Sir David Suchet, one of England’s eminent actors, will join guest artist Lea Salonga for the Choir’s 2022 Christmas concerts and will be the guest narrator for the annual, much-celebrated Christmas performances of The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square on December 15, 16, and 17, 2022.
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Under the direction of Mack Wilberg, music director of the Choir, and Ryan Murphy, associate music director, these powerhouse talents will ring in the Christmas spirit for audiences this holiday season. Tickets for the event have been distributed.
Wilberg said, “We are very pleased that the distinguished actor Sir David Suchet will be a part of this year’s Christmas concert as he recounts a moving Christmas story as well as the greatest story ever told, that of the birth of the Christ child.”
Suchet played the engaging, suave, precise Hercule Poirot in ITV’s Poirot for 70 episodes over 24 years. Known for his extensive study of the characters he plays, Suchet has received many awards and nominations for his decades of work on stage. He has played characters such as Iago in Othello, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Caliban in The Tempest, Bolingbroke in Richard II, and Angelo in Measure for Measure. All were nominated for the Laurence Olivier Best Actor in a Play Awards.
Suchet has performed on London’s West End and on Broadway in classic roles such as George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? composer Salieri in Amadeus, and James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey into Night. His masterworks in television on BBC and American networks include portrayals of historical, biblical, and fictional figures like Cardinal Wolsey in Henry VIII and Aaron in Moses.
In 2011, Suchet was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, and in 2020, Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire for his services to drama and charity.
The Choir’s 2022 Christmas concerts will feel more like pre-pandemic concerts. Although the Conference Center audience capacity for this year’s Christmas concerts has been limited to less than full capacity due to the construction and congestion around Temple Square, the concert itself will feature all the hallmarks of prior years. This is welcome news after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 Christmas concerts and closed the 2021 concerts to the public. Despite those challenges presented, the Choir was able to continue its Christmas TV special tradition with a 20-year retrospective program featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell, which was taped in 2020 and aired on PBS and BYUtv last December.
For the live concert in 2021, Broadway star Megan Hilty and renowned film and television actor Neal McDonough joined with the Choir, the Orchestra, and the Bells at Temple Square and the Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble for a performance that was taped for airing this year. The concert, O Holy Night: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir Featuring Megan Hilty and Neal McDonough, will be broadcast on PBS on Tuesday, December 13, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and on BYUtv on Sunday, December 18, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
A Grammy Award–winning, multiple Emmy Award–winning, all-volunteer choral ensemble, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square is made up of 360 men and women who join their talents to create their trademark, instantly recognizable sound. They are accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square, a 150-member symphony orchestra, and the Bells at Temple Square, a 33-member handbell choir, which are likewise all-volunteer organizations. Together, they provide inspiring music that has the power to help people feel closer to the divine and celebrate God’s love for all His children.
Read more about Sir David Suchlet and the Christmas concert at TheTabernacleChoir.org.
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