The Mid-Columbia Mastersingers' annual holiday concert promises to bring together a heap of mixed cultures with its "Carols & Lullabies of the Southwest" event Dec. 16 and 18.

The concert features festive music sung in Spanish and English.

"The centerpiece of this concert is a piece by Conrad Susa that is a collection of 10 traditional Mexican Christmas songs arranged in a narrative to represent a Southwestern piata party for the baby Jesus," said Lisa Hill, a vocalist with the Mastersingers ensemble. "This unique instrumentation for this piece includes harp, marimba and classical guitar."

Guest musicians, all from Tri-Cities, include guitarist Anton Sinkov, percussionist Christopher Cree and harpist Chelsea Spence-Crane.

Cree is the principal percussionist with the Mid-Columbia Symphony. Sinkov is a private guitar teacher who holds a music degree from the University of Washington. Spence-Crane plays harp for the Mid-Columbia Symphony and the Walla Walla Symphony, and she also teaches harp at Whitman College in Walla Walla and Walla Walla University in College Place.

Justin Raffa, director of the Mastersingers group, emphasized the use of the guest artists' instruments throughout the concert by including several program pieces in the concert that focus on their instruments, Hill said.

The concert also features two arrangements written by Reginald Unterseher, who is the Mastersingers' composer-in-residence during the choral group's 25th anniversary year.

"Most of the music on our 'Carols & Lullabies' concert will be sung in Spanish," Hill said. "The concert is part of our annual Latino outreach endeavors, which is now in its fourth season. It also aligns with our mission statement, (which is) 'to transform lives through the power of choral music, (and to) envision a community where choral music is valued and supported by the community and is accessible to people of all ages and cultures.' "

The Dec. 16 concert starts at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 520 S. Garfield St., Kennewick.

The Dec. 18 concert starts at 3 p.m. at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, 1016 N. 14th Ave., Pasco.

To keep with its mission statement, admission to all Mastersingers concerts is free to students in grades K-12. General admission for adults is $20. Tickets are available at the door, www.midcolumbiamastersingers.org or call 460-1766.

*Dori O'Neal: 582-1514; doneal@tricityherald.com