Utah Chamber Artists will reprise J.A.C. Redford’s Christmas cantata, ‘Welcome All Wonders’

"Welcome All Wonders" is a gift that has kept giving for composer J.A.C. Redford and the Utah Chamber Artists.

The cantata's 1993 world premiere, followed by a recording two years later, was the first collaboration between the composer and the then-fledgling choir. Redford, who grew up in Salt Lake City, subsequently has written a handful of other pieces for Utah Chamber Artists; the most recent was the deeply personal "Rest Now, My Sister," written in 2011 in response to a family tragedy. Meanwhile, performances of "Welcome All Wonders" by other groups have led to other commissions for Redford, including a 90-minute oratorio for the University of South Carolina.

Utah Chamber Artists will bring back the five-movement, 25-minute "Welcome All Wonders" as the centerpiece of its upcoming Christmas concert.

"I like the piece even more now than I did initially," said Barlow Bradford, the group's artistic director. "This is a significant work. Lots of things come and go, but this will be around for a long time. It's so well-crafted and sophisticated in its approach. The poetry [Redford] chose is so beautiful. … It's all about paradox.

"We're all older, a lot older — it was 20 years ago that we did this. You grow up a little bit and start seeing texts in a different way."

Redford chose five poems by four British and American poets — some contemporary, some Elizabethan. Each one touches on the paradoxes of Christ's incarnation. "Behold, the father is his daughter's son" is the opening line of the central movement, "The Nativity of Christ" by 16th-century poet Robert Southwell. "The bird that built the nest is hatched therein."

Liz Liljenquist, a UCA board member, is a longtime friend and former Skyline High classmate of Redford's. She was instrumental in arranging the 1993 commission and sang in the world premiere. Liljenquist ecalled that it was a special thrill to hear the composer's insights while preparing and performing the new work. Like Bradford, she was impressed with the music's depth.

"[Redford] took a different approach to the music, as Christmas music, than is often taken," she said. "It's not just fun and partying, it's very thoughtful."

Not that it's all solemn and sedate, she said. The arresting opening bars, in particular, are "meant to portray the greatness of the event, the all-powerful hugeness of it. It wasn't tame."

Redford, speaking by phone from his Southern California home, said "Welcome All Wonders" is significant to him for several reasons, not least of which is the connection it represents to his hometown of Salt Lake. He'll be in the audience at Libby Gardner Concert Hall on Monday. He said he always has been pleased with Bradford's handling of his compositions.

"I could not think more highly of Barlow's musicianship and aesthetic sensibilities," he said. "It's a great thing to know that, as a composer. And the quality of the singing, too — I can't say enough about that."

The remainder of Monday's program will include two settings of familiar carols by Bob Chilcott and three by Bradford. One of those will be a world premiere: Bradford is writing a new arrangement of "Sing We Now of Christmas" in response to a vote by supporters at UCA's annual gala. As is his custom, he'll also invite the audience to sing along on a couple of carols — including one of his arrangements, which can be challenging for the untrained singer.

"I'm going to try to do one of mine, which is crazy, but we'll see," he said. "We always have a good audience."

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Utah Chamber Artists

Barlow Bradford and friends will present J.A.C. Redford's "Welcome All Wonders" and a handful of Christmas carols.

When • Monday, Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m.

Where • Libby Gardner Concert Hall, 1375 E. Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $10-$17; utahchamberartists.org/concerts/christmas-concert