A long holiday concert can be like opening gifts from your relatives.

Some of the boxes contain treasures. Others have lackluster sweaters you might not wear.

That, in a sense, was the way it was at this year’s Kansas University Holiday Vespers, presented by the university’s choirs and Symphony Orchestra.

While the concert had plenty of variety and high moments – there was no doubt something to please everyone – some portions lacked the precision and confidence of previous KU Holiday Vespers concerts.

The two-hour concert, presented twice on Sunday at the Lied Center, featured 21 holiday songs representing traditional and new, Christmas and Hanukkah, and folksy to highbrow.

The Symphonic Choir provided an a cappella highlight early in the concert with “Alleluia” by Hubert Bird. The singers stayed impressively together on silky-smooth moving lines and harmonies despite being dispersed through the aisle on the Lied Center’s floor.

The Symphonic Choir, with the orchestra’s accompaniment, also shone on portions of Z. Randall Stroope’s “Cantus Natalis.” The orchestra’s brass provided a solid wall of sound on the first movement, “Fanfare.”

However, the choir was overpowered by the orchestra on the second movement, “Hodie appararuit Emmanuel!” That dissonant movement, though, melted into the final movement, a beautiful arrangement of “Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming.”

Weaker moments came during the middle portion of the concert.

Strangely, the Chamber Choir, which is the choral department’s premier ensemble, seemed the least prepared and least confident. Its first piece, “Ubi Caritas,” by R. Douglas Helvering, suffered from troubles with cohesion, entrances and the ends of words not always together. Likewise, “Huron Carol” saw a lack of precision on moving lines.

In the same vein, the Celebration Ringers of First United Methodist Church, a guest at Holiday Vespers for several years, had trouble staying together on “In Celebration” by Brian Childers, the group’s second piece of the evening.

Luckily, there were other crowd-pleasing nuggets to help counteract the weaknesses:

¢ The orchestra was solid on “Waltz” from “The Nutcracker Suite” by Tchaikovsky and “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson.

¢ The orchestra and mass choir highlighted KU doctoral student Dan Forrest’s simple-yet-rich “Never a Brighter Star.”

¢ Smaller ensembles, including the world barbershop quartet Against the Grain, Jewish jazz group Sharim Netzim and the World Music Choir, provided variety to remind us about different aspects of the holiday season.

Even with its weaknesses, Holiday Vespers remains a beloved tradition at KU. The concert showcases the talented students at the department of music and dance and remains a kickoff event for the holidays for many music lovers.