Courtesy photo by Ed Krieger The Harmonies Girls Choir, which performs songs from around the world in the original languages, will perform an hourlong Mexican Christmas song at the event Monday.

Leanna Brand is going to be busy Christmas Eve — and not with last-minute shopping. The Simi Valley resident will perform with the Los Angeles Master Chorale as part of the 48th annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration, a free concert featuring nearly 50 choirs, music ensembles and dance companies.

Brand is also the choir director at St. Julie Billiart Catholic Church in Newbury Park. Add to the singing mix her freelance caroling company (carolers.com), and it's easy to imagine Brand being wiped out by the end of the day.

But she's happy to put forth the extra effort, particularly when it means being part of the six-hour L.A. County celebration.

"It's a wonderful event. I love that the Master Chorale, a professional company at one end of the scale, can perform next to wonderful children's choirs and different dance groups," said Brand, who first participated as part of a choir at CSU Northridge. The Master Chorale is scheduled to sing from 3 to 4 p.m.

Diversity is a major goal of the celebration, said Adam Davis of the L.A. County Arts Commission, which produces the event.

"We're always looking for groups that would make a good fit," he said. "There is such a high caliber of talent throughout the county. Every year new groups wind up on our radar. And the ones that have been part of the celebration for years do so because they always return with something new."

One of those groups is the Harmonies Girl Choir, composed of girls ages 8 to 18. Many of the choir members come from low-income families and had little experience with classical music when they joined.

"And in one-and-a-half years we were on our way to Germany as part of an international tour," said director Jose Antonio Espinal, who teaches the choir songs from around the world, which they perform in the original languages.

This year a French recording label, Milan Jade, released the choir's first album, "Navidad en Español," which features traditional songs from Spanish-speaking countries. At the celebration, the choir will sing a Mexican Christmas song from 4 to 5 p.m.

"It's a baroque song — very complicated," Espinal said. "We sang it at a concert in France and the crowd loved it."

The annual production has become more popular, so beginning last year a large-screen TV became a fixture in the Music Center Plaza for those waiting to get inside.

"Each year we edit down the celebration to a one-hour special, which runs the next year," Davis said. "It already ran this month, but we're going to run it again around 1 p.m., so people on the plaza can see that as well."

The easiest time to enter the theater is usually the final hour, from 8 to 9 p.m. This year that time slot includes performances by the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles; JazzAntiqua Music & Dance Ensemble, which celebrates the African-American roots of the jazz tradition; Mariachi Divas, an all-female group that blends traditional mariachi music with jazz, classical and other styles; and Mandarin Orange Performing Arts, a Chinese fusion dance troupe.

The show has "become a tradition for many families, some who attend, and others who enjoy watching and listening to it (on TV) while eating or opening presents," Davis said. "There is such a high level of quality in the performances. It's always exciting."

— E-mail freelance columnist Jeff Favre at jjfavre@yahoo.com.