November 17, 2022 Dec. 24: ‘L.A. County Holiday Celebration’ announces performers, hosts for 63rd annual event on Christmas Eve

Hosted by opera singer Suzanna Guzmán and pro roller skater Candice Heiden, free holiday spectacular at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion will be broadcast live on PBS SoCal, streamed by PBS SoCal, KCET and via PBS app

LOS ANGELES (November 17, 2022) — The Music Center, L.A.’s premier performing arts destination, and PBS SoCal and KCET, Southern California's primary PBS stations and award-winning public media producers, are excited to announce the hosts and performers for this year’s L.A. County Holiday Celebration, a one-of-a-kind, free holiday spectacular that has been a Los Angeles holiday tradition since 1959.

The 63rd annual, two-time Emmy® award-winning event will feature 21 music ensembles, choirs and dance companies from the many neighborhoods and cultures that make up L.A. County. Returning with a live audience for the first time since 2019, the program will delight both the in-person audience at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 24 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and at-home audiences watching the live broadcast on PBS SoCal, streaming online at kcet.org and pbssocal.org, or via the free PBS app. Encore broadcasts will be aired by PBS SoCal on Saturday, Dec. 24 at 6 p.m., and on KCET on Saturday, Dec. 24 at 11 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 25 at 6 p.m.

Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano and Emmy® award-winning television host Suzanna Guzmán returns as co-host for her ninth year, and will be joined by professional roller skater, skate choreographer and coach Candice Heiden.

Featuring colorful costumes and global sounds from Africa, China, India, Philippines, Mexico, Hawaii and more, this year’s participating artists hail from communities across Los Angeles County: from Santa Monica, West L.A. and Culver City in the west to Burbank, Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley in the east, and from the northern reaches of the Antelope and San Fernando Valleys to South Los Angeles and Rancho Palos Verdes.

Returning audience favorites include the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles; gospel singers Lorenzo Johnson & Praizum; all-women global soul ensemble ADAAWE; Grammy® award-winner Daniel Ho with Hawaiian hula dancers Hālau Hula Keali’i o Nālani; Philippine folk arts dance company Kayamanan Ng Lahi; all-female mariachi ensemble Las Colibrí; Mexican folkloric dance troupe Pacifico Dance Company; current student and alumni ensemble Palmdale High School Choral Union and Sunday Night Singers; world chamber music ensemble Quarteto Nuevo; Asian/country fusion musicians Sound of China Guzheng Ensemble; children’s ensembles MUSYCA Children’s Choir and Our Lady of the Angels Children’s Chorus; and Urban Voices Project, a choir comprised of men and women surviving homelessness on Skid Row.

New this year are award-winning blues band Sista Jeans Blues Machine; hip-hop dance ensemble Temper Tantrum; all-kids a cappella group Squad Harmonix; secular a cappella choir Voices of Reason; modern kathak (North Indian classical dance) ensemble Shivam Arts Dance Company joined by Clarita Corona of Arte Flamenco; tap dance ensemble Reverb Tap Company; keepers of the Ballet Russe legacy Pacific Ballet Dance Theatre; and the California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley Vocal Arts Ensemble.

Tickets to the in-person event are free and available on a first-come, first-seated basis. Doors open at 2:30 p.m., although the line usually begins to form around noon.

The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is located at 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Parking is free in The Music Center parking garage.

The L.A. County Holiday Celebration is produced on behalf of the County of Los Angeles by The Music Center and PBS SoCal in association with CDK Productions and directed by Emmy® award-winning producer/director Kenneth Shapiro.

Click here to download high-resolution photos.

Click here to view the promo trailer.

Scroll down to find a complete list of this year’s performers.

For more information, visit HolidayCelebration.org.

