Daniel Beck to Bring CHRISTMAS FAVORITES to SCERA, 12/3

By: Nov. 19, 2014
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Chief among the reasons why SCERA's holiday musical Liken's "The First Christmas" has sold out for the past several years is the presence of Daniel Beck, a vocalist so polished and powerful that it prompted celebrated choral director Craig Jessop to call him "Utah's answer to Josh Groban."

Beck not only stars as the Angel Gabriel in the show again this year, he also starred in the Liken movie of the same name, and other Liken The Scriptures DVD's. He will perform his own concert Wednesday Dec. 3 called Daniel Beck: Christmas Favorites at the SCERA Center for the Arts, 745 South State, Orem. The 7 p.m. show has already sold out, but a 9 p.m. show has been added.

Reserved-seat tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors (age 65+) and children (age 3-11). Tickets are available at www.scera.org, by calling (801) 225-ARTS or from 10am-6pm weekdays at the SCERA main office.

"I am so excited to bring the magic of Christmas to the stage," Beck says. "More than anything, I want my audience to be entertained and feel the joy and love I have for music."

He has selected his favorites from among both sacred and secular holiday selections and added a few songs he believes will be less familiar to audiences. "I'm also bringing in some of my favorite people to join me as special guests," he adds.

Beck will perform "One King" and "What Child is This?" with Jessica Mortimer. He is using the violin talents of April Moriarty on several of the numbers, and will do a comedy number with his friend, Actors Equity performer and drama teacher Rock White. He enlisted the talents of his father-in-law and his brothers-called the Rasmussen Five-to showcase their vocal chops. Backing up Beck is a trio with Chad Schumacher on keyboard, Lew Woolford on bass and Todd Mitchell on drums.

He found a new version of the song, "The Night Before Christmas," which he immediately liked and is eager to share. Other numbers will include "O Holy Night" and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town."

As an added treat, Beck will be joined by the cast of "The First Christmas" to sing a couple of songs from that show, including gospel-tinged "Glory to God" and the finale.

Although Beck finds profound joy in singing, he did not think singing was cool until his junior year in high school. By then he had had a couple of summers of vocal lessons, which taught him the fundamentals of singing, plus he spent lots of time in his old '82 Mazda where he sang along with the sounds tracks of "LES MISERABLES" and "Phantom of the Opera."

"My range began to grow in ways I never expected," he says. "I learned to control my voice, and I fell in love with music. I started auditioning for and performing in musicals, I met people who began to use my talents, I recorded with other artists, and I began recording albums. I cannot imagine a time when I am not singing."



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