REXBURG — This year’s “A BYU-Idaho Christmas” concert, with Adassa, was certainly a spectacle and something special. It officially rang in the Christmas season on campus and was extra special for at least one BYU-Idaho staff member.
Alex Jeppson is the production manager responsible for these concerts. This year’s show was a milestone for Jeppson as it marked the 10th show she has helped to produce. She said that through the past decade, she has encountered some challenges, the biggest of which is fitting all the pieces together to make a cohesive production.
“I think sometimes one of our biggest struggles is to make sure that all of the departments are represented that they get a little piece of the show,” Jeppson said. “I think scheduling is my hardest part because we have a very truncated rehearsal schedule.”
Despite these struggles, Jeppson said it is well worth it. She is proudest of the work that students from all over campus put in to make the show a success.
“They put in so much work previous to the week of rehearsals,” Jeppson said. “The choirs are rehearsing the whole semester. The orchestras rehearsing dancers are rehearsing. Those dancers just really know how to work. And, my actors, even my technicians, students who work on the show behind the scenes. It's a very big show.”
As Jeppson reflects on her decade of experience, she has grown into the role, but more than anything it is a team effort.
“The people I work with are very generous in the fact that they rely on me because I have so much of this institutional knowledge on this show and just how I'm so used to how this show runs that I understand the intricacies of it,” Jeppson said. “Luckily, we're kind of all in this together to feel like, ‘Okay, how do we make it different?’ And it keeps the audiences coming to this show.”
More than anything though, Jeppson points to heavenly aid as the reason for the show’s power.
“Everybody works so hard to come together, and it's amazing to see the difference and the power that we get from the Spirit and from Heavenly Father to help us tell his story.”
This year, people can see the Jeppson produced Christmas concert from 2022. The show features special guest singers, GENTRI. Idaho Public Television will air the hour-long show on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 21 at 9 p.m. The televised version will also include performances from the Sonos Handbell Ensemble, and BYU-Idaho’s Symphony Orchestra, Concert Choir, Vocal Union, Men’s and Women’s Choirs as well as dancers from the College of Performing and Visual Arts.