UTB-TSC students to perform at concert tonight

The El Paseo Arts Foundation will host its Third Annual Holiday Concert at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Port Isabel today.

Three ensembles from the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College will present “A Holiday Concert” for music lovers in the Laguna Madre area.

The concert will feature the Rio Bravo Brass Consort, directed by Alan Clark, a trumpet ensemble directed by Art Brownlow, and the Scorpio Consort directed by Carol McNabb. Scorpio will wear medieval costumes and play medieval period music, Clark said.

“We are very pleased to share our music with the Laguna Madre community,” he said. “We don’t get out there that often, and we look forward to this performance.”

Music selections will include period pieces from the 1800s, but the 14-person brass ensemble will also play contemporary pieces from the 20th century.

“One of the older pieces commemorates the charge of the Old Guard at Waterloo,” Clark said. “It was Napoleon’s final charge. The Old Guard was the last of his reserves, and when it became obvious they, too, were going down to defeat, Napoleon realized the battle was lost.”

Another piece in the repertoire for the evening is “La Peri Fanfare” by Dukas.

“The concert is Christmas-oriented, but it won’t all be Christmas music,” Clark said.

The concert will last 90 minutes and will include traditional and contemporary holiday music. “We’re very pleased to have these talented musicians play for us,” El Paseo member JoAnn Evans said.

The concert begins at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person, or $10 per person for members of El Paseo Arts Foundation. Tickets are available at Passions in Port Isabel, Texas Cat House on South Padre Island, the SPI Visitors Center, or by calling (956) 772-9097.