Nathan Pacheco Christmas Concert 2025

It has become a tradition for me to tag along with my sister Marilyn and our family friend Kelli to the Nathan Pacheco Christmas concert. I am a relatively new fan (I discovered him when he was a guest vocalist for Kurt Bestor's Christmas concert) but they have followed him for years! The concert was last night at Abravanel Hall and, as always, I loved his eclectic mix of Christmas music as well as selections from the classical repertoire and from Broadway! He began with his new single "The King Emmanuel," which was quite stirring (he told us that we were one of the first to hear it performed live), and then continued with the Christmas songs "Mary, Did You Know?" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." He is a classically trained tenor with a beautiful and clear voice so next came absolutely amazing renditions of "Questa O Quello" from Verdi's opera Rigoletto, "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's opera Turandot (this was especially fitting because it was Puccini's birthday yesterday), and "Time to Say Goodbye" (which gave me goosebumps). He concluded his first set with a heartfelt message about giving yourself grace during this holiday season and emotional versions of "Come As You Are" and "Forever." When Pacheco left the stage for a brief moment, his piano player Jared Pierce and his cellist Nicole Pinnell performed a cool mashup of "Sing We Noel" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Pacheco returned to sing "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "O Come, All You Unfaithful" (which I had never heard before), and "Silent Night." His powerful version of "I Believe in Christ" with the Lyceum Choir just about brought the house down and his version of "God Bless Us, Everyone" from the movie Scrooge was lovely. He ended the concert with "O Holy Night," the song I most wanted to hear (it was worth the wait), and I loved it because he sings it better than almost everyone I've heard sing it live! The audience leapt to their feet for an enthusiastic standing ovation so he returned for an encore, including "The Greatest Show" from The Greatest Showman (apparently he auditioned for the role of Barnum in the upcoming musical adaptation but was the second choice), "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables (this was another favorite moment), and "The Prayer" which is one of his most popular songs. I really enjoyed this concert (I also enjoyed dinner at the newly remodeled Garden Restaurant inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building before the show) and I am already excited to go again next year!

Note:  This was my last Christmas concert of the year so my final count for performances of "O Holy Night" is three (I was lucky enough to hear at all three concerts I attended).