The Gift of Music

From the historic Mormon Tabernacle comes a new holiday special, "Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir - The Gift of Music," which aired on PBS nationwide.

The 90-minute concert of classical treasures, produced for PBS by Brandenburg Productions in conjunction with KUED-Channel 7, was taped during a live performance of the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony under the direction of Keith Lockhart, internationally acclaimed conductor of the Utah Symphony. Lockhart, who has been the orchestra's music director since 1998, also is conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. He has conducted more than 200 concerts and made more than 25 television shows.

The Gift of Music concert features three soloists and the International Children's Choir. The major orchestral-choral work on the concert program is "Hodie," a Christmas cantata by the late British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The program also includes selections from Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors," the Hallelujah from Beethoven's cantata, "Christ on the Mount of Olives," and two choruses from Rachmaninoff's "Vespers," conducted by Mormon Tabernacle Choir Director Craig Jessop.

Featured soloists in the "Hodie" are Canadian soprano Henriette Schellenberg, who is recognized as among the finest oratorio singers; tenor Robert Breault, whose concert career has included 250 performances with major American and international orchestras; and baritone Robert Honeysucker, internationally acclaimed for concert and opera performances with leading orchestras and companies around the world.