BC News|December 27, 2016 01:16 EST
Over 130,000 Celebrate Christmas With Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and Jordan Smith
With 32 shows nationwide, an excess of 130,000 people celebrated the holiday season with Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and Jordan Smith.
Kicking off on Nov. 11 at Los Angeles' Dolby Theater, multi-platinum selling and Grammy award-winning artists Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith co-billed their popular symphony-filled Christmas tour joined by Republic recording artist Jordan Smith, Season 9 winner of NBC's "The Voice."
Under the direction of Musical Director and Conductor David Hamilton, the annual holiday tour included stops in Phoenix, Seattle, Portland, Indianapolis, Detroit, Dallas, Tulsa, Minneapolis, Atlanta and more. Grant also returned to Nashville's iconic Ryman Auditorium for nine performances with husband Vince Gill, aptly titled "Christmas At The Ryman."
Amidst the highlights of the 23 symphony-infused tour stops, the curated night of holiday music included stylings from Grant's first all-new Christmas album in nearly 20 years Tennessee Christmas alongside the first holiday album from Jordan Smith, titled 'Tis The Season. While performing songs from his 2014 release, The Spirit of Christmas, Michael W. Smith was surprised on the final night of the tour in Baltimore by Mitch Glazier of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), commemorating his 16 RIAA certified projects.
Concertgoers united in supporting kids in need around the globe through Operation Christmas Child, known for distributing over 135 million shoeboxes of Christmas gifts to children in need in 150 countries. To learn more about Operation Christmas Child visit samaritanspurse.org/occ. The Christmas tour was in part made possible by the Israel Ministry of Tourism. For more information, visit Land-of-the-bible.com.
A taste of the popular tour was shared by BYUtv with multiple airings of "Christmas Under the Stars."