Holiday concert

Santa Clarita Master Chorale holiday concert, A World of Holiday Joy, will be held 3:30 p.m. today at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Valencia. Tickets: $26, $20, $14 general admission and $21, $15, $10 seniors and students. Info: www.scmasterchorale.org or 661-362-5304.

Memorial ceremony

The death of a child is devastating and it’s important to the family that the child always be remembered. The Santa Clarita Chapter of The Compassionate Friends will participate in an annual worldwide event designed to honor the memories of all children, regardless of age, who have died. Today, with hundreds of organized memorial services around the world for The Compassionate Friends 16th annual Worldwide Candle Lighting will be held 6:30 p.m. at Canyon Country Park, 17615 W. Soledad Canyon Road, Canyon Country. Event will feature live performers, music, poems, and a slide show. Info: Diane Briones, 661-252-4654 or Alice Renolds, 661-252-4374. For more information about the national organization a call toll-free 877-969-0010.

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Today in history

Today is Sunday, Dec. 9, the 344rd day of 2012. There are 22 days left in the year.

On this date in the SCV: In 2001, ground broke on the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at the College of the Canyons. The 43,000-square-foot facility was opened as students and faculty were addressed by Superintendent-President Diane Van Hook.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Dec. 9, 1942, the Aram Khachaturian ballet “Gayane,” featuring the surging “Sabre Dance,” was first performed by Russia’s Kirov Ballet.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush tapped railroad executive John W. Snow to be his new Treasury Secretary, three days after firing Paul O’Neill. Senate Republican leader Trent Lott apologized for remarks he’d made praising the 1948 presidential run of then-segregationist Strom Thurmond, saying, “A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past.” United Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection after losing $4 billion in the previous two years.

Five years ago: A young man once affiliated with a missionary school shot nine people at the school near Denver and a megachurch in Colorado Springs; four victims died and the gunman, Matthew Murray, killed himself. Pig farmer Robert “Willie” Pickton, accused of being Canada’s worst serial killer, was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder, which carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Republican presidential candidates sought to embrace Hispanics in a Spanish-language debate in Coral Gables, Fla. The first summit between Europe and Africa in seven years came to an acrimonious end in Lisbon, Portugal.

One year ago: The European Union said 26 of its 27 member countries were open to joining a new treaty tying their finances together to solve the euro crisis; Britain remained opposed. A jury in New Haven, Conn., condemned Joshua Komisarjevsky to death for killing a woman and her two daughters during a night of terror in their suburban home. (The other defendant in the case, Steven Hayes, had also been condemned to death.)

Birthdays

Actor Kirk Douglas is 96. Actor Dick Van Patten is 84. Actor-writer Buck Henry is 82. Football Hall-of-Famer Dick Butkus is 70. Author Joe McGinniss is 70. Actor Michael Nouri is 67. Former Sen. Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., is 65. World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Kite is 63. Singer Joan Armatrading is 62. Actor Michael Dorn is 60. Actor John Malkovich is 59. Country singer Sylvia is 56. Singer Donny Osmond is 55. Rock musician Nick Seymour (Crowded House) is 54. Comedian Mario Cantone is 53. Crown Princess Masako of Japan is 49. Country musician Jerry Hughes (Yankee Grey) is 47. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is 46. Rock singer-musician Thomas Flowers (Oleander) is 45. Rock musician Brian Bell (Weezer) is 44. Actress Allison Smith is 43. Olympic gold and silver medal gymnast McKayla Maroney is 17.