VEGAS MEN’S CHORUS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Bernie Russell Vice-President: James Koperski Secretary: Ryan Miller Treasurer: Marcos Chaljub-Zambrano Member-At-Large: Jonathan Tuala

JOIN US!! FOLLOW US!! @LVMensChorus

@LVMensChorus1

@lasvegasmenschorus

Las Vegas Men’s Chorus

WEBSITE: WWW.LVMENSCHORUS.ORG

Artistic Director – Ryan Duff Ryan is a 2001 graduate of Ball State University. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Choral Music Education. He also completed a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Southern Utah University in 2017.

Ryan is a proud member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Nevada Music Educators Association (NMEA) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He has served as the Chair of the CCSD Honor Choir since 2015, and currently serves on the Nevada All-State Choir Committee. Duff also served as the 2020 Western Region ACDA Honor Choir Chairman. Currently, Ryan serves as the AllConference Sing Coordinator for the 2022 Western Region ACDA Conference, and as a member of the Western Region’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force. He has served as President of the Nevada ACDA chapter, and currently serves as the Nevada ACDA Men’s Choir Repertoire & Resources Chairman.

Before his career as a teacher, Ryan worked as a Professional Singer and Entertainer. Outside of Las Vegas, he worked for Holland America Cruise Lines, Busch Gardens Theme Park Entertainment, Cedar Point Amusement Park Entertainment, and Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. He has worked as Musical Director for several Professional Regional Musical Theatre Productions including "The Wiz," "Fame: The Musical," "Peter Pan," "Fiddler on the Roof," and "The Taffetas."

His Las Vegas performing career as a singer and musician has included "Tony & Tina’s Wedding" at the Rio Hotel & Casino, "The Can-Can Cabaret" at the Paris Hotel & Casino, and performing as a Singing Gondolier at the Venetian Hotel & Casino.

Pianist – Laurence Sobel A pianist, music director/arranger, and vocal coach. In Las Vegas, he has periodically played keyboard for Mamma Mia!, The Lion King, The Phat Pack, and Jersey Boys. He has performed in various venues including at the Palms, Caesar’s Palace, and the Hard Rock Hotel.

In addition, he has played at numerous cabarets and nightclubs in New York City. He has also played for national tours including “Song and Dance” and “A Funny Thing… Forum.” Laurence served for 11 years on the faculty of the American Musical & Dramatic Academy in New York City. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from Harvard University, and also studied at the Manhattan School of Music and Tanglewood.

About the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus….

The Las Vegas Men’s Chorus was established in the early 1990’s by a small group of men looking for camaraderie and to bring the unique sound of a Men’s Chorus to the Las Vegas Valley.

Our Performance history has included performances for Golden Rainbow, Las Vegas Prime-Timers, Las Vegas Pride, World AIDS Day, and the Gateway Arts Foundation.

Every year, in conjunction with the Clark County School District, we perform at “Real Men Sing,” a Men’s Choral Festival intended to bolster confidence and a lifelong love of singing in our community’s young men. As a GALA Chorus, we had the honor of attending the 2016 GALA Conference in Denver with over 125 other choruses from around the world.

Open Rehearsal/Auditions for our upcoming Spring 2022 Concert will be held on Sunday, January 9 & January 16, 2022. We meet from 1:00pm – 3:30pm every Sunday at the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada (401 S. Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89101). Please follow us on all of our social media, reach out to a current member, or visit the website for more information. We would LOVE to have you add your talents to our ensemble.

On behalf of our Artistic Staff, the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus Board of Directors, and our entire ensemble, we want to thank you for spending your Sunday evening with us and we sincerely hope that you enjoy tonight’s show - our first Holiday Concert since December 2019! Your support here today means everything to us all; we hope that you enjoy the concert, as much as we have enjoyed sharing it with all of you. Have a safe and Happy Holiday!

SAVE THE DATES: LVMC OPEN REHEARSALS/AUDITIONS 2022: Sunday, January 9 & Sunday, January 16, 2022 @ 1pm, LGBTQ Center LAS VEGAS MEN’S CHORUS SPRING CONCERT 2022: Sunday, May 1, 2022 – 4:00pm, FLAMINGO LIBRARY LAS VEGAS MEN’S CHORUS PRIDE CONCERT 2022: Friday, June 3, 2022 – 7:00pm, FLAMINGO LIBRARY

Amazon Smile will donate 0.5% of all eligible purchases to the Las Vegas Men’s Chorus when you set-up and shop from smile.amazon.com! What a great way to give when shopping from home.

Donate anytime to us via Venmo!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & OUR HEARTFELT THANKS The LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada The Clark County Library Staff & Technicians Stephen Trumble, Social Media Manager Darren Abell, Website Sectional Rehearsal Hosts Ushers & LVMC Volunteers All of our supporters, musicians, current members, and alumni