Suzanna Guzmán and Danny J. Gomez to Host 64th Annual LA County Holiday Celebration

Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán and actor, model and disabilities advocate Danny J. Gomez are set to co-host the 64th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration.

A Los Angeles holiday tradition since 1959, this year's Holiday Celebration will feature 23 music ensembles, choirs and dance companies representing the county's many neighborhoods and cultures. Entrance to the live, in-person show at The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is free on Sunday, Dec. 24 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with seating available on a first-come, first-seated basis. In addition, the event will be broadcast live on PBS SoCal and streamed live on the pbssocal.org website.

Guzmán has previously co-hosted the L.A. County Holiday Celebration five times in as many years, earning two Emmy Awards for her role along the way, in 2019 and 2021. A principal soloist with orchestras and opera houses around the world, she is a champion of premiere works, creating the roles of the Duchess in Giancarlo Menotti's Goya at the Kennedy Center; Paula in Daniel Catan's Florencia en el Amazon; Lucha in the Industry Opera's Hopscotch; and Della in Eric Whitacre's Gift of the Magi, to name a few. In addition to her two Emmys, she is the recipient of a Grammy nod for the 2006 Best Classical Recording with the Southwest Chamber Music and a Helen Hayes Award Best Actress nod for Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, directed by Giancarlo Menotti. Guzmán is a 2023-2024 Los Angeles Opera Legacy Ambassador and the Los Angeles Opera has named her a “Hispanic Opera Legend.”

Gomez is a professional actor and model who has performed in award-winning films and multiple hit television shows, including NCIS: Hawai'I (CBS) and New Amsterdam (NBC). He will make his off-Broadway debut in All of Me at New York City's Pershing Square Signature Center next spring. In 2016, he nearly died in a mountain biking accident — an event that left him paralyzed from the waist down. But what has reset and shifted his life has also introduced him to his life's passion and commitment to advocacy. Every year, he is an active participant in the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, raising awareness for better representation for disabled actors in Hollywood.

Scroll down to find an updated list of performers at this year's 64th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration. Click here to download high-resolution photos, and click here to view the promo trailer. For more information, visit HolidayCelebration.org.

Updated list of artists performing in the
64th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration
(subject to change)

• Carnegie Gospel Choir, an ensemble created from the many choirs of Byron J. Smith to perform at Carnegie Hall, will perform gospel renditions of “Let There Be Peace on Earth” and “Amen.”

• Christian Fellowship Chorale, a non-denominational gospel choir, will sing a contemporary version of “Drummer Boy” accompanied by African drums, and a contemporary jazz/gospel version of “Joy to the World.”

• Divas and Drummers of Compton, a dance and drumline program for inner-city youth, will do a performance with polyrhythmic percussion cadences and an array of dance styles.

• Gabrielito y La Verdad, the premier West Coast Latin music ensemble, brings the fire with a high-energy show stopper.

• Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles returns to the L.A. County Holiday Celebration for the 33rd year in a row to perform holiday songs from film and television.

• Hiza Yoo Korean Dance Institute will perform “‘Y'Nanta,” Hiza Yoo's original take on a South Korean non-verbal comedy show created and produced by Song Seung-whan which incorporates traditional samul nori rhythm.

• Jessica Fichot brings together her French, Chinese and American heritage, blending French chanson, Shanghai jazz and international folk music to perform two original songs with her band — including “Le Grand Voyage,” a holiday song written specifically for the Holiday Celebration.

• M Dance Collective, bridging eastern and western dance styles, will perform “Ink Impressions,” a dance inspired by the beautiful art of Chinese calligraphy.

• Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea, the two-time GRAMMY award-winning all-female ensemble that has pushed to expand the scope of mariachi music for over 24 years, will perform a bilingual medley of classic kids' favorites that will have everyone singing along.

• Mostly Kosher and the Jewish Youth Orchestra will join forces, combining traditional Hanukkah offerings with their unique mash-up of klezmer, rock and soul.

• MUSYCA Children's Choir, a renowned vocal ensemble that brings together gifted young people to study and perform outstanding choral repertoire, will sing the enchanting Ukrainian classic “Carol of the Bells” and the beloved holiday favorite “Sleigh Ride.”

• Palmdale High School Choral Union and Sunday Night Singers, a select ensemble of current high school and alumni singers who have performed nationally and internationally, will perform a jazzy “Jingle Bells” by Derric Johnson and a traditional Christmas piece from the Hispanic culture arranged by Santiago Veros.

• Pasadena Girls' Choir, cultivating vocal musicianship among young girls, returns to the Holiday Celebration with “All That Christmas Stuff.”

• RAISE, L.A.'s own gospel/R&B/soul choir, will sing a medley of Black music genre-inspired arrangements of “Go Tell It On The Mountain,” “Joy To The World,” “Joy” and “Hallelujah.”

• Reverb Tap Company showcases fierce footwork and style, tap dancing to a jazz-based score, honoring and preserving the history of the art form while bringing a youthful, vibrant and unexpected twist to the stage.

• South Side Symphony, founded by composer Marcus Norris with the idea, “What if orchestras didn't exist and were invented today by a young Black man?,” will perform a new instrumental orchestral fusion of a holiday medley rooted in Black American soul music.

• TAIKOPROJECT, known for thrilling, heart-pounding Japanese drumming, and Blue13 Dance Company, one of the nation's leading contemporary dance ensembles inspired by Indian dance forms, will present a visually-stunning collaboration entitled “The Stroll,” blending Japanese American taiko and Indian-influenced contemporary choreography.

• Técnica Arte y Folklore brings folklórico and costumes from the state of Colima, Mexico, and will perform to a mariachi score.

• The Citrus Singers, the first American choir to win the International Choral Festival in Spittal, Austria, returns to the Holiday Celebration with stunning choral arrangements of holiday favorites accompanied by handbells.

• Torrance Civic Chorale, directed by Edward Trimis, providing the South Bay with exceptional choral music since 1961, will perform a selection of three holiday songs.

• Treble on Grand, a jazz a capella group from the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts (“Grand Arts”), will perform two pieces.

• Vox Femina Los Angeles, L.A.'s premier women's choir, will touch on the joy and meaning of the season with musical selections ranging from the musical roots of North America to a sweet song celebrating Hanukkah and a classic Broadway hit.

• XoroTroptzi, Los Angeles' only Bulgarian folk dance ensemble, will perform a dance from the Shopski folklore region in costumes typical of the area.

Click here to download high-resolution photos.

Click here to view the promo trailer.

For more information, visit HolidayCelebration.org.

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