Details for Calendar Listings
63^rd annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration
 

WHAT:
The two-time Emmy® award-winning L.A. County Holiday Celebration, a one-of-a-kind, free holiday spectacular that has been a Los Angeles holiday tradition since 1959, will once again spread joy to thousands of Angelenos on Christmas Eve. Delighting both the in-person audience at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for the first time since 2019 as well as audiences watching the live broadcast on TV inside their homes, the 63rd annual event will feature 21 music ensembles, choirs and dance companies from the many neighborhoods and cultures of L.A. County. Those who can’t make it to The Music Center on Dec. 24 will be able to watch the event live on PBS SoCal, online at kcet.org and pbssocal.org, via the free PBS app, or on a PBS SoCal encore broadcast later in the evening. KCET will also rebroadcast it that evening and again on Christmas Day. Tickets to the in-person event are free and available on a first-come, first-seated basis.

WHEN:

• In-person event: Saturday, Dec. 24 from 3 p.m.–6 p.m.
• A live broadcast of the show airs on PBS SoCal on Saturday, Dec. 24 from 3 p.m.–6 p.m.
• Live streaming at pbssocal.org and kcet.org and on the free PBS app
• An encore broadcast will air on PBS SoCal on Saturday, Dec. 24 at 6 p.m.
• Two encore broadcasts will air on KCET: Saturday, Dec. 24 at 11 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 25 at 6 p.m.

WHO:

• Performing artists from across Los Angeles County
• Sponsored by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
• Produced by The Music Center and PBS SoCal in association with CDK Productions
• Directed by Emmy® award-winning producer/director Kenneth Shapiro
• Live telecast, streaming and encore broadcast on PBS SoCal; streaming and encore broadcasts at KCET

WHERE:

The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
135 N. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

PARKING:

FREE in The Music Center parking garage.

ADMISSION:

• FREE; no reservations or tickets to the show.
• First-come, first-seated.
• The line usually begins to form around noon.

OTHER

While The Music Center strongly encourages vaccines/boosters and the use of masks, they are no longer required to attend performances in its theaters.

PHOTOS:

Click here to download high-resolution photos.

HOW:

Information hotline: (213) 972-3099 or HolidayCelebration.org
 

ARTISTS PERFORMING IN THE
63^rd annual L.A. COUNTY HOLIDAY CELEBRATION*:
(*subject to change)

