SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Nov. 28, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — “A Kurt Bestor Christmas,” one of Utah’s most beloved and enduring annual stage shows, is a holiday gift that just keeps on giving.
Starting Dec. 1, the man whose name is synonymous with Christmas in the Beehive State embarks upon a whirlwind tour, including a 35th-year anniversary stint at The Eccles Theater with shows on Dec. 15, 16, and 17.
Bestor kicks off the season with shows scheduled for Dec. 1, 2, and 3 at the Kayenta Center for the Arts in St. George. A week later, on Dec. 8, he plays other intimate shows at the Casino Star Theater in Gunnison, followed by a one-night stand at the Stephens Performing Arts Center in Pocatello, Idaho, the evening of Dec. 10.
On Dec. 15, he makes the aforementioned return to The Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City, performing with his all-star band and world-class orchestra, along with “special guests,” including Tony Award-winning singer Lisa Hopkins Seegmiller.
Bestor’s final holiday appearances are scheduled at the Egyptian Theater in Park City on Dec. 22, 23, 24, and 25.
I had the privilege of interviewing Kurt for my newest podcast, just as he was putting the final touches on this year’s stage production. In a candid and wide-ranging discussion, the renowned musician, composer, performer, and musical director spoke openly about the show’s legacy, the challenges posed the last couple of years during the pandemic, and why this year’s productions may be the most important yet.
To see the podcast, click below.
DAISY: Good morning. This is Daisy from Gephardt Daily, and today I’m talking to a Utah icon, Mr. Kurt Bestor!
Good morning, sir!
KURT: Icon? I like that! Can I put that on my T-shirt?
DAISY: Yeah, for sure! I was just going to tell everyone about the concerts that you have coming up in December, because it’s a longer list than I even knew. You’re doing southern Utah on December 1st and 2nd, Gunnison December 8th, Pocatello December 10th, The Eccles, which we all know about, on the 15th, 16th and 17th, and then Park City, the Egyptian Theatre on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th.
KURT: I found that it’s not very good to do Christmas concerts after the 25th. They just don’t come across. Boxing Day, as you well know, is the day after, and I’m going to travel back to my wife’s country of Kenya to spend a week there.
DAISY: Oh, amazing. So that’s kind of your reward for your busy December.
KURT: That’s funny. That’s the world tour you’re talking about there. I have like almost postpartum depression after Christmas. It’s like, am I ever gonna work again? I’m so tired. I sleep a lot. I actually watch a lot of sports, which I hardly ever do, you know. It’s just because it’s hard work. It’s hard work to be on, to do all that music, to perform it, to be on like that. Ask any performer, they’ll tell you it may look easy, but it’s really tough, you know, to do that.
DAISY: Especially with that number of venues and concerts and different audiences, so many variables.
KURT: Yeah, you know, I factor that in. My shows, for those that haven’t ever been, are very…I want you to feel like they’re in my front room. So I talk to the audience, as well as play for them. Sometimes I set up a song with a memory that maybe people can identify with, and so I really have to know where I am.
DAISY: So, tell me about Christmas concerts this year. What’s special about them?
KURT: I think in order to understand my thinking, I kind of always factor what’s going on in the world the last 35 years. Every Christmas is a little different, especially the last few years. Of course, I had my very first Christmas album remote because of COVID two years ago. Last year, we did a show, but you had to be vaccinated and masked and different things. This year, I think we’ve taken another step forward. I hope we’re healthy, and so I come to the show thinking, what is the theme? And, it’s kind of a unity thing.
I don’t really want to know when I come into the hall and a curtain opens and I look at the audience, I don’t want to know what side they’re on. I don’t want to know whether they’re Republican or Democrat, whether they’re of the local religious persuasion, or not. I don’t want to know that. I just want to know that we’re all here, unified, to celebrate a holiday that’s lovely, that even people who don’t really believe in religion still love Christmas.
And that unifying is really important right now, more important than it’s ever been. And I think what I want, I want people to forget. I want them to forget the other stuff that their social media is telling them to think about and just say, “Wow, what a great memory! I heard that song that took me back to when I was a boy,” or that memory “I remember my grandma, who just passed away. We used to go to her house for Christmas.”
That’s really it. Unify. Unity. It’s not on the billboard, but it’s in my mind.
DAISY: Who is your special guest this year?
