Deborah Voigt Entertains Mormon Tabernacle For Holidays

"The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square welcomed American soprano Deborah Voigt and British actor John Rhys-Davies for their annual Christmas concerts this past weekend in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. The guest artists also joined the choir and orchestra for the weekly Music and the Spoken Word broadcast and a mini-concert on Sunday, 15 December. About 700 cast and crew are involved in the annual production, including dancers and the Bells on Temple Square. This is the first time Voigt and Rhys-Davies have made appearances with the choir. 'These are two such great additions for all that is happening on stage,' says Ronald B. Jarrett, president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who spoke during a news conference Friday at the Conference Center, which seats 21,000 people. 'It has been an absolute thrill to be here,' says Voigt, a leading dramatic soprano revered for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. The Chicago native raised in California has also portrayed heroines of Italian opera to great acclaim. 'I have been a fan of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for a long time because I myself grew up in a church environment in the choir, where you will find a lot of opera singers have their first opportunity to sing,' explains Voigt. 'I have been blessed to sing in a lot of venues, but this was something really unique. The first time I walked in here and saw the vastness of this center, I couldn’t believe it. It feels much more intimate once it’s full of people.'" [Source]