• ADAAWE, an all-women global soul music ensemble, will perform their uplifting original reggae tune Sikiya fused with an alternate take on the traditional holiday song Little Drummer Girl that empowers girls and celebrates rhythm.
• California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley Vocal Arts Ensemble will sing Moonglow and The Christmas Song.
• Daniel Ho & Hālau Hula Keali’i o Nālani will perform Drummer Boy, sung in the Hawaiian language and accompanied by original hula choreography.
• Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles returns to the L.A. County Holiday Celebration for the 32nd year in a row to perform Motown-themed holiday songs.
• Kayamanan Ng Lahi will perform A New Beginning, using traditional pangalay and provincial-style movements juxtaposed with original, contemporary music to illustrate the transformation of the human spirit and the way it adapts, uplifts and takes flight like a paruparo, or butterfly.
• Las Colibrí (“The Hummingbirds”), an all-female mariachi ensemble, will blend vocal harmonies with unique arrangements of holiday songs.
• Lorenzo Johnson & Praizum will sing high energy Gospel renditions of classic Christmas songs, accompanied by fun choreography.
• MUSYCA Children’s Choir, bringing together gifted young people ages four to 18, will perform Christmas Time Is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas and Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney.
• Our Lady of the Angels Children’s Chorus, a dynamic, internationally renowned youth ensemble, will perform the unique Christmas lullaby Candlelight Carol and a choral arrangement of Duke Ellington's vocal jazz classic, It Don't Mean A Thing.
• Pacific Ballet Dance Theatre will perform a magical rendition of the Snowflake Dance from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.
• Pacifico Dance Company will perform Orgullo Oaxaqueño, an homage to Oaxaca’s annual La Guelaguetza festival that celebrates indigenous communities and preserves sacred pre-Hispanic traditions for a post-colonial world.
• Palmdale High School Choral Union and Sunday Night Singers, a select ensemble of current high school and alumni singers who have performed nationally and internationally, will perform the song Mary Had A Baby, a beautiful spiritual of hope when all appears bleak, followed by the Derric Johnson arrangement of Joy to the World.
• Quarteto Nuevo, which merges western classical, Eastern European folk, Latin and jazz, will perform an arrangement of Romanian Christmas carols by Béla Bartók, adapted for its unique world chamber ensemble of soprano saxophone, acoustic guitar, cello and Brazilian hand percussion.
• Reverb Tap Company will showcase fierce footwork and style, tap dancing to a jazz-based score, honoring and preserving the history of the art form with this rich tribute while bringing a youthful, vibrant and unexpected twist to the stage.
• Shivam Arts Dance Company, a professional group of highly-skilled, classically trained kathak (North Indian classical dance) dancers who are pushing the boundaries of traditional dance in a modern setting, will perform Dual Rhythms: An Energetic Synergy of Kathak & Flamenco, joined by Clarita Corona of Arte Flamenco.
• Sista Jeans Blues Machine, winner of the 2013 “Best Southern California Blues Band” award, will perform the Donny Hathaway song This Christmas.
• Sound of China Guzheng Ensemble will fuse the sound of traditional Chinese instruments with that of American country music for a holiday rendition of John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads.
• Squad Harmonix, an all-kids a cappella performance group, will perform Sleigh Ride and I’ll Be Home for Christmas.
• Temper Tantrum will showcase a variety of hip-hop and other choreographic styles under the direction of Emeroy Bernardo, Brandon Burciaga, Lauren Jose and Krystle Montoya.
• Urban Voices Project, a choir comprised of men and women surviving homelessness on Skid Row, will sing a mash-up of Bing Crosby/David Bowie's The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth accompanied by piano, guitar, electric bass, drums, violin and cello, and will then ask the audience to join in and raise their voices to the group’s original, powerful and heartwarming song, Rise Again.
  
• Voices of Reason, a secular, a cappella community choir that sings comedic songs focusing on science and separation of church and state, will sing Evolution and Steve Martin’s Atheists Don't Have No Songs.

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About The Music Center
The Music Center convenes artists, communities and ideas with the goal of deepening the cultural lives of every resident in Los Angeles County. The $70 million non-profit performing arts organization has two divisions: TMC Arts and TMC Ops. TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming engine, provides year-round programming inside The Music Center’s four theatres, on Jerry Moss Plaza, outside at Grand Park—a 12-acre adjacent green space—in schools and other locations all over Los Angeles County and on a digital platform called The Music Center Offstage. TMC Arts presents world-class dance with Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, free and low-cost public concerts and events, as well as live and digital K–12 arts education programs, workshops, performances, interactive experiences and special events. TMC Ops manages the theatres, the Plaza and Grand Park, which comprise $2 billion in county assets, on behalf of the County of Los Angeles. The Music Center is also home to four renowned resident companies—Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles Master Chorale, LA Opera and LA Phil. For more information, visit musiccenter.org. Follow The Music Center on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @MusicCenterLA.
 

About PBS SOCAL and KCET

PBS SoCal and KCET are both part of the donor-supported community institution, the Public Media Group of Southern California. PBS SoCal is the flagship PBS station for diverse people across California and delivers content and experiences that inspire, inform and educate. PBS SoCal offers the full slate of beloved PBS programs including MASTERPIECE, NOVA, PBS NewsHour, FRONTLINE, and a broad library of documentary films with works from Ken Burns; as well as educational content including PBS KIDS programs like DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD and CURIOUS GEORGE. KCET showcases the best of PBS and is a leading source for arts, culture, and news in Southern California. Through innovative storytelling, KCET explores and expresses our dynamic local communities helping residents understand and connect with the region's diverse communities and ideas. For additional information about both KCET and PBS SoCal productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org and pbssocal.org KCET Originals and PBS programming are available to stream on the FREE PBS App on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and Chromecast. KCET is also available to watch live on YouTube TV.