The Bestor years

It was said of reformed Ebeneezer Scrooge that he kept Christmas as well as any man. Something similar might be said of Kurt Bestor, who for the past 20 years has been bringing Christmas spirit and joy to countless people through his annual Christmas concerts.

And, as they did for the inimitable Dickens character, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future will make an appearance at this year's Bestor concert.

"I always think of myself as a forward thinker, someone who looks to the future, but I have to say I'm getting a real thrill this year recalling all our past performances and remembering the audiences who make these annual concerts so much fun and so fulfilling," he says.

Over the years, there have become some established traditions — songs that help define a Bestor Christmas concert. The first half of the concert will pay tribute to those "ghosts of the past."

"It's always good to look at where you've gone, where you've come from," he says.

His special guest this year will be Jenny Oaks Baker, which also has some added significance. Not only is she a former member of the National Symphony Orchestra and now a sought-after soloist around the country, "in her teens she played with our orchestra," Bestor says.

There are other people who have been with him all 20 years — violinist Meredith Campbell, guitarist Michael Dowdle, woodwind expert Daron Bradford. Plus, he and his daughter, Erika, will be performing "Prayer of the Children," and while Erika hasn't been performing for 20 years, "she is 20. That's how I keep track of how many concerts we've done," Bestor says.

Ronald Reagan was finishing his last term, "The Cosby Show" was No. 1 on television, the Los Angeles Dodgers had won the World Series and "Rain Man" and "A Fish Called Wanda" played in the movie theaters when Bestor began what would become this long-standing tradition.

It wasn't exactly what he had in mind back then. "I had done a couple of Joyspring CDs and had established my instrumental sound." Those CDs featured favorite hymns "done sort of in the style of music I had heard in the movie 'On Golden Pond.' People seemed to like them," he says.

So, Bestor wanted to do a Christmas CD. "Back then, there were hardly any instrumental Christmas CDs out there. Mannheim Steamroller had released one, but even they weren't the phenomenon they became."

He went to his record label, which in those days was Lex de Azevedo. "He told me it was such a short-selling season that it probably wasn't a good idea. Lex and I are still good friends, and he laughs now about how he missed that one."