Get a behind the scenes look at what went into creating the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s 2015 Christmas concert as you watch or listen to the latest episode of Mormon Tabernacle Choir Premieres. The audio version of this long-running series can be found on the Mormon Channel, while a video version is posted on the Choir’s YouTube Channel.

In this episode about the Choir’s Hallelujah! CD and DVD, music director Mack Wilberg and associate music director Ryan Murphy discuss with Choir publicist Kim Farah the process to select and prepare the music for the 2015 Christmas concert. This performance featured Broadway star Laura Osnes, acclaimed British actor Martin Jarvis, and four distinguished soloists from New York’s Metropolitan Opera — Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Ben Bliss, and Tyler Simpson.

Here are some of the surprising things discussed in this Mormon Tabernacle Choir Premieres episode:

• Learn how Mack Wilberg found an early 18^th-century French carol while searching through old music collections in a store in Paris. He used this little-known work for the beautiful and inviting “Come All Ye Children Singing.”
• Listen to Dr. Wilberg discuss how music was selected for soloist Laura Osnes.
• Hear Ryan Murphy talk about creating his new arrangement of “Over the River and through the Wood.”
• Learn how Mack Wilberg created a new arrangement of the famous “Farandole” with choral parts added to the Bizet orchestral composition.
• Hear how the centerpiece of this concert, the story of Handel and his composition of Messiah, was conceived and performed using narration by British actor Martin Jarvis and the four talented Metropolitan Opera soloists.
• Listen to the directors discuss “Angels We Have Heard on High,” the traditional ending to the Choir’s Christmas concerts.

For additional brief glimpses of this amazing concert:

• Check out a video trailer for Hallelujah!
• Watch Laura Osnes perform and speak about her concert experiences.
• Watch the Choir’s newest Christmas video set to “The Wexford Carol”, one of the beautiful carols recorded on the Hallelujah! CD and DVD. 

Hallelujah! CDs and DVDs are now available at Deseret Book, iTunes, Amazon, and other retailers. Links for purchase and digital downloads can be found on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir website.