Seasonal spirit from Temple Square
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With its sister organizations on Temple Square, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has established an especially prominent presence at Christmas time, as demonstrated by an array of recent and upcoming events:
• "Spirit of the Season," an album of Christmas songs recorded at last year's annual Christmas concert of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, has occupied the top position on Billboard magazine's Classical Chart for three straight weeks beginning Nov. 8.
The concert featured guest artist Sissel Kyrkjebo, the Norwegian vocalist who performs under her first name, Sissel, and whose credits include the 1994 Winter Olympics ceremony, the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, and a Christmas concert in Moscow, Russia, with tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras.
Songs on the CD that include performances by Sissel include "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "In dulci jubilo," and the Norwegian folk tune "Mitt hjerte alltid vanker."
The album title is taken from a selection of the same name from the soundtrack of the movie "Polar Express." On the album, it is performed by the choir and the orchestra.
• A video on DVD recorded at that same concert featuring Sissel also is available at Deseret Book and other retail outlets. Sissel will be back in Salt Lake City in early December for a promotional tour, during which a satellite press conference will emanate from the Conference Center on Dec. 4.
• Meanwhile, continuing a holiday tradition, the program will air on stations over the Public Broadcasting System beginning Dec. 19, again on Dec. 24 and, in additional markets, on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.
This will be the fourth straight year that the annual broadcast of the previous year's Tabernacle Choir concert has been a PBS offering. In 2006, it was the top-rated program on PBS for the entire month of December.
• The Bells on Temple Square, a bell choir that frequently joins with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, will be featured in its own right in a concert Friday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Center.
The concert will feature traditional Christmas songs such as "It Came upon a Midnight Clear," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Angels from the Realms of Glory," and "Away in a Manger." International selections such as "Riu, Riu, Riu," the English carol "Greensleeves," and the French Christmas song "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent," will also be included.
Instrumental selections by members of the Orchestra at Temple Square and by Temple Square organists (including the retiring John Longhurst), will be interspersed throughout the concert.
• As previously announced, this year's Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Christmas concert, with guest performers King's Singers, will be presented in the Conference Center on Dec. 13-15. The group will also appear on the choir's "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast on the morning of Dec. 16, E-mail to: rscott@desnews.com