KURT: This year, I have a very special guest, a Tony Award-winning singer, actually. Her name is Lisa Hopkins Seegmiller. I met her — I don’t know if you remember — we did an Andrew Lloyd Webber show. Magic Space produced. So, they produced it as a special show with the blessing of Andrew Lloyd Webber, who was part of putting the show together as one of the musical directors. And she was one of the singers, and she just blew the audience away singing the “Phantom” songs.
DAISY: I was just going to say, did she sing “Phantom.”
KURT: When she hit that high note — the high E — the audience, they were blown away, but more than that, she just is a real natural musician. So she is my very special guest. And I’m going to give you a little scoop here — I have not announced this yet, but she’s gonna sing three songs. So she’s my special guest.
But I also have a few other guests that I just thought I want to do. So, I’m gonna do a little Ukrainian Christmas segment of the show. I’ve written an arrangement of “Carol of the Bells,” which is a Ukrainian carol, and a couple of songs called “Melodia,” which is also a beautiful melody from the Ukraine. And I’ve invited two young sisters, and they’re going to play — one’s at Juilliard and one’s on her way to Juilliard, they’re like high school age. And there is a duet for two violins — they’re going to be coming to the show.
That song’s going to be followed by “Prayer of the Children,” which I’m kind of known for, but I don’t sing that song — well, I do once in a while, but I’m not going to. Instead, I’m having two children, two young children — one is 8, the other is 11. And they’re gonna come out and sing “Prayer of the Children” It’s haunting when it’s done that way, because these are the voices of the children, singing a song about children, who are victims of war and strife.
So, those two songs are going be together, the Ukrainian Christmas, followed by “Prayer of the Children,” and that’s just gonna be a little nugget in the concert, where we can stop and think about people less fortunate than we are in The Eccles.
But I have one more! I wrote a new arrangement of “Adeste Fidelis – O Come All Ye Faithful,” for one piano, four hands duet. I’m gonna play the primo part, the top part, and I got Josh Wright, he’s a very well-known professor of piano, award winner, groovy-looking, he looks like he should be on the cover of GQ. He’s going to join me. So, I know he’s probably got some fans out there. And so that is, those are my special guests.
DAISY: That sounds completely amazing.
KURT: Well, look, I’m an arranger. I’m a composer. I need to rely on other people; otherwise, I’m just a guy with a stack of music. And really, the whole concert, for those who have never been, it is my concert, and I play piano and I play fluegelhorn, and I play harmonica and a few other things during the show. But really, I’ve written — my voice is heard by the oboe player, my voice is heard by the string section, my bass player, who’s Carlito Del Puerto, who is amazing.
Everyone gets a chance to shine and I think that’s what I love about doing my show, is that I’m out there with my friends. We’re making music and they’re playing what used to be in my head now, and now the audience gets to hear it.
So yeah, I need other people. I can’t do this myself.
DAISY: I was going to ask you, with it being the 35th year of the Salt Lake shows, what have you learned about the show and about yourself during that passage of time?
KURT: Yeah, great question, Daisy. I’ve never been asked that question, that’s why it’s a good one. I think what I’ve learned is, I’ve learned that music is the space between words. I am a talkative person. I talk a lot, as you can tell, and I’m never really at a loss for words, but sometimes words cannot really convey everything that’s in my heart. And as much as I like to talk, I’m a much better communicator when I just stop talking, sit down and play something. And what I’ve learned about that communication, especially with the orchestra and the audience, is that it’s this troika, where we all are sharing this experience.
Sometimes when I play, it actually feels like the audience is actually breathing with me, like we’re all like. I’m playing piano, the strings are playing, and then I take a breath, and I come in on the next note, and you can almost feel the audience in sync.
So, I guess what I’ve learned, is this pure communication is not only just a nice thing for people to do, but it’s almost like a necessary thing. And when we didn’t have it during COVID, when we were trying to do it on Facebook, I was trying to perform, everybody saw those little boxes. I mean, it was a nice try. And it kept us going a little bit. But it wasn’t that pure communication between audience and performer that you feel when you’re sitting there. I’ve experienced it as someone who listens to concerts, where I just gotta go that took my breath away, and people next to me are feeling the same thing. And so that is communication, pure communication, in a way that goes well beyond words. That’s what I’ve learned, I think, over the years.
DAISY: Do you have a favorite Christmas show guest?
KURT: Yeah, I won’t give you the pat answer, ‘Oh, they’re all like my children.’
DAISY: That would be a lot of children.
