A Kurt Bestor Christmas has become one of my favorite holiday traditions (I absolutely love his arrangements of Christmas music) and I thoroughly enjoyed this year's concert at the Eccles Theatre last night. He began with his versions of "Deck the Halls," "Joy to the World," and "I Wonder as I Wander" (a favorite of mine). Then he brought his first guest, thirteen-year-old soprano Lillian Breeze Manning, to the stage and she sang an incredible arrangement of "Pie Jesu" which brought the audience to their feet! She continued with "Mary Did You Know?" which was also very beautiful. Next came a fun arrangement of "Christmas Time Is Here" with snippets of other Christmas songs (and a Charlie Brown Christmas tree). Bestor continued with "Prayer for the Children" which is probably his most well-known song and then "O Holy Night" which is what I was most hoping to hear (it is my favorite Christmas song and I really love his arrangement of it). He finished his first set with "Suite de Noel" which highlighted every section in his band and orchestra. After the intermission, he performed "Ode to Joy" from his forthcoming album Etches which features classical pieces reimagined for the solo piano. Next came "I Saw Three Ships" and then he performed a medley of three pieces, "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella," "We Three Kings," and "Feliz Navidad," which featured a Caribbean-inspired beat and extended solos from Michael Dowdle on guitar, Carlitos del Puerto on bass, and Eric Valentine on drums (it was very cool). He brought his next guest, violinist Caroline Campbell, to the stage for a mashup of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Carol of the Bells" which was amazing! She continued with "In the Bleak Midwinter" and then a rousing rendition of a Celtic-inspired arrangement of "Ding Dong Merrily on High" which I really loved! He continued the tradition of having someone from the audience narrate "Twas the Night Before Christmas" while performing amusing songs to go with it. This year he picked a man named Steve who looked like Santa Claus and, when he accidentally skipped a page in the story, he said it was because Bestor didn't give him a chance to rehearse! The concert concluded, as it often does, with a beautiful performance of "Silent Night" with Manning and Campbell. As always, this was a beautiful concert and I loved every minute of it. There are three more performances and I definitely recommend getting a ticket (go here).
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