PROVO – The loveable counting vampire Count Von Count will be joining a cadre of Sesame Street Muppets and Broadway star Santino Fontana as they accompany the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for their annual Christmas concerts.

It was appropriate the choir picked Halloween to announce the appearance by the Count. Friday began a nine-week reveal of Sesame Street characters that will be headlining the show. Each Friday until the concert, there will be a character reveal on the choir’s various social media platforms.

The idea is to keep children excited about who might be there. The choir has invited children ages 5 and older to the concerts. In previous years, the typical invitation age has been 8.

“As Sesame Street’s resident counting vampire, The Count’s main purpose is to teach math skills to children in exciting ways,” said a choir press release. “He has been a mainstay on Sesame Street since the 1970s, making his first appearance on November 27, 1972. He will count anything and everything, and he once prevented Ernie from answering the telephone because he wanted to count the number of rings.

“The Count has his own Facebook and Twitter pages and stars in many hilarious YouTube videos. He is quite the singer and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square are excited to have him join them for this year’s Christmas concert.”

The series of concerts will be Dec. 11-14, with the Dec. 14 mini-concert following the weekly broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word. Registration for tickets closed Oct. 27, but tickets are often available the night of the performance on a standby basis.