I'M SURPRISED Kurt Bestor wasn't in the center ring when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town in September, demonstrating his expertise at being a juggler.
That's right, a juggler.Currently he is juggling two concerts, a newly commissioned score for Ballet West's "The Secret Garden," the orchestral arrangements for Promised Valley Playhouse's "The Gift of Christmas," the music for Doug Stewart's forthcoming centennial epic, "Utah!" plus assorted film and recording projects.
It makes keeping oranges airborne look like a piece of cake.
A lot of Kurt Bestor fans (and they are legion) got a little upset last year when Bestor took a break and didn't schedule what some had considered to be his "traditional" Christmas season concert. He'd done them the previous three years.
"I just didn't want to overstay my welcome," the congenial Bestor said during a recent interview. "But I was straightened out pretty quick and I figured I'd better have a concert. If I have a tradition, it's nice to have it tied in with Christmas."
So - maybe to make up for lost time - there will be not just one but two "A Kurt Bestor Christmas" concerts next month in Abravanel Hall (see box on this page for details).
The repertoire for both evenings will include selections from "An Airus Christmas II," which has just been re-released following Bestor's recent switch to the Pinnacle Group's record label.
Like the album itself, the concert will be an eclectic mix of familiar and nontraditional Christmas carols, plus compositions from Bestor and collaborator Sam Cardon's new "Innovators" album and other works as well.
"The difference between this concert and his previous outings is that everything is bigger," said Bestor. "There's a larger orchestra, with more than 50 musicians, and two choirs - the Salt Lake Children's Choir and Pro Musica.
"The orchestra is the best I could find, comprised of some of the area's top studio musicians and some Utah Symphony members. I got to hand-pick them, which is nice, and most of them are from the Salt Lake and Provo areas."
Since some of the songs have that cinematic Bestor/Cardon hybrid sound - a mix of jazz, folk and classical - you can bet that Bestor will make good use of all the talent on stage for the concert.
Three of the works being performed Dec. 6-7 have never been heard on a local stage before. They're from the "Innovators" album that Bestor and Cardon created especially for WordPerfect.
"It's cheaper to produce compact discs than it is T-shirts or baseball caps," Bestor said, commenting on WordPerfect's unusual promotion for its latest program. The Provo-based company commissioned Bestor and Cardon to write a collection of songs inspired by famous and not-so-famous people who shared an "innovative" bent - from such legends as Albert Schweitzer to rainmaker C.W. Hatfield.
For "The Sage of Lambarene," inspired by Schweitzer and named after the site for his African hospital, Bestor and Cardon created a blend of native percussion, a children's choir, full orchestra and a rhythm section.
"It's a real musical Rubik's Cube," Bestor said.
"Rainmaker" should elicit images of a fellow who, back in the early part of the century, discovered a way to create rain.
"C.W. Hatfield was a lover of books about ancient battles. He discovered that after a battle, it always seemed to rain, so he dreamed up this strange concoction of blood and sweat and his rainmaking turned out to become a Midwest legend," said Bestor.
Hatfield, according to Bestor, was a former sewing machine salesman. He would build tall towers and put his evil-smelling brew on top - and it would rain. Then he was hired by the city of San Diego. Lake Moreno had dried up and they hired him for $20,000 (big bucks on those days). He did his thing and it started to rain . . . and rain . . . and the lake flooded and houses were swept away, but Hatfield refused to back off. He said he was hired to fill up the reservoir and he stood by his contract.
"I was intrigued by this story and wrote a song capturing the flavor of the rainmaker," said Bestor.
The third "Innovators" work being performed will be "Prayer of the Children."
"This is a special song for me," said Bestor. "It's dedicated to the children of the former country of Yugoslavia and the only song on the concert that will be entirely vocal."
Bestor served an LDS Church mission in that region and even then the Croats and the Serbs harbored an intense hatred for each other.
"I could not takes sides," Bestor said, "I loved them both."
