HOLIDAYS : Carols and Rock : December’s concerts will offer Valley audiences a mix of the old and new, from traditional Christmas music to the sound of blues and acoustic guitar bands.

Sounds of traditional caroling and classical music again will dominate the San Fernando Valley’s holiday concerts this year. But mixed into this will be some newer rhythms and traditions, from the blues and modern rock to classic carols as sung in Spanish and Vietnamese.

“Of all the seasons of the year, Christmas has the greatest tradition of singing,” says John Alexander, conductor of the Valley Master Chorale. That 18-year-old ensemble performs its Festival of Carols, featuring both Christmas standards and a new Hanukkah composition, Dec. 12 in Glendale.

Certainly, the largest single audience is destined to appear Dec. 12 at the Universal Amphitheater for the third annual KROQ Acoustic Christmas benefit concert. The show will present such modern rock artists as David Byrne, EMF, Soul Asylum and Duran Duran--all armed only with acoustic guitars and other non-electric instruments.

The result, says Kathryn O’Rourke, director of marketing at the amphitheater, are performances that are sometimes more dramatic, sometimes subtler, than the more amplified regular appearances by these same artists.

“I think the crowd reaction is a little bit different,” O’Rourke says of the Acoustic Christmas audiences, which in previous years have largely been dominated by high school and college students. “They are usually pleasantly surprised with the songs. And it usually shows the artists as they really are. They have nowhere to hide.”

This year’s proceeds will be shared by Heal the Bay and the Los Angeles Countywide Coalition for the Homeless.

About 90% of the donated talent is gathered each year by the modern rock station KROQ (106.7 FM), O’Rourke says. Other performers scheduled for the concert include Cause and Effect, Soup Dragons, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Suzanne Vega and the Violent Femmes.

“The popularity of KROQ and the nature of the bands that they book for this are what bring the crowds in,” O’Rourke says. “They are some of the hottest bands. And even though they are playing acoustically, it seems to appeal to the kids.”

Tickets for the 6:15 p.m. show are $25, plus service charges. Call (818) 622-3931.

* Another holiday-themed benefit concert on Dec. 12 will feature performances by a variety of acclaimed local blues and rock artists, including singer-guitarist Dave Alvin, harmonica-player Juke Logan, former-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Rick Vito and several others. The blues show, at the intimate Village Bar & Grill in Burbank, will benefit children with AIDS and AIDS research, says Jesse Rusmisel, the club’s entertainment manager.

“We wanted to do something for Christmas and do something that was heartfelt,” Rusmisel says. “We wanted to share the gift of Christmas with those who were less fortunate. And there is nothing more needy and heart-wrenching than the sight of an innocent baby with AIDS.”

Admission to the 85-seat venue is a toy or $5. The toys are to be distributed to Tuesday’s Child, an organization that houses 460 children who have been diagnosed as HIV-positive, while ticket proceeds will go to the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Other scheduled performers include guitarist-vocalist Brenda Burns, singer Johnny Dyer, vocalist Millie McLaine and singer-guitarist John Marks.

“Entertainers have a generous heart,” Rusmisel says. “And if they can do anything to help out, you’ll often see them.”

Show time at the club, at 4201 W. Olive Ave., is 9 p.m. Call (818) 848-5919.

* The Valley Master Chorale’s 18th annual holiday concert, performed with the Angeles Symphony, will also debut the chorale’s children’s chorus. Several of the pieces in the program have been chosen specifically for the children’s group, which began rehearsing for the show in September, says Darryl Christian, administrator for the chorale.

“Christmas, as far as I’m concerned, is for kids,” Christian says. “And this will just be the topper, having the children perform with the chorale and on their own.”

Along with several traditional carols, the chorale will perform John Rutter’s “Gloria,” Gerald Finzi’s “In Terra Pax” and selections from Handel’s “Messiah.” The children’s choir will also perform a new Hanukkah song titled “Light the Legend,” written by Michael Isaacson, the parent of a choir member.

“Having been a chorale singer myself, I think the holiday season is the busiest time of the year for chorale music,” Christian says. “Chorale singers go crazy during the holidays doing Christmas concerts. There’s just so much chorale music for this time of the year.”

Admission to the 8 p.m. concert, in the Glendale High School Auditorium, 1440 E. Broadway, ranges from $11 to $20 for reserved seating, with a special “student rush” admission of $5 one hour before the performance. Call (818) 885-3365.

* The annual holiday gala at Pierce College in Woodland Hills on Dec. 9 will spotlight a performance by the school’s Concert Choir, Chamber Singers and Children’s Choir with the Keith Snell Brass Ensemble.

