Internationally acclaimed Norwegian-born singer Sissel will be the featured guest for The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s Pioneer Day Concert that is held annually in conjunction with community-wide events. The concert will be held Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. (mountain daylight time) in the Conference Center at Temple Square.

Complimentary tickets for the Pioneer Day Concert will be available to the public on Tuesday, June 18. Admission will be open to everyone eight years and older. Ticket details will be published in June.

Audiences still have not forgotten Sissel’s stunning performances at the Choir and Orchestra’s 2006 Christmas concerts. Recordings of those concerts are available as The Spirit of the Season (2007) CD and the Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, featuring Sissel (2007) DVD. The concert was shown in 2007 on PBS stations to 4 million viewers around the country and was received with much praise. The Spirit of the Season CD was #1 on Billboard’s Classical chart for nine weeks and was nominated for two Grammy® awards for Best Classical Crossover Album of the Year and Best Engineered Classical Album.

“We are honored to have Sissel perform with us again,” said Mack Wilberg, music director of the Choir. “The sincerity and purity of her voice captivates everyone who hears it. We first met her when she appeared with the Choir on Music & the Spoken Word in 2005 celebrating Norway’s 100th anniversary, and she has appeared on three of our albums. We count her as a great friend of the Choir organization.”

“Working with the Choir and Orchestra was such a wonderful experience. I felt like I had come home,” Sissel remarked after her 2006 concerts. “I think [the Choir and I] feel the same about things. We have similar ideas of faith. It’s also about the love of music. It’s about knowing that it is more than music. There is something extra.”

In addition to the Spirit of the Season CD, Sissel is also featured on two other Choir and Orchestra recordings: Homeward Bound with Bryn Terfel (2013) and Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Friends (2017).

Music critics have described her voice as “exquisite,” “crystalline,” and “captivating.” To many, Sissel is known as “the voice of Titanic,” as her arias are heard throughout the film, including during the famous “I’m flying!” scene. The film’s soundtrack was the highest selling orchestral film score in history.

Watch Sissel’s performance of “Vitae Lux” with the Choir and Orchestra: