SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) -Sunday marked the final performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra Christmas Concert. This year's event featured beloved actress Jane Seymour and opera star Nathan Gunn. The concerts left an impression of the more than 85-thousand people who attended, but the celebrities say Utah also left an impression on them.
Jessica Sundwall attended Sunday’s performance. “The music is an amazing way to bring the Christmas season, and that really brought the spirit of Christmas to me today."
It's a performance, like the concert series in years past, that was years in the making. Organizers say the planning can take up to three years. Rehearsal time, however, is very short and the entire program is performed without sheet music. Choir Director, Mack Wilberg, says he is proud of what the volunteer choir and orchestra achieved. "They did an incredible job memorizing all of the music, and the orchestra was, as always, very well prepared."
Wilberg says the preparation of their guests also made the performance effortless and seamless for those, like Hilda McBride, lucky enough to get a ticket. "The choir was just outstanding and very inspiring as always."
It wasn’t just the audience that felt inspired. Actress Jane Seymour says it is a gift to be involved in a performance designed to lift people’s spirits in a year that has been very difficult for many. "I felt that this was very much, that this was kind of expression of opening our hearts."
Nathan Gunn says it was a nice refrain from a hectic life full of planes to catch and performance schedules. ''It can't help but put us, or at least me, in kind of the correct mood that we should have all of the time."
They say working with the musicians of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Symphony was inspiring. Gunn says he hopes the gift given to them, was re-gifted to the people who attended over the four day concert series. "They actually do it right, but at the same time they are constantly giving, and constantly trying to offer up that message of loving and giving and Christmas and I think we accomplished that."
Outside the Conference Center on Temple Square, their audience confirmed the Christmas gift was received. Sundwall says the performance was memorable. "It was amazing. The music was really touching, and there was a special spirit there."
The tickets were distributed through a random selection process. Those who missed this year’s Christmas Concert can see it in December of 2012 on PBS.
