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Kurt’s Christmas Message
Welcome everyone to my LAST YEAR at Abravanel Hall! By the way, before I go on, let me clear up a little misunderstanding. While I won’t be performing my annual Christmas show in this exquisite hall as I have for the last 28 years, I definitely plan on doing “A Kurt Bestor Christmas” for at least 28 more! (Please, don’t do the math!)
Next year’s show will be coming to you from the brand new George S. and Dore Eccles Theater (currently under construction). The new theater is really custom made for a show like mine and allows me to be much more creative when it comes to lighting, projection, audio, and video. What many people don’t realize is that Abravanel Hall was designed primarily for the Utah Symphony, which is un-miked and has no need for curtains or lighting trusses. To do my show here, I have to pay to bring all that in, and it is limiting somewhat in the type of show I can do.
So, I now bequeath the entire month of December to Maestro Fischer and his Symphony cohorts. As for me, I’ll be helping Salt Lake City untie the bow on its brand new theater for the 29th edition of A Kurt Bestor Christmas!
Enjoy the show, and have a very Merry Christmas!
Kurt
The Music and Memory Utah Coalition brings the power of personalized music to Utahns living with alzheimer’s, dementia and other cognitive impairments. The goal is to pair individuals with trained volunteers who will create personalized playlists for these individuals. Kurt Bestor has graciously accepted the Coalition’s challenge to be their Musical Ambassador. For more information visit: www.aging.utah.edu/musicandmemory.
Publisher: Mills Publishing, Inc.; President: Dan Miller; Office Administrator: Cynthia Bell Snow; Art Director/ Production Manager: Jackie Medina; Graphic Designers: Leslie Hanna, Ken Magleby, Patrick Witmer; Advertising Representatives: Paula Bell, Karen Malen, Dan Miller, Paul Nicholas; Office Assistant: Jessica Snow; Administrative Assistant: Jody Martin; Printing: Hudson Printing
Kurt Bestor Christmas is published by Mills Publishing, Inc., 772 East 3300 South, Suite 200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84106, 801.467.9419. www.millspub.com Inquiries concerning advertising should be directed to Mills Publishing, Inc. Copyright 2015.
Featuring Santino
and The Muppets® from Sesame Street®
Mon. Dec. 21, 8PM
Thu. Dec. 24, 7PM
Fontana
WITH THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR
FUNDED BY: Ronald C. and Kaye Gunnell, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation,The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, the Cleone Peterson Eccles Endowment Fund, the Charles and Janet Stoddard Foundation, and the Alan and Jeanne Hall Foundation.
Kurt Bestor
taking piano lessons, he never seemed to want to play his assigned pieces the way Bach or Beethoven, rather he ad libbed his own jazzy versions. Seeing something unique in her young student, Barbara Elison allowed 9-year old Bestor to play his recital piece two ways - Bach’s and then Bestor’s. Bestor mentions this experience often and is always appreciative to a teacher that “spared the rod” in order to allow his embryonic compositional skills to bud.
A well-known story is also told of Kurt’s mother, Phyllis Bestor, herself an accomplished pianist. Once when Kurt was heard to deviate from his piano lessons and began improvising to the Time magazine, she approached her bored son and said, “Kurt, put your piano books away. Then, close your eyes and play me a sunrise.” “At first I was confused,” Bestor explains when recounting this moment, “but then I just closed my eyes and began to play the image of a beautiful Utah sunrise that was in my mind. It probably sounded terrible, but my mom made me feel like Mozart at that moment and my composing career began.”
As a junior at Orem High School, Bestor got his next big break when he was asked to fill in for a sick trumpet player in the “Donny and Marie Show” band. After getting permission to miss a half day of school, Kurt played in his very first recording session. “Yes, I was terribly nervous, but that was soon eclipsed by the excitement of sitting next to professional
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Kurt Bestor
musicians while playing tracks that would appear in a few days on nationwide TV show.” Bestor also remembers seeing the movie “Jaws” as scored by John Williams. “Up to that point, I had never really considered that someone got paid to write the background music in a motion picture, but I was so taken by William’s intense score that I barely noticed the shark! At that moment, I knew exactly what I was going to do for a living.”
While Bestor did indeed play on hundreds of recording sessions as a trumpet player and pianist and scored over 40 feature-length films, numerous TV themes, and hundreds of jingles and commercial underscores during the next decade of his musical life, it wasn’t until recording his first album “Joyspring” that his name began to be known nationwide.