KURT: I think one of my absolute favorite guests was Melissa Manchester. People of my generation grew up with her. She’s a two-time Oscar award winner, Grammy award winner. I think I’ve got her curriculum vitae right. She sang “Come in from the Rain.” She was a 1970s pop icon, so I was a little bit starstruck when she came, but she was so delightful. When I perform a song of hers, a Christmas song, I feel like she and I were just totally in sync. And I love that feeling. So I would have to say that’s probably one of my favorite sides, if not my favorite. She was great.
DAISY: Looking back a little bit, you just said you know you’re a people person, you love to talk, etc., etc. What was the pandemic for you?
KURT: I can only speak for myself. I think it’s been hard on everybody, but I’ve struggled with the pandemic. I struggled because I am a person that loves harmony. I love harmony between people. And what happened during COVID exacerbated an already polarized situation among friends, politically, religiously, here in Utah, and so forth. The whole world maybe, you know. I masked, you don’t mask. You’re mad about it, I’m vaccinated. Don’t get me sick.
I had feelings that are counter to what I like. I’ve always hated friction. And people if they’re angry. When I was a little kid, my mom told me that when people got into a fight, I used to run away. And I still do that to this day, which is maybe why I’m known for music that kind of makes you feel good. It’s because I yearn for that, and COVID made me feel like, “Oh, what’s the use?” Everybody’s so angry, and I felt helpless, healthwise and otherwise.
And then I felt like, you know, my job was kind of like writing music. At first I thought, what a fruitless job. I mean, why don’t you go and work at the hospital? Why don’t you do something to help people’s health? And that was how I felt at first, and then I kind of had a little bit of a moment where I thought, you know, really what people need is to feel human, because we all felt cloistered, and we didn’t have that interaction from other people. We were streaming shows, but we weren’t really connecting — and music kind of did that. And then when I did my first concert coming out, that Andrew Lloyd Webber concert, I’ll never forget, it’s me playing “Unexpected Song” on the piano with the curtains down, and I started to play the notes while Andrew Lloyd Webber had a little thing he wrote and scribbled on the screen when I was playing, and the audience, there was like this feeling, oh my gosh, this is pretty cool. They are feeling something, and the curtain came up and the audience just erupted in applause, like I’ve never felt, and I thought, okay, music is needed. This isn’t a frivolous thing I do. It’s part of the human experience. And you know, it calmed my soul.
So, it was tough. COVID has been tough for me, I have to say, and I’m still — you know — I went gray.
DAISY: I think we all did.
KURT: That was on purpose. I was starting to do the movie star, color your hair thing, and I just thought, what are you doing. Act your age. And, of course, I’m a guy, so it’s distinguished.
DAISY: I was just gonna use that exact word. Very distinguished.
KURT: It’s not fair. I apologize to any of the women. The genders are not equal when it comes to that (going gray). And I apologize. I’d like to think that my wife could look distinguished.
DAISY: Oh, absolutely!
KURT: She would, but anyway, sorry. But COVID was tough.
DAISY: And to go back a little bit, you’ve had such an important career, do you have a proudest moment, or are there many of them?
KURT: Well, of course, there are many. I mean, you don’t do what I do without having lots of proud moments. I think the proudest moment is connected to “Prayer of the Children,” and it has nothing to do with me, other than I wrote the song. So, “Prayer of the Children.” It was a song I wrote as a vocal song. I wrote in a moment of frustration over the war in Yugoslavia. And I wrote the song for children because I thought, you know, children don’t care who wins wars. They don’t care whose side, they just want Mom and Dad to be there. They want safety, they want a warm house, and place to play. They just want the other simple things. In times of war, children, they suffer the most, probably, because they’re not responsible. Yet they lose parents, they lose their lives, they lose limbs, whatever.
So, I wrote the song. For years I sang it myself, then I published it to be sung by other people. The proudest moment came when I heard the year after 9/11, I got an e-mail from the Harlem Boys’ Choir saying, “We’re going to sing your song on the first anniversary of 9/11, and we’re gonna sing it at Ground Zero.” And, I didn’t get to hear the performance. They didn’t tape it or anything, but just knowing that I created something to help children, and to help people, and the Harlem Boys’ Choir, which is really a great treble choir that I love, they heard the song, and sang it, unbeknownst to me. They let me know, and I thought that’s the kind of the perfect thing. I’m proud that I did something that had that effect.
