CEDAR CITY — Playing a variety of Christmas classics with a few other familiar favorites mixed in, The Piano Guys entertained a sellout crowd for more than two hours Wednesday night in Cedar City.
Just as they had done at the America First Event Center on the Southern Utah University campus back in February 2018, pianist Jon Schmidt and cellist Steven Sharp Nelson once again wowed the crowd with their expertise on their respective instruments.
Although a few elements of the concert were essentially unchanged from the last time they performed, the Piano Guys’ “Christmas Together Tour” included several festive holiday favorites, including “What Child is This” and “Silent Night,” plus some cleverly arranged combination pieces like “Ode to Joy to the World.”
Their rendition of “I Saw Three Ships” was accompanied by a video featuring a large house at night lit by some 88,000 Christmas lights, which blinked and changed color with each musical note.
The duo’s poignant number, “Someone You Loved,” featured a video of a pair of remarkably athletic dancers, Charity Anderson and Andres Penate of Springville, who were former contestants on “World of Dance.”
Such stunning videos have become a trademark feature of The Piano Guys, who now have more than 6.6 million subscribers on their YouTube channel.
Wednesday night’s concert also featured several guest musicians, including Nelson’s wife Julie, who joined in as a violinist for a lively performance of “Rewrite the Stars.”
Other guest performers included a group of bagpipers who came onstage toward the end during a poignant rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
Additionally, several Canyon View High School orchestra students participated in a rendition of “Beethoven’s Five Secrets,” after which Steven Sharp Nelson admonished the skilled young performers, along with all other aspiring musicians in the audience, to keep practicing and developing their musical talents.
“Don’t give up,” he said, adding that when mastery level is achieved, “It feels like you’re flying.”
Following a two-day stint in Kansas Dec. 17-18, The Piano Guys will return to Utah perform in Salt Lake City’s Vivint Smart Home Arena on Dec. 20. The group’s tour resumes in California in January. Click here for tour dates and ticket information.
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The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Audience members stand and applaud during The Piano Guys concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson, The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News The Piano Guys in concert, Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 4, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News
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