Plot Synopsis

Each year since 2000, a special guest joins a 600-person strong choir -- including The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Orchestra at Temple Square, and Bells on Temple Square -- for a night of Christmas celebration through music, dance and storytelling. With a special program that puts the guest on display with the artistry of the Choir and Orchestra, viewers enjoy a mix of classic Christmas carols and festive hits from across a number of genres: Broadway, pop, country, classical and Christian/gospel. The program is filmed over three consecutive nights in December in front of a live audience, and is televised by PBS (since 2004) one year later during the holiday season.
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On Tuesday, December 12, 2023 from 8-9:30pm (check local listings), PBS premiered "Season of Light: Christmas With the Tabernacle Choir," a 90-minute CHRISTMAS WITH THE TABERNACLE CHOIR special, starring Lea Salonga and Sir David Suchet. The program weaves together inspirational music -- including nods to Salonga's Filipina heritage -- with hope-filled storytelling about Sir Nicholas Winton, a real-life hero who saved the lives of hundreds of Jewish children during World War II. The result is a universally moving program that invites hope and welcomes the spirit of sharing goodness this holiday season.

Salonga joins The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in singing cherished Christmas carols, hymns and holiday classics. In one highlight, she delivers a powerful performance of a World War II-era song in Tagalog, "Payapang Daigdig," which shares a message of finding peace and hope amidst devastation. Classical pieces, such as Felix Mendelssohn's triumphant "And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth," complement well-known holiday favorites such as "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." As the evening's narrator, Suchet powerfully recounts the story of Winton, an English stockbroker who worked tirelessly in the months before World War II to save endangered Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, orchestrating the safe passage of 669 refugees, with a known posterity of 6,000.

Per tradition, this year's CHRISTMAS WITH THE TABERNACLE CHOIR was filmed in December 2022 to air this year. The program unites a 500-person-strong cast including The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, Bells at Temple Square and Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble to deliver an unforgettable program in front of three live audiences in Salt Lake City's 21,000-seat Conference Center at Temple Square.