Candlelight benefit concert set for Dec. 18

The Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy presents the 28th Annual Vivaldi by Candlelight Benefit Concert on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 8 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church. It's located at 12 C Street in Salt Lake City.

The Concert features the Vivaldi Virtuosi ensemble conducted by Utah Symphony's Associate Concertmaster and Music Director, Gerald Elias. The program features some rarely played, yet scintillating music of the Renaissance and the Baroque performed by some extraordinarily talented soloists, including Robert Beitel, Horn; Stina Eberhardt, Mezzo Soprano; and Meeka Quan-DiLorenzo, Cello.

Vivaldi's Sinfonia in C Major will unleash the famous Vivaldi unfettered rhythmic energy and, performed by the entire ensemble, will provide the appropriate, exuberant curtain raiser. Later in the program, former assistant principal cellist of the Utah Symphony, Meeka Quan DiLorenzo, will play Vivaldi's darkly virtuosic Concerto in A Minor, a perfect vehicle for her amazing technical skill and passionate musicality.

Another rarely heard work on the program, Georg Philipp Telemann's Concerto in D for Horn, will be performed by Utah Symphony member Ronald Beitel.

The final piece of the program, the Concerto Grosso in C Minor by Arcangelo Corelli, will be performed by the entire Vivaldi Virtuosi ensemble, highlighted by the flashes of dazzling brilliance that Corelli so typically provides for the principal players. The music of Vivaldi, who was Venetian, and Corelli, Vivaldi's older contemporary in Rome, provide bookends for a Candlelight program that demonstrates in just over an hour the wonders of the Baroque era.

Vivaldi by Candlelight benefits the UCCD, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting global understanding and respect between the people of Utah and other nations. Reserved seating tickets $40. Sponsorships available starting at $125 per person. The concert program is available at www.utahdiplomacy.org.