Alex Boyé to Replace Christopher Jackson as Guest Artist for Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Pioneer Day Concert
Alex Boyé, singer, entertainer, and YouTube artist, will now be the guest artist for the Pioneer Day concerts on July 14 and 15.
Due to unavoidable and unanticipated scheduling conflicts with the filming of his current TV series, Christopher Jackson will be unable to join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for their annual Pioneer Day concerts on July 14 and 15. Mr. Jackson is sincerely disappointed at this turn of events and is looking forward to another opportunity to appear with the choir and orchestra in the future.
The choir is very pleased to announce that Alex Boyé, singer, entertainer, and YouTube artist, will now be the guest artist for the Pioneer Day concerts.
“We are delighted to welcome a performer who has received international acclaim for his unique style of music and has been named 2017’s Rising Artist of the Year,” said Mormon Tabernacle Choir president Ron Jarrett. “Alex brings to the stage musical talent, energy, and charisma. His ability to involve and command an audience is a force to be reckoned with.”
Alex Boyé is known for his dynamic African infused songs that have gained over 400 million views on YouTube, garnering him the title of YouTube’s Cover Artist of the Year in 2014. He was just recently named the 2017 Rising Artist of the Year in a music contest sponsored by Pepsi and Hard Rock Café. As the grand prize winner, he will perform a half-time show for NFL's Monday Night Football this December in Miami.
Alex is an America’s Got Talent alumnus and has shared the stage with many notable artists, including Jay-Z, Tim McGraw, George Michael, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, the Beach Boys, and Olivia Newton-John.
Alex has appeared with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir numerous times on its Music and the Spoken Word broadcast and has been a soloist on several choir CD recordings. Boyé appeared with the choir on several of its tours, most notably in 2015, where his Carnegie Hall performances were greeted with standing ovations. Before earning fame as a solo artist, Boyé was a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, where he honed many of the skills he considers crucial to his success.
The summer concerts are held in conjunction with community-wide Pioneer Day celebrations to celebrate the arrival of Mormon pioneers to Salt Lake City in the summer of 1847. Jarrett said, “The choir will capture the courage of these early settlers by singing pioneer hymns as they unite listeners in harmonious appreciation for their sacrifice.”
The concert will be live-streamed on mormontabernaclechoir.org and many other Church digital properties at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 15. It will also be carried live over the Church satellite system and aired on BYU Television, both broadcasts on that same date and time.
These summer concerts featuring music by the choir and orchestra have been a long-standing tradition. Recent guest artists have included the King’s Singers (2016), Laura Osnes (2015), Santino Fontana (2014), Nathan Pacheco and Lindsey Stirling (2013), Katherine Jenkins (2012), and Linda Eder and Brian Stokes Mitchell (2011). Prior concerts have been filmed and later rebroadcast on BYU Television. The summer concert of 2012 with Katherine Jenkins won for the choir its second Emmy Award. The choir added a third Emmy Award for its Tanner Gift of Music concert with James Taylor.
Free tickets for these concerts are required and have all been distributed. However, patrons are invited to stand by for last-minute seating each evening. The standby line will form at the north gate on Temple Square at 6:30 p.m. for the evening performances.