And, of course, we’re not even talking about the big moments, composing music for two Olympic Games and all that stuff. That’s what you think I’d be proud of, and I am, but that was a moment I was not even a part of. But knowing that the song went out and did that. It’s kind of like, something came out of my brain and somebody else took that and performed it. It’s the closest thing to a religious, eternal life thing I can imagine. I mean, after I die, people will still be able to spin that thing that came out of my brain. And again and again. I mean, that’s pretty interesting when you think about it.
DAISY: And it’s worth saying as well that you went on your mission to Yugoslavia, right? So you have first-hand experience.
KURT: I had first-hand, and that’s kind of what spawned me to do it, because you know, I lived there for two years, like Mormon missionaries do, and I learned to love people. Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and now I was supposed to choose which side I wanted to win. And I said, “No, I can’t do that.” I love everybody. And especially love the children. So, yeah, that’s where it came from. Sure.
DAISY: So what’s something about you that might surprise people, like a genre of music that you like. Do you love death metal or… (laughing) ?
KURT: No, I’m actually not a big fan of Norwegian death metal, although I can appreciate just about any music that is done organically, honestly, from the heart of whoever’s performing. I may not like a certain style, but I would say that if you were to look at my Spotify list you would be shocked at how little music I listen to is like me, whatever that is. I love choir music. I’m a big fan of it. There’s a group actually performing tonight here in Utah. They’re called Voces8, that I love. They’re out of England. And I love that style of singing. I like world music. So I listen to Tuvan throat singers. I love the Bulgarian women’s voices that you could hear, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, Google the Bulgarian women and you will be mesmerized by that type of singing. I love authentic Blue Grass. “Brother Where Art Thou” type of music.
When I was growing up, my favorite music was funk of the ’70s.
DAISY: Oh, yeah! Love it!
KURT: I love funk. I loved Brothers Johnson. I love Sly and the Family Stone.
DAISY: Oh, yeah!
KURT: I once listened to “Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself Again,” that long title, the funkiest song ever written. I once listened to that probably from Provo to St. George on repeat. So that’s something surprising, because you don’t hear a lot of funk in my music. Although, in my concert, there’ll be some funk.
DAISY: It’s there?
KURT: So, I can get down with my bad self.
DAISY: (Laughter)
KURT: But it’s not my reputation.
DAISY: Just a couple of other questions. I wondered what else is on your bucket list, because I have a feeling that you might be one of those people that’s, like, you just keep going, like there’s lots more to say and do, I would guess.
KURT: Your guess is right, and I think that’s not unusual among people who are creatives. Musicians, I mean, just think of John Williams at 91. He’s still scoring “Raiders of Lost Ark.” I mean, look at the Rolling Stones. I think they’re probably not even that old.
DAISY: Pretty close.
KURT: Look at Paul McCartney.
But, as a musician, you’re always inquisitive and you’re never satisfied, always want go a little further. On my musical bucket list — I have other bucket lists — but on my musical bucket list, I’m in the midst of doing one of them, right now. I’ve always wanted to do a narrator and orchestra piece along the lines of “Peter and the Wolf,” or the “Lincoln Portrait” by Aaron Copland. Those are two very different narrators and orchestras. So what I’ve done, I wish I could debut it or something — but you’ll have to wait. It’s a children’s poem, a long form poem that I’ve written. It’s called “Harmon E and the Missing Key.” And it’s about a little boy named Harmon, and he’s in this town, and this town has no music. And the people are, you know — there was a curse put on the town — and so they have no more music, and the birds don’t sing, and you know nobody’s happy.
This little boy goes in a cave on this little-boy adventure, and he finds this pile of things. He doesn’t know what these are. Are they weapons of war? Are they tools for different digging? Turns out they’re instruments. And a gnome comes down from the tree and tells him, “Ah, you’ve found these instruments, now go find the people to play them.”
And he does. And he goes around and he meets Penny P Piper. He meets all these people that play the piccolo, the tuba, and so the whole thing is sketched out. And I’ve written music, or I’m writing music, that follows along the story, so that when we hear Penny P Piper, the flutes in the orchestra get to play.
It is like “Peter and the Wolf” in that regard, and at the end of the thing — it’s not a big suspense. I can tell you this, the story arc is at the end. He has all these people, he tells all the townspeople that “I’ve found an orchestra. We’re going to have a concert.” And the orchestra comes marching into town and people are all excited. They want to hear this orchestra, but it sounds cacophonous, non-rhythmic. It’s awful, it’s terrible, and they get mad at this boy Harmon E. “What have you done? This is terrible.” And this little girl comes up, and he feels really bad. He goes, “I’m a failure, and she goes, “No, no, here, there’s one more instrument left to play,” and he says, “I don’t play an instrument.”