The 90-minute program will include performances of “The Missa Secunda” by Hans Leo Hassler and several traditional Christmas carols, sung both a cappella and with accompaniment.

“It is just a really wonderful arrangement of familiar music, and pieces of great music that people don’t get a chance to hear very often,” says Dennis Parnell, Pierce’s choir director.

“Working with the brass makes it different too. The brass concert is always just about sold out.”

The concert will be presented in the Performing Arts Hall on campus, at 6201 Winnetka Ave. General admission is $4, and $3 for students and seniors. An abbreviated version of the choir concert, without brass, will be presented free at noon Dec. 10 in the music building’s Chorale Room.

The Pierce College Philharmonic Choir, directed by Terry Danne, will perform its annual “Messiah” Festival on Dec. 19. Also, on Dec. 8, the college’s music department will present a concert of chamber music featuring the Da Vinci String Quartet. For more information on concerts at Pierce College, call (818) 719-6476.

* Meanwhile, a Festival of Russian Music performed by the CSUN Symphony and CSUN Senior Youth Orchestra is scheduled for Dec. 5 and 6 at the university’s Student Union.

The concert marks the first collaboration of the CSUN Symphony and Senior Youth Orchestra, made up of high school musicians and now led by Jerry Luedders, chairman of the CSUN music department.

“The original idea was to form our two orchestras together and do some large orchestral literature,” David Aks, conductor of the CSUN Symphony, says. “When we combine the two orchestras together we have well over 100 players.”

It was that number of musicians that ultimately led Aks and Luedders to the epic Russian composers of Borodin, Glinka and Tchaikovsky. The two groups will perform together on Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor.

“We wanted to put our orchestras together because a lot of our students in the Youth Symphony are of very high caliber,” Aks says. “And I think it will be good for the younger players to sit next to our university students, to give them some inspiration.

“It’s a big experiment, but we’re all real excited about it.”

Admission to the concerts is $6.50 general and $3.50 for children, students and seniors. The Dec. 5 performance will begin at 8 p.m., and the Dec. 6 concert at 4 p.m.

For more information on the CSUN concerts, call (818) 885-3093.

* A typically international set of holiday music is to be performed by the Granada Hills Chorale on Dec. 20. While the heart of the 7 p.m. performance will be selections from “Messiah,” the chorale will also perform the Hanukkah songs “Light the Candles of Freedom” and “Hanerrot Halalu,” to be sung in both Hebrew and Yiddish. Also, holiday songs from Mexico and Denmark are scheduled to be sung by the 40-voice ensemble.

The grand finale, chorale director Maryann Mendenhall says, will be “Gifts That Are Mine to Give” by Len Allen.

“It pinpoints the things that make people happy together,” she says. “The gifts are the gifts of self, the gifts that are enduring and don’t fade with time.”

The concert will be presented at the Northridge Congregational Church, 9659 Balboa Ave. Tickets are $3 per person, or $5 per family. Call (818) 360-2209.

* The Choirs of the St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Canoga Park will perform A Christmas Noel on Dec. 4. Besides performing classics by Saint-Saens and Vivaldi, the ensemble will also sing Christmas music in Spanish and Vietnamese.

Throughout the year, the 1,000-seat church is shared by the Spanish-, Vietnamese- and English-speaking communities, church secretary Toni Copsey says. And the holiday program will feature performances by three choirs, each specializing in a particular language. The free performance at the church, at 19855 Sherman Way, begins at 7:30 p.m. Call (818) 341-6634.

* The Village Voices, a 60-voice chorale, will perform Dec. 4 and 5 in a show accompanied by a brass quartet, synthesizer, percussion and grand piano. The 8 p.m. concerts will spotlight a variety of old and contemporary holiday songs from around the world, including the comical “The 12 Days After Christmas.”

The concert will start at 8 p.m. at the Covenant House, Westlake Boulevard and Agoura Road in Westlake Village. Call (818) 887-1031.

* A special adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” with dancing, narration and singing, will be performed by the 72 boys and girls of the St. Mel Catholic Church Children’s Choir in Woodland Hills on Dec. 12. Conducted by Kathy King, the choir is made up of children in the fifth through eighth grades. The children’s concert is this year’s only holiday-themed performance at St. Mel Catholic Church, which has indefinitely canceled its larger long-running annual holiday production.

The children choir’s “The Nutcracker” production “is something that the children will never forget,” says King, who has directed the group for 12 years. “When I was young all I remembered were the musical experiences that I was in. It’s something special to them. It’s important to do these things, and it really brings out that special child.”

Tickets to the 7 p.m. performance at St. Mel School, 20820 Ventura Blvd., is $3.50. Call (818) 340-1924.