Guest artists first married couple for Tabernacle Choir Christmas concerts
Dec 12, 2025, 8:01 PM
SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time, the Tabernacle Choir has guest artists for its Christmas concerts who are a married couple.
In the grandeur that is the annual Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert, this year’s guest artists — stars of Broadway and television — Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus, say they feel embraced and are so grateful to be together.
Block is a Tony Award winner with credits for “Wicked,” “The Cher Show,” “Falsettos” and “Into the Woods.”
“Yes, anytime that we share the stage, it’s magic,” Block said. “When you can do it during the Christmas season, nothing better.”
Arcelus has had starring roles in Netflix’s “House of Cards” and on CBS’s “Madam Secretary” as well as Broadway credits in “Rent,” “Wicked,” “Jersey Boys” and “Into the Woods.”
“We do love Christmas, and we are of faith and we do love sharing that together,” he said. “There’s nothing quite like stepping onto the stage with this history, with 21,000 people, to celebrate what, for many, is their favorite holiday, favorite moment, but then look into your wife’s eyes, there’s nothing quite more grounding or special … because it’s what I’m most grateful for, our little family.”
They have a daughter who will come to see them perform this weekend with her grandmothers.
Block admits this was a leap of faith.
“I’m so glad I said, ‘yes,'” she said.
She had never sung with a choir this large before performing with the Tabernacle Choir.
“When you’re standing on a Broadway stage, sometimes you’re there alone, delivering the music and your orchestra is beneath you. Here, you are surrounded by music and that is an experience I will treasure and won’t ever forget,” Block said.
Mack Wilberg, music director for the Tabernacle Choir, said he had had Block on the top of his list for several years and then discovered her equally talented husband — it was a win-win.
“Having Stephanie and Sebastian, this wonderful married couple, who you can tell are very much in love, I think that the audience feels that and I think that the feeling of family is very, very important to the concert this year,” Wilberg said.
From the birth of the Christ child, to the vision of the earth from the Apollo 8 astronauts to an international touch with artists from South America, the message this Christmas is universal.
“Peace and unity may be given but in the day-to-day, they need to be earned,” Arcelus said. “So, I hope we can walk out of these halls or step out of our rooms after seeing this next year and carry that with us, carry that into the next exchange with the next person you meet and through life.”
“We’re humans, period, we need and want the same thing,” Block said. “And I think that’s what this program, specifically, is delivering and that’s what I’d love people to walk out into the world with and hold onto.”
The message is there is hope in the world and beyond.
Concerts continue Friday and Saturday nights at the Conference Center on Temple Square and a special “Music and the Spoken Word” on Sunday morning.
The tickets are free but have all been distributed. There is a wait-list line 90 minutes before each concert.