"But children the world over just want the same, simple things - warm clothes, good meals every day, their families and a safe place to play," he added. "We put this song at the end of the `Innovators' album because it's dedicated to the innovators of the future - the children of Haiti, Somalia, Yugoslavia. . . .
"Somehow we must ensure that our children will continue to be creative. I will continue to play this song on my concerts until the situation is resolved."
Music from the "Innovators" recording was first performed during a concert in August sponsored by WordPerfect in the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C.
The orchestra included many members of the National Symphony, before they went on strike, and a narrator read stories about each piece. The concert received an overwhelming response and the album, which has been given away by WordPerfect to nearly 400,000 clients around the world, is now being played on a number of radio stations around the country.
Bestor said "Innovators" will likely be released as a commercial album before too long and it may even be available at the December concerts.
One trademark of Bestor's previous concerts will remain - his friendly banter between the tunes.
"Someone once told me my concerts were like `Garrison Keillor Meets Henry Mancini' and I'll take both those as role models," he said.
"When I sit down to write, I can't think theoretically. I have to conjure up images in my mind and I believe that's why my concerts are successful. Everyone comes with the same love of the season that I do, so when I talk about the different stories that have happened to me, people in the audience kind of meet me where I am," he said.
The gifted musician also talked about some of his upcoming projects and what it's like to work under deadline pressure (where he functions best).
"The pressure gets to what I call my `gutstinct,' " he said.
Even if he has a lot of extra time to complete a project, he prefers pushing the deadline, so the pressure can jumpstart the creative process.
"Some people have this mystical idea of a composer going up into the mountains, then coming back like Moses with the music inscribed in stone tablets, but there's a lot of perspiration involved."
One new project Bestor is particularly excited about is Ballet West's new version of "The Secret Garden."
"I want to write something that will move people, which is why I'm doing the ballet (in collaboration with principal dancer/choreo-grapher Ray Mason). The libretto was finished in September and I'm working on the music now. It seems to be coming out nicely," he said.
"The Secret Garden" is the kind of work that could add considerably to Bestor's international acclaim. It could be produced by other ballet companies around the globe.
Another recent project was the film score for "Rigoletto," a new movie being produced by Utah-based Feature Films for Families. The story is set in the 1930s and it has ties to the opera of the same name.
"I love writing music for movies," said Bestor. "That was my goal since I was a junior in high school."
If many of Bestor's instrumental works have a cinematic feel to them, it's because he thinks in term of mental images, then puts these down on paper.
Another project, which won't be seen until the summer of 1995, is the score for Doug Stewart's big-as-all-outdoors "Utah!," an epic that will premiere as part of Utah's centennial celebration in a new 2,000-seat amphitheater being constructed near St. George.
Both Bestor and longtime collaborator Sam Cardon studied music at Brigham Young University, where Bestor's father was an instructor. But Bestor and Cardon left school in 1982 without completing their degrees.
It wasn't until just recently that Bestor and Cardon finally earned their degrees.
"I guess it was always sort of a thorn in BYU's side for us to be getting all of this attention and notoriety, but still being drop-outs."
- "AIRUS CHRISTMAS II" was released more than a year ago, but never really got promoted because Airus got out of the record business. It contains such beloved carols as "Joy to the World," "Little Drummer Boy" and "The First Noel," along with several lesser-known tunes that Bestor gives his own unique touch.
"I Wonder as I Wander," a carol with Allegheny roots, conjures up an image of rural folks around a campfire, while "Some Children See Him," which sounds like an early English tune, belies its more recent creation as a 20th century composer's Christmas card.
For "Oh, Holy Night," Bestor's arrangement has a subdued, intimate sound.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Bestor tickets
Two identical "A Kurt Bestor Christmas" concerts are scheduled Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 6 and 7, at 8 p.m. in Abravanel Hall.
Tickets, priced at $15 and $18, are available at the Capitol Theatre's ArtTix box office or the ArtTix outlets at selected Albertson's stores, or by calling 355-2787. Ticket sales are brisk and early reservations are encouraged.