SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 18, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — The Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square is recording its 2022 Christmas Concert in the Conference Center on Temple Square, with a large part of the recordings done or scheduled for this weekend.
The Choir was joined by the Orchestra at Temple Square, Bells at Temple Square and Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble, a statement from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says.
Guest performers at the Thursday recording session included actor/singer Megan Hilty, known for Broadway performance in “Wicked” (Glinda the Good Witch) and “9 to 5: The Musical” (Doralee) and television’s “Smash” (Ivy Lynn).
Narrating was actor Neal McDonough, known for appearances in more than 100 films and TV projects, including “Band of Brothers” (Lt. Lynn “Buck” Compton), “Boomtown” (D.A. Attorney David McNorris), “Arrow” (Damien Darhk), and various Marvel projects (Dum Dum Dugan).
Other recording sessions were scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The Choir will broadcast its weekly “Music and the Spoken Word” live on Sunday morning with the guest artists, the statement says.
The Christmas concert, which has an Irish theme, will run next year on PBS television and BYUtv.
The concert begins with several medieval and English carols on the Conference Center stage, including “The Holly and Ivy” sung by Hilty and arranged by the Choir’s music director Mack Wilberg.
The Orchestra plays “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” and the Choir sings the American folk carol “Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head.”
Hilty then also performs a medley of modern Christmas songs such as “’Round and ‘Round the Christmas Tree”; “A Place Called Home,” from a “A Christmas Carol”; and “Home for the Holidays.”
Organist Richard Elliott provides a Celtic Christmas with an Irish jig on “In Dulci Jubilo,” accompanied by a trio playing a penny whistle, fiddle and bodhrán drum. McDonough and Hilty also share stories about their family traditions and Irish roots.
In keeping with tradition, the concert concludes with Wilberg’s arrangement of “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” featuring Hilty, the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra and Bells at Temple Square.
“While the concert that will air in 2022 is being recorded, audiences may enjoy the show produced for broadcast this year,” the Choir statement says. “The 2021 Christmas concert is virtual — a unique two-hour retrospective television special titled ’20 Years of Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir,’ featuring Broadway’s Brian Stokes Mitchell as narrator and guest soloist. The television broadcast is available on PBS and BYUtv.”
To see some initial footage of the 2022 Christmas concert, click the player below.
