Nearly a month after his actual birthday, some of President Gordon B. Hinckley's most notable friends will present a special concert tonight honoring his 95th birthday.
At 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square will present "A Celebration of Life."
Special guests include CBS newsman Mike Wallace and pop singers Gladys Knight and Donny Osmond.
Other performers scheduled are sibling pianists The 5 Browns, Brazilian singer Liriel Domiciano, world-renowned violinist Vesna Gruppman and Metropolitan Opera soloist Stanford Olsen.
A public dress rehearsal was held Thursday in the Conference Center with most of the special guests in attendance. And today, Wallace is to hold a press conference at 11 a.m.; other performers are to hold a joint press conference at 3 p.m.
For those who didn't secure tickets inside the 21,000-seat Conference Center, KSL-TV 5 and KSL Newsradio 1160 will broadcast the event, beginning at 7 p.m. with a 30-minute pre-show honoring President Hinckley. Hosted by Carole Mikita, the program features interviews with the Hinckley children and community leaders.
"It's been a long road and a wonderful experience, really, to live all these years and to have reasonably good health," President Hinckley said in a June interview.
Also carrying the event live at 7:30 p.m. are BYU Television, the church satellite system to stake centers in the United States and Canada, BYU Radio and KBYU-FM.
President Hinckley is also being honored through a photo exhibit in the Conference Center and the North Visitors' Center at Temple Square. More than 90 photographs reviewing the life of President Hinckley will be on display through September. The pictures chronicle his life from birth on June 23, 1910, to his 95th birthday last month.
Personal family photos with his parents and siblings and his own marriage and family will be displayed as well as photos from the church archives that recount his more than 46 years as a general authority.
Later this year and into 2006, the photo exhibit will travel to other church visitors centers in Laie, Hawaii; Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif; Mesa, Ariz.; Idaho Falls, Idaho; St. George, Utah; Kirtland, Ohio; Palmyra, N.Y.; and Washington, D.C. The Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial in Sharon, Vt., will also host the exhibit.
For those who cannot watch or listen to the celebration program live, it will be rebroadcast tonight at 10 p.m. on KBYU-TV, and 10:10 p.m. on BYU Television; Saturday at 2 p.m. on BYU Radio and 8 p.m. on KBYU-TV; Sunday at noon on BYU Television, at 2 p.m. on BYU Radio, at 4:30 p.m. on KBYU-TV and at 10:30 p.m. on KBYU-TV; Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. on BYU Television; and Saturday, July 30, at 2 p.m. on BYU Radio.
E-mail: astowell@desnews.com