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After 28 years at Abravanel Hall, Kurt Bestor is packing up his Christmas show.

He isn't taking it far — just a couple of blocks to the southeast, to the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater, scheduled to open next fall.

"It's scary," the musician, who sometimes answers to the nickname "Mr. Christmas," acknowledged. "Traditions don't like to be changed. Abravanel Hall has been part of my brand." Nevertheless, the opening of a new performing-arts center struck him as the ideal time to make his move.

"From a creative standpoint, it will give me incredible flexibility," Bestor said, noting that he'll be able to stage more elaborate lighting effects in the new hall, where the acoustics also will be more friendly to his pop-leaning music. "It will be Kurt du Soleil!" he joked.

This year's show will include a balance of new and familiar songs, "from fun and entertaining and comedic to pensive, sacred and reflective," Bestor said. Those familiar elements will include a reading of " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas," a performance of Bestor's trademark hit "Prayer of the Children" and the introduction of a Bestor original, "Carol of the Lights," with every patron receiving a copy of the sheet music. He expects that a violin-vs.-electric-guitar "smackdown" will be another highlight, though he hastened to add, "It will all be notated and virtuosic, but kind of fun. Even if it's kind of schticky or campy, I always want it to be really musical."

Asked about his favorite Abravanel Hall memories, Bestor's first thoughts were of the offstage interactions — such as the couple with two now-grown daughters who sit up front and bring him an ornament every year, or the large family who included an empty chair for their recently departed matriarch in their usual block of 12 seats. But the composer, pianist and multi-instrumentalist also has shared the stage with a wide array of guests, from popular vocalists such as Melissa Manchester and David Archuleta to instrumentalists such as Jenny Oaks Baker. This year's headliner will be Lexi Walker, the 13-year-old singer from Cottonwood Heights who has skyrocketed to YouTube fame in the past couple of years. Bestor called her "the perfect artist to represent the future." Salt Lake City's Wesley Bell Ringers also will return by popular demand.

Lexi has been surrounded by singing her whole life — an older sister was in a group that competed on TV's "The Sing-Off," and her paternal grandmother taught voice lessons for 50 years — but her sudden popularity caught her by surprise. "It was kind of like — slam!" she said. She auditioned for a talent competition in her school district when she was 11, "just to see what would happen," she recalled. "I submitted a video of myself singing the national anthem, and the next day they called me and said I won. I was like, 'Really? I thought there would be multiple levels.' " A subsequent performance of the anthem at a Real Salt Lake soccer game "got more popular on the Internet than I thought it would. I started getting offers, and it's been like that ever since." She has performed in Japan and in several venues on the East Coast; she sang with the One Voice Children's Choir on "Good Morning America" and "America's Got Talent." She even has sung with two of her musical idols, Kristin Chenoweth (at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center, no less) and Idina Menzel.

Lexi started taking voice lessons shortly after the singing engagements began to snowball. She works on classical technique with one teacher and pop/Broadway style with another. "There's an art to it," she said. "You use more muscles than you thought existed."

She enjoys "messing around" on ukulele, violin, guitar and piano, as well as drawing and writing poetry — "basically I'm all right-brained" — but she becomes especially animated when describing a recent baking project. "I do love baking — anything to do with cooking, any kind of confectionery. It's a really awesome habit. I'm a bookworm, but I like to be a cookbook-worm and get out of my seat."

Getting recognized while shopping or ice skating still startles her, but she said her parents and five siblings make sure her ego doesn't get overinflated. "It's hard to stay grounded and stay normal" in show business, she said. "My family gives me such an awesome perspective. This is fun, and it's a great thing to do, but if it stops, I won't be upset or mad." —

One last Christmas

Lexi Walker and the Wesley Bell Ringers will join Kurt Bestor and his band for the composer-instrumentalist's final Christmas shows in Abravanel Hall.

Where • 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City

When • Thursday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 12, 2 and 8 p.m.

Tickets • $20-$43; arttix.org