Famed Italian operatic tenor Andrea Bocelli spent several hours in Salt Lake Cityfor a video recording with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square.

Bocelli's performance of "The Lord's Prayer" with the choir will be featured in a PBS Christmas special that will air in December, said Scott Barrick, choir general manager.

David Foster, a Canadian composer, arranger and keyboardist, is producing the television show and an associated Christmas CD for Bocelli. Foster played the Tabernacle Organ for Saturday's recording session.



Foster approached the choir management earlier this year to ask if the choir could provide background vocals for Bocelli's performance of the song on the audio recording. A choir-only audio track was recorded and sent to the producer.

"They were absolutely blown away," Barrick said, "with the sound and the quality they got back." The request then came to record video of Bocelli and Foster performing with the choir for the PBS special; hence the recording session in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

The choir accommodated Bocelli's stopover in Salt Lake City, as he had three concerts earlier in the week at Carnegie Hall in New York and then was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles, to make preparations to complete the recording of his Christmas concert the following week in the Kodak Theater. The concert will be released on DVD next year, Barrick said. The PBS special is being produced by WNET, a New York public-broadcasting station.

The CD, containing Bocelli's performance of the song with the Tabernacle Choir, will be released in November.

See the full story on ldschurchnews.com.

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This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.