Another one of my favorite Christmas traditions (I seem to have so many!) is the Kurt Bestor Christmas concert and I was able to go last night. He began with his arrangements of "Sing We Noel," "Angels We Have Heard On High," "What Child Is This?" and "Joy to the World." Then he performed one of my favorites, "Still, Still, Still," on the flugelhorn and dedicated it to his father. He told the audience that he considered removing his next song, "Let It Snow," because we have been inundated with snow for the past few days but he decided to perform it anyway! He premiered a brand new arrangement called "Ukrainian Christmas" which features "Carol of the Bells" and several Ukrainian folk songs. His first guests were Makenzie and Eliza Hart, both on violin, for this number and it was so moving! His next guests were members of the One Voice Children's Choir and they sang Bestor's best known song "Prayer of the Children." This moved me (and many people around me) to tears because it was so beautiful! He ended the first set with "Christmas Concerto for Woodwinds" which is a fun medley of different Christmas carols featuring musician Daron Bradford on a variety of woodwind instruments. Whenever Bestor performs this piece he always likes to add another instrument and apparently Bradford broke the Guinness World Record by playing 40 of them! After the intermission, he played "Coventry Carol" and then pianist Josh Wright joined him for a duet of "Oh, Come All Ye Faithful." He featured his guitar player Michael Dowdle, bass player Carlitos Del Puerto, drummer Eric Valentine, and percussionist Todd Sorenson on a jazz version of "Christmas Time is Here" and then played "Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella" which is another one of my favorites. His special guest for the evening was the Tony Award-winning soprano Lisa Hopkins Seegmiller and her rendition of "Ave Maria" gave me goosebumps because it was so effortless! She then sang a really fun medley of "Welcome Christmas," "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," and "Where Are You Christmas?" from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Finally, she sang an emotional rendition of "I Wonder as I Wander" (Bestor often asks his special guest to sing his arrangement because it is his favorite Christmas carol). It has become tradition for Bestor to perform his amusing arrangement of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and he usually picks someone from the audience to be the narrator. Last night he had his 91-year-old mother Phyllis Bestor narrate and to say that she was adorable would be an understatement! He ended the evening with "Silent Night" featuring all of his guests (and the audience) and it was lovely. I love hearing Christmas music performed live so I enjoyed every minute of this concert. There are three more performances (go here for tickets) and I highly recommend getting a ticket.
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