(Poster property of Home for the Holidays)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
I am so delighted to welcome back longtime friend to the blog, Peter Hollens, and to welcome his wife, Evynne, to Jake’s Take.
Both Peter and Evynne Hollens have been instrumental in bringing a cappella music to the forefront of the recording industry. Combined both of their respective YouTube channels have over two million subscribers, and their outstanding videos have been accumulatively viewed over 433 million times!
Over the past few months, both of them has released collaborations with some of today’s up-and-coming artists including Andrew Huang, Whitney Avalon, Mario Jose, Anna Gilbert, Tim Foust, and Naturally 7. Also, Peter just released the deluxe edition of his first Christmas album: A Hollens Family Christmas. The deluxe edition features six additional tracks including his collaborations with Jamie Grace (“O Holy Night”), Mario Jose (“Silent Night”), and David Archuleta, the Piano Guys, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (“Angels from the Realms of Glory”).
This holiday season, the Hollens will celebrate the holidays on the Great White Way as a part of the inaugural production of Home for the Holidays. The duo will join three winners from American Idol, America’s Got Talent, and The Voice, plus Oscar-nominated actor Danny Aiello for this special production at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City.
In this edition of The Five Question Challenge, Peter and Evynne revealed how they got involved with Home for the Holidays and the overcoming the challenges of preparing for this production.
Jacob Elyachar: Peter, how have you grown as both a performer and a digital entrepreneur since we last spoke?
Peter Hollens: The growing as a performer is happening daily, because, truthfully, I have not done any performing since we last spoke. When we had our last conversation, I had been working on a few songs. Now, I am forced to do things that I am not entirely comfortable with, and I think I am in over my head. But, I am taking it as much in stride as possible. I am excited to grow, learn, and adapt. I am so lucky to do this with my wife, and I know that I would not have probably been able to do this without her. I am so excited that I get to experience this with her and see it through her eyes. On the digital entrepreneur front, we have been working on a company for about a year-and-a-half. It is an education platform called Hollens Creator Academy. We will be going live December 1, and our goal is to show creators how to make a living doing what they love. If you are a musician, I am going to teach them numerous topics ranging from history to keyboarding and all of the things associated with classical music and the arts. Also, I will be teaching them how to make money from it so that the students can keep on doing it and following their passion. Evynne and I have structured out a tremendous course with hundreds of essential points for everyone to understand, various modules and videos that accompany them that is built into this app. The Hollens Creator Academy’s app will help create a community that we hope will engage and inspire our students.
JE: Both of you will be making your Broadway debuts for Home for the Holidays. What drew you to this project?
Evynne Hollens: Our interests peaked when the word “Broadway” was mentioned when we were approached for Home for the Holidays. Broadway provides the opportunity we could have to perform together was very exciting for us. We are very excited to add this experience to our resumes, and it is just an honor to be able to perform on Broadway. I am also working on a musical right now, and the timing felt very serendipitous.
JE: Could you please describe Home for the Holidays to my readers?
EH: Home for the Holidays is a Broadway Christmas concert. The concert stars American Idol winner Candice Glover, Josh Kauffman who won The Voice, and Bianca Ryan, who won the very first season of America’s Got Talent. Peter and I will be representing the YouTube community. Also, Oscar-nominated actor Danny Aiello will make an appearance. The evening will be hosted by The Bachelorette’s Kaitlyn Bristowe. Home for the Holidays is more of a commercialized concert rather than a staged musical. We will be singing holiday songs that everyone knows accompanied by a nine-piece brass band. It is going to be an incredible show!
PH: We hope that we could bring as much Christmas love and holiday spirit as we can. The people that we are working with are so talented. So much talent has never surrounded me in one room. It is a blessing to be a part of this production.
JE: What are some of the challenges that you faced throughout this process? How did you overcome them?
EH: We are big sight readers, so learning by ear is a new challenge for us. Home for the Holidays is a very collaborative process that ranges from picking out harmonies to singing backup. These are things we have not done yet in our careers, but it has been a significant learning experience for the both of us.
JE: Why should my readers travel to New York City and see “Home for the Holidays”?
EH: Home for the Holidays is going to be a one-of-a-kind show. What makes Home for the Holidays stand out on Broadway can be best shown by the headlines: “40 Million People Crowned Them the Voices of a Generation” and “Together for the first time ever!” To get these three talented singers (Candice, Josh, and Bianca) together in one room and we are so excited to be joining them. This production is going to feature a lot of great singing!
PH: I think anybody in the Tri-State Area would be crazy not to enjoy this experience. If you are already here, this is the perfect concert for you and the whole family to come and see. This show is family appropriate. Come in, take in the holiday spirit, and see this fantastic line-up of talented people. This is going to be a not miss concert!
Home of the Holidays runs from November 17 to December 30. For more information about the show and to buy tickets, visit the show’s website.
You can connect with The Hollens on social media. Visit Peter’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, & YouTube channels. You can also connect with Evynne Hollens by visiting her Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, & YouTube channels.
