Tony Award-winning actor and singer Stephanie J. Block said that performing in The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s 2025 Christmas concerts ”felt like something transcendent was really going on.”
She added, “Because everyone was moved, and everyone walked out of this Conference Center changed divinely.”
Block and her husband, Broadway and television star Sebastian Arcelus, joined the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra and Bells at Temple Square and Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble as the featured guest artists at the 2025 Christmas concerts Dec. 11-13 and “Music & the Spoken Word” on Dec. 14. It’s the first time a married couple have been the guest performers.
Also, guest musicians Julián Mansilla on the bandoneon and violinist Leandro Curaba, both of Argentina, performed during the concert.
This Church News video, titled “Christmas Concert 2025,” shares about the concert and what the guest artists and choir leaders said about the concert.
Arcelus shared the story of the Apollo 8 astronauts during their mission in 1968 that spanned the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They were the first to orbit the moon and see the Earth from space — an event that changed the astronaut’s perspective and the possibility of peace and unity.
Of the concert and the story, Arcelus said, “The grandeur of it is impossible to ignore.”
Mack Wilberg, Tabernacle Choir music director, said, “The most important message that we try to convey is the celebration of the birth of the Savior.”
