For years contemporary instrumentalist Kurt Bestor has been known as “Mr. Christmas” thanks to his annual holiday concerts in Abravanel Hall and around the state.
So it wasn’t a surprise that he would be playing a couple of Christmas concerts in Park City.
However, the two shows he’s going to play, which he calls his “One Silent Night” concerts, will take place on Christmas Eve and Christmas night, a schedule that, at first, surprised Bestor.
“I got asked by Randy (Barton) at the Egyptian to do this,” Bestor said during an interview with The Park Record. “At first I thought, no one goes to concerts on Christmas Eve and Christmas night. But then I thought about who is in Park City at that time people on vacation for Christmas and people who haven’t had time to celebrate it.”
So, Bestor thought playing for a “captive audience” would be a nice change of pace.
“I think it will be fun because they can go up and ski during the day and come back to the concert that evening,” he said. “After I thought about it, I was sold on the idea.”
Also, the concerts Bestor will play at the Egyptian will be solo acoustic performances.
“I usually like to have a lot of instruments around me,” he said. “Maybe it’s my comfort blanket, but I do like the interplay with the other musicians. But after talking with my manager, who said I did very well with just a piano, I came up with the idea to do these solo piano concerts, which is pretty radical for me, even though I recorded a solo piano album called ‘One Silent Night.'”
Bestor did a few solo concerts and realized his manager was right.
“It was really fun to just have me and 88 of my black and white friends,” he said, referring to his piano. “I can play not just loud and soft, but also with different musical colors. I can play muted, brassy or percussive. It’s fun because I have to be the bass, drum and percussion on the piano.”
The music man did have to make a mental adjustment when approaching the solo concerts, he said.
“First off, there is no net to catch you if you make a mistake,” he said. “The music is all out in the open.
“But what’s cool about a solo piano is the fact that it can become a whole orchestra,” he said. “You’ve got the low keys that become the rich basses for support. You’ve got the high notes that are like woodwinds up at top, and I’m playing all the counterpoints.”
Bestor has since embraced the idea of performing more of these solo concerts during the holiday season.
“It’s a change from the hyper side of the season when people hit the stores for ‘Black Friday’ after Thanksgiving,” he said. ” the time you get everything taken care of and the lights are up and tree is all set, it’s time to have a more intimate Christmas. And I think these types of intimate concerts are perfect for that time of reflection.”
Gathering material for the solo concerts was an adventure, Bestor said.
“There is plenty of music to draw from,” he said. “The problem is what I have to leave out. I’ll have the show put together and I say, ‘Oh, but I want to do that piece.'”
Throughout the project, Bestor was constantly surprised at how some of his big arrangements translated into more reverent results.
“There’s a version of a song I do called ‘Bring a Torch’ that I’ve always enjoyed because of the strings, brass, guitar and the percussion,” he said. “And, yet, when I take those elements out, the result is a piece with a whole different personality.
“It’s like when Nirvana did their ‘unplugged’ performance for MTV,” he explained. “You think, ‘How in the world are these songs going to translate?’ but somehow they don’t seem like their personalities have been stripped away. Instead they take on a whole different personality, which is just as viable, and maybe even preferable, to the original.”
As with all his live performances, Bestor will perform a newly written Christmas song and give out the sheet music as a gift to the audiences.
“It’s a song called ‘The First Christmas Day,'” he said. “I’ll play it and sing it and everyone can take home the sheet music.
“It’s a tradition that started with my family in the 1990s,” Bestor said. “I would write an original Christmas carol and give it to my family as a Christmas card. On a whim I did it at one of my Christmas concerts in Salt Lake and I have been doing it ever since.
“I’m going to continue that tradition in Park City,” he said.
Kurt Bestor will present his “One Silent Night” solo piano concerts at the Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main Street, on Friday, and Saturday, Dec. 24 and 25, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $30. Tickets can be purchased by calling (435) 649-9371 or visiting www.egyptiantheatrecompany.org