And she says, “Oh, but here…” and he opens up this box, like this, for this purpose; he opens up the box and inside the box all you can see is a baton!”
DAISY: Oh!
KURT: And so, he takes the baton out of the box and just raises it up and suddenly all the musicians play together and that was the missing key. The music was inside of him, and inside of all of us, if we only have ears to hear.
So I put together this rhyming children’s story, and I’m going to premiere that, hopefully, with the Utah Symphony or someone willing to do it, sooner than later.
DAISY: Oh, watch this space. That sounds amazing.
KURT: It’s pretty fun. I think it will be something pretty fun for all. I worked really hard on the libretto. The rhyme scheme is very, very tricky. It’s along the lines of Dr. Seuss meets Lewis Carol. The words are kind of musical with a rhythm to them I think will work well.
That’s a bucket list thing. Among others.
DAISY: And just finally, I asked a mutual friend of ours, Dave Evanoff…
KURT: Good old, Dave! Yes!
DAISY: And one of the things he said I should ask you, if you would remember the words to the Mayan Restaurant song?
KURT: (Laughs) Of course, he’d bring that up! I do not. I do not remember the words, but I can show the voice.
DAISY: (Laughs)
KURT: It’s like “Welcome, my friend!” No wait. That’s Russian. I was the voice of a narrator parrot, I believe. What was that? I’m trying to remember the dialect
DAISY: Did you say parrot?
KURT: No, no, it was a lizard!
DAISY: Oh, a lizard. Okay.
KURT: I’m trying to remember. I think it was a lizard, but I was like the narrator for this. The Mayan Restaurant, it’s gone now. People would dive off cliffs into the water while you ate your burrito. It was over on Jordan’s Landing. Dave was the engineer and put it all together, and I was one of the voices. I can’t remember what accent it was.
“Hey, mon, no problem, mon! Haha! Welcome to the Mayan, yes!”
DAISY: (Laughter)
KURT: I’m a ham.
DAISY: I love it.
KURT: It’s all about performing, you know, and Dave’s a good actor, for those who know Dave. Dave, insane actor, and we’re all in the same business really, trying to communicate to people something, whether it be on stage, in music. Politicians are performers. We’re all performers. It’s okay. It’s good. It’s a good thing.
DAISY: So, to circle back to the Christmas concerts, your website is kurtbestor.com.
KURT: That’s me.
DAISY: And that has all the info about the dates and tickets and all that.
KURT: It does. It has all that. I refer to it often because I forget things, so I have to make sure to remember where to be and when to be.
If you’re going to the shows that are not in Salt Lake, the Salt Lake show is the big show with the bigger orchestra, that’s kind of the big ta-da show. My more intimate shows are the other shows, where I have a bass player, a guitar player and I bring along what I call the Gunnison Philharmonic, whatever town I’m in, it’s just a string quartet — and that intimate feeling — the audience is like six feet away from me — at Eccles you sit further away. So, some people kind of prefer those small shows. It’s me telling stories. When I see people in the audience, I’ll point to them. It’s a more intimate experience, so I look forward to those, but, yeah, Salt Lake is the big one. Eccles. It’s cool. I’m looking forward to it, although I’m a little nervous. The minute they put out Halloween decorations I start sweating, because I have miles to go before I sleep, but there will be a 35th year and beyond.
Can I make a prediction real quick?
DAISY: Yes, please.
KURT: I tend to go overtime. I apologize.
DAISY: No, you’re all good.
KURT: I told my wife — she says how long you going to do this Christmas thing? Thirty-five years is a long time, and I didn’t start this when I’m 11 either, I started when I was a little older. But I told her I’m going to do it until I’m 50. No, sorry. I’m past 50. I’m going to do it for 50 years. That’s what I said.
DAISY: Wow!
KURT: I want to celebrate a 50th anniversary of “A Kurt Bestor Christmas” on stage. I haven’t asked them yet. This is just my hope. I hope that my special guests will be the Utah Symphony. And that’ll be my last year, because if you do the math — and please don’t — ’cause you’ll determine I’ll be pretty old. But, I want to make it to 50 years of “A Kurt Bestor Christmas.” Wish me luck.
DAISY: Love it. Good luck! And thank you so much for your time.