This first CD in 1987 was followed the next year by an instrumental Christmas album titled, “An Airus Christmas.” Marketing this album of unique Bestor arrangements of traditional holiday tunes necessitated booking a concert which he and his record company team did. “With perhaps more ego than smarts,” Bestor jokes, “the 2,500-seat Abravanel Hall was chosen” and a Utah tradition was born.
Now 28 years later, hundreds of thousands of people have enjoyed Bestor’s yearly show which features his all-star band and orchestra and special guest performers. Over the years, Bestor has been joined by such musical luminaries as Oscar and Grammy-award winner Melissa Manchester, 80’s teen singing idol Debbie Gibson, American Idol finalist Jason Castro, South African smooth jazz artist Jonathan Butler, and member of the Irish singing group Celtic Woman, Alex Sharpe. A host of incredible instrumentalists have also added their talents to “A Kurt Bestor Christmas” including violinist Charlie Bisharat, saxophonist Richard Elliot, and guitarist Gran Geissman. Kurt, always a huge supporter of up and coming local talent, has featured Utah favorites such as Nathan Pacheco, Jenny Oaks Baker, George Dyer, The One Voice Children’s Choir, and Ryan Innes.
Yes, pinning a musical label on Kurt Bestor might be difficult to do, but the moniker of Utah’s “Mr Christmas” certainly fits this talented musician. “Yeah, I guess I get called that quite a bit,” Bestor says blushing a little, “but it always makes me cringe. As long as people put the guy from Jerusalem and the other bearded one from the North Pole ahead of me at Christmas time, I’ll take my place at the back of the line.”www.kurtbestor.com
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Guest Artists, The Wesley Bell Ringers
The Wesley Bell Ringers formed in 1963 when nine enthusiastic teenagers sold sandwiches for six months and made enough money to buy twentyfive hand bells. The Wesley Bell Ringers became the first hand bell choir in Utah. Fast forward 52 years. Over 470 high school aged students have played in the choir which has expanded to include 10 octaves of bells, and two octaves each of hand chimes, cup bells, silver melody bells, a carillon and a boom-a-gong.
The Choir performs throughout Northern Utah during the Christmas season, and each summer travels across North America sharing their music. They have performed at Mount Rushmore, Disney World, The Cathedral of the Pines National memorial, the 2002 Winter Olympics and the United States Capitol. They have made joint appearances with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony.
Holiday lights that rival the Northern Lights.
VISIT THE 9TH ANNUAL ZOOLIGHTS! AT UTAH’S HOGLE ZOO, DECEMBER 3-31.
ZooLights! has returned to Hogle Zoo with even more sparkling lights! But that’s not all. ZooLights! also includes:
• 250 animated animal and holiday light displays
• 135-foot long lighted tunnel spanning Emigration Creek
• Share your Christmas list with Santa at Santa’s Station
• Carolers, ice carvers, holiday crafts in the Tinsel Tent and more
• Toast marshmallows and ‘Make Your Own S’mores’ over a cozy outdoor fire pit
For a calendar of events, operating hours and admission prices, including Hogle Zoo member discounts, visit hoglezoo.org.
For more information, download the ZooLights! mobile site at hoglezoolights.com
At just 13 years old, the eighth-grade redhead has starred in a viral video of “Let It Go,” performed on America’s Got Talent and sung with The Piano Guys, Kristin Chenoweth, Lindsey Stirling, and David Archuleta. She recently opened for Idina Menzel and is thrilled to be sharing the stage with Kurt Bestor this holiday season.
Lexi’s explosive young career has included performances on Good Morning America, The Queen Latifah Show, CBS New York’s The Couch, and numerous TV news programs. She has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Disney Christmas Day Parade, and Christmas for the Troops at the Kennedy Center. Based in Cottonwood Heights, she has toured Japan and the East Coast, and looks forward to bringing her music to new audiences both close to home and around the world.
About Kurt Bestor
For over three decades, Bestor has scored music for over 40 films, recorded over 20 CDs, and written music for symphony orchestras, choirs, television shows, dance and theater productions worldwide. Bestor has also performed internationally, conducting and performing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and the Estonian National Orchestra, among others.
SWEET SPOT
Abravanel Hall
Abravanel Hall is one of the finest concert halls in America, and is an architectural icon in Salt Lake City. The Hall has served the people of Utah for 35 years and stands as a monument to the rich cultural heritage of our community.
