20 Year of Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir

(Rochester, NY) – 20 Years of Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir, premiering Monday, December 13, 2021 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV, is a special two-hour anniversary retrospective program hosted by Broadway legend and Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell. The special features performances by more than 40 guest artists and narrators who have starred in the Christmas tradition over the past 20 years. Woven throughout the intimate performances, behind-the-scenes views, reflections, and storytelling led by Mitchell are soul-stirring standout moments. The special encores Friday, December 24 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

Performers include Broadway stars Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Angela Lansbury, Kelli O’Hara, Santino Fontana, and Laura Osnes; R&B singer Gladys Knight; the late jazz singer Natalie Cole; pop singer David Archuleta; legendary newscasters Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw; historian David McCullough; the Muppets from “Sesame Street”; actors Jane Seymour, Hugh Bonneville, Richard Thomas, the late Ed Herrmann, John Rhys-Davies, Roma Downey, the late Peter Graves, Claire Bloom, Michael York, and Martin Jarvis; opera stars Renée Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Frederica von Stade, Bryn Terfel, Nathan Gunn, Alfie Boe, Sissel, Rolando Villazón and four Metropolitan Opera soloists and the London-based a cappella group, The King’s Singers. Collectively, the featured guests have garnered 34 Grammy Awards, 19 Tony Awards, 14 Emmy Awards, 10 Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTA Awards, one Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Olivier Award. 

In addition to the musical performances, which reflect a variety of musical styles and traditions from around the world, the special highlights the range of past narrators who have joined the Choir and Orchestra to tell the stories of Christmas, including Hugh Bonneville (“Downton Abbey,” “Paddington”), John Rhys-Davies (“The Lord of the Rings,” “Indiana Jones”), Jane Seymour (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” “Somewhere in Time”), Richard Thomas (“The Waltons,” “The Americans”), the late Ed Hermann (“The Lost Boys,” “Annie”), legendary news broadcasters including the late Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw and more. Together with the music, these standout moments help tell the storied history of this beloved institution, which every year celebrates the love, spirit, and peace of the season. 

Photo: Brian Stokes Mitchell
Credit: Courtesy of © 2021 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.