Guest Artists

The Muppets® from Sesame Street®, who have been entertaining the world for over 45 years with their whimsical cast of characters, will join the Choir for the first time in 2014’s Christmas Concert, marking the first time the Choir has been joined by an all-puppet cast.

Big Bird

Big Bird made his first Sesame Street appearance on November 10, 1969. He is an 8-foot, 2-inch yellow bird who has been known to ride a unicycle. He lives next to Oscar the Grouch in a large nest behind 123 Sesame Street. He has many talents including dancing and singing, which makes him a perfect fit for the concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Big Bird helps children know that it’s OK to not know everything. He often says, “Asking questions is a good way of finding things out!"

Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster made his Sesame Street debut in 1969, but a few years earlier he appeared in snack-food commercial eating, you guessed it, cookies. When he eats, he makes a loud munching noise, which is interpreted as “Om, nom, nom, nom.” Some of his other famous phrases include, “Me want cookie, “ or “Me eat cookie.” His famous song, “C is for Cookie” is one of the most popular Sesame Street songs. Cookie Monster’s latest segment is called Cookie’s Crumby Pictures, which parodies popular movies. In these segments Cookie Monster serves as the spokesman for self-regulation.

Bert & Ernie

Ernie and his best friend, Bert, have been roommates since 1969 showing the world that even polar opposites can be best of friends. Ernie is notorious for coming up with crazy ideas, while Bert tries to talk him out of them – all the while being unaware of how silly his ideas can be. Ernie is fond of his favorite rubber duckie toy, taking baths, as well as trying to play his saxophone. In 1970, Ernie reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for his song “Rubber Duckie,” where he sings about his bathtub toy.

On the other hand, Bert is the voice of reason and is more serious than Ernie. He is intelligent as well as kind, but can be quite grumpy. He loves to collect paper clips and bottle caps, read Boring Stories, and study pigeons. He is also the president of the National Association of W Lovers, and has an identical twin brother named Bart. He also has two pets – goldfish named Lyle and Talbot.

Rosita

Rosita, la Monstrua de las Cuevas (Rosita, the Monster of the Caves), or just Rosita, first appeared on Sesame Street in 1991. She is a turquoise, Spanish-speaking monster who hails from Mexico. She is the first regular bilingual Muppet to appear on the show, with the first being Osvaldo the Grouch. Originally, Rosita had wings but claims that she lost them when her family flew from their cave in a storm. She is a musician, often playing a traditional Latin classical guitar, and often presents the Spanish Word of the Day. She is also very good at history and geography.

Abby Cadabby

Abby Cadabby moved into the Sesame Street neighborhood on August 14, 2006. She carries a wand and has magical powers that let her pop in and out of the air, float or turn things into pumpkins. Her name comes from the magic word Abracadabra. Abby loves learning new things like drawing, counting and often says, “That’s so magical!” Rosita and Abby are close friends and she teaches Rosita a language called Dragonfly, while Rosita teaches Abby Spanish.

Elmo

Elmo has been entertaining children since November 18, 1985, and has brought a childlike wonder to his Sesame Street neighborhood. When he speaks, he refers to himself in the third person. In fact, when Doug Wright asked Elmo about performing with the Choir, he said, “Elmo’s like, super, super, super honored. When we found out, we were all very excited; there was lots of you know, jumping up and down and lots of excitement.” Elmo has a falsetto singing voice and loves to sing with children. He has his own Facebook and Twitter pages where he shares his videos and funny messages. His most recent Twitter post said, “Elmo heard there would be pigs in a blanket at a party. But the pigs never showed up. So we ate a bunch of little hot dogs without them.”

The Count

Count von Count, or simply “The Count” is Sesame Street’s resident counting vampire. As such, The Count’s main purpose is to teach math skills to children in exciting ways. He has been a mainstay on Sesame Street since the 1970s, making his first appearance on November 27, 1972. He will count anything and everything, and he once prevented Ernie from answering the telephone because he wanted to count the number of rings. He is friendly, and often goofy, but can be short-tempered at times – especially when his counting is interrupted!