The Hall itself is internationally recognized for its acoustics and it is a stunning room. The walls are white oak and are adorned with 12,000 square feet of 24-karat gold leaf. Crowning the room are six large brass chandeliers with 18,000 hand-cut Bohemian crystal beads and prisms imported from Austria and Czechoslovakia. The lobby
boasts an east-facing, stunning window-wall that looks out over Temple Square and beyond to the Wasatch mountains. It is also home to Olympic Spirit, a stunning Chihuly glass sculpture, donated to the County after the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The outdoor plaza is integral to the look and feel of the building. Recently, the Abravanel Hall Plaza was renovated, providing a grand entry to the Hall, new landscaping, and public gathering spaces.
Salt Lake County’s Center for the Arts owns and operates Abravanel Hall.
WHERE MATHEMATICAL THINKING IS SPARKED AT AN EARLY AGE AND FUELED THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
Research-based insights into the development of young children’s thinking stress the importance of providing high quality lessons in mathematics each day. Rowland Hall’s earliest learners regularly engage in innovative hands-on activities with blocks, robots, and other engineering materials. Visit to see Rowland Hall’s professional, intentional, and extraordinary Beginning School in action. Schedule a tour by calling 801.355-7485.
Thanks Abravanel Hall for 28 great years
This year marks Bestor’s 28 th year of A Kurt Bestor Christmas annual concerts and will be his final year to perform them in Abravanel Hall.
“Over the last 28 years I have had a lot of amazing guests on my shows, and I am very excited to announce Lexi as my special guest artist this year,” said Bestor. “With this being my last year performing A Kurt Bestor Christmas in Abravanel Hall, I wanted to look to the future as well as celebrate the last 28 years. Lexi is the perfect artist to represent the future. I will also be bringing back some of the popular guests from the past and featuring orchestra members nightly who have been on stage with me over the years.”
Walker has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall and the Disney Christmas Day Parade. She recently opened for Idina Menzel and has sung
with Kristen Chenoweth, Lindsey Stirling, The Piano Guys and David Archuleta. Walker is the newest artist for Sony Music, and they will release her first Christmas EP on November 13, 2015.
Also scheduled to appear for an encore performance are The Wesley Bell Ringers. According to Bestor, they are one of the most requested guests for his shows. The Wesley Bell Ringers formed in 1963 with twenty-five hand bells and became the first hand bell choir in Utah. Today it has expanded to 10 octaves of bells, and two octaves each of hand chimes, cup bells, silver melody bells, a carillon and a boom-a-gong. The Choir has performed at Mount Rushmore, Disney World, The Cathedral of the Pines National Memorial, the 2002 Winter Olympics and the United States Capitol. They have made joint appearances with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony.
Musicians
Guitar ......................................................... Michael Dowdle
Bass ......................................................... Carlitos del Puerto
Double Bass ...................................................... Ben Henderson
Flute/Piccolo/Alto Flute ............................................ Jane Wadsworth
Oboe/English Horn Justin Torres
Clarinet/Bass ......................................................... Ray Smith
French Horns ......................................... Brian Blanchard, Kenji Hood
Musican Contractor Meredith Campbell
You CAN make a difference!
Some gifts come in boxes. Others come in bags. But this holiday season, the most meaningful gifts come in cans. So join Utah Food Bank this year in donating food, time or money to help Utahns facing hunger statewide.
• Bring any bag filled with non-perishable donations to one of our statewide drop-off locations
• Fill a virtual bag or donate online at utahfoodbank.org
Production Credits
Special Thanks To: SPONSORS
Mountain America Credit Union
Larry H Miller Auto Group
Fox13
FM 100
Media One
Hotel Monaco
MagicSpace Entertainment
ArtTix
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Kevin Raleigh for Black Diamond Performance
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Eric Frankhouser
LIGHTING DIRECTOR
Gary Justesen Oasis Stage Works
LIGHTING PROGRAMMER
Gamyr Worf Oasis Stage Works
SOUND DESIGN
Bob Abeyta Performance Audio (w/ Brett Morgan – Monitor mixer)
MERCHANDISING
Sara Monroe
AUDIO VISUAL
Webb AV
KURT’S HAIR STYLIST
David Anthony Sargeant
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Anna Ray
FAZIOLI PIANO PROVIDED BY Baldassin Performance Pianos
COVER PHOTO
Austin Diamond
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