Traditional carols inspire audiences
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With The King's Singers as the featured guests at their annual Christmas concert, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square and Bells on Temple Square inspired audiences with traditional carols from around the world in the filled-to-capacity Conference Center Dec. 13-15, and again for Sunday morning's broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word and a short concert. After that concert, the King's Singers sang to President Gordon B. Hinckley one of his favorite songs, "Danny Boy."
This is the fourth time the critically acclaimed King's Singers have shared the stage with the Choir since their first performance together during the 2002 Winter Olympics, and this time the six-member group insisted on performing new arrangements by Mack Wilberg, the choir's associate director.
The fact that hardly a single seat was left empty Thursday evening, Dec. 13, which was scheduled only as a dress rehearsal, was an early indication that The King's Singers would be well received.
With the choir's director, Craig Jessop, leading, the orchestra opened the concert with "A Christmas Overture," followed by three carols, including "Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly," all arranged by Brother Wilberg.
The King's Singers then performed their popular renditions of "El Nino Querido," "La Peregrinacion" and "Riu, Riu, Chiu." With their rich tones and broad chords, the King's Singers seemed to bring the 21,000 listeners to a perfect silence as the audience hesitated to applaud in order to take in every last note.
Throughout the night the choir and orchestra joined the guest performers in powerful arrangements by Brother Wilberg of carols such as the "Sussex Carol" and "O Holy Night," which this time had audiences cheering and clapping before the number had ended.
Ten of the musical pieces in the program were arranged by Brother Wilberg, giving the King's Singers plenty of opportunity to apply their vocal talent to his musical creativity.
Adding to the program's variety were dancers on stage as well as spilling into the audience with choreography by Carol Iwasaki of the University of Utah Department of Ballet.
The dancers especially brought the words of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" to life by portraying each of the verses of the song on stage, complete with 10 lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, six larger-than-life geese a laying, and a ballerina partridge in a pear tree.
E-mail to: cmorales@desnews.com
