I don't have any first-hand Mormon Tabernacle Choir experiences to share with you this time, since I took both Thursday night and Sunday morning, to be with my family. My wife had a flute performance Thursday evening and I was excited to support her in that. Then, this morning, since my wife is Primary President and the Primary Program was today, I attended our ward to see that program and enjoy listening to lots of great primary songs. It was a great event and kudos to my wife and her counselors for having it work out so well! It was also nice just to attend my ward as that has been a rarity this year.
The Choir's upcoming Christmas Concert is only a month away and last week, we started extra rehearsals to start learning the music. While I can't disclose what we're actually singing for the concert (just to keep it a surprise for those who get to attend or watch it on DVD later), we've certainly enjoyed rehearsing the music.
Speaking of rehearsing, just to get a feel for what it's like for Choir this time of year, below is a look at our schedule:
Busy, busy, busy. But despite it being busy, it's very rewarding and I'm constantly grateful for the opportunity. The Christmas Concert is the Choir's most popular concert of the year and millions end up seeing it. So it's both an opportunity and a serious responsibility to do all I can to help make this a heart-felt event--one in which people will feel peace, and hope, and the love of their Savior.
I'll end with a story.
So this past week, my wife and I decided to get a phone for my daughter (for her birthday). I went to the AT&T store and was helped by a guy named Matt. Since it was a new store, with new employees, there were lots of other guys observing the process of me getting a new phone. Anyway, Matt was from Nashville, Tennessee, and had just moved out a few weeks before to help open this store. He's a big music fan and when I asked if he had heard of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, his eyes lit up and he said that his dad was a big fan and had encouraged him to see the choir live while he was living out here.
I told him I was in the choir and after Matt and the other guys responded with "No way!", "That's really cool,", etc. the other guys began telling Matt he needed to go to Temple Square and see all of the beautiful things that were there. I chimed in by telling him when the choir practiced, when Music and the Spoken Word was, and about our upcoming Christmas concert. The other guys said it was impossible to get tickets to the concert, but I told Matt I'd give him two of my allotment so he could attend.
While I didn't get any additional discounts on my phone, Matt was excited to get the tickets and really looks forward to going. Whether he ends up wanting to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or not, I hope he feels love and acceptance from not only his fellow Utah brothers and sisters, but from his Savior, too.
Until next time, God be with you.
Keeping with tradition, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, and Bells on Temple Square, presented a program today to honor all of the veterans (in conjunction with Veterans Day, November 11). As such, all of the songs had a patriotic theme including This Land is Your Land, Flag of the Free, and one of my favorite patriotic songs, My Country 'Tis of Thee.
My appreciation for those who once served in the military to defend our freedoms can't come from first-hand knowledge or experience of what war is like. But it can come from studying history and learning about the terrible price paid for the freedoms we enjoy today.
I just finished reading a book called "All the Light We Cannot See," which took
me on an emotional World War II roller coaster. To be fair, this book was not a daily accounting of the details of how that war played out. Nor did it focus too much on all the soldiers and how things were on the front lines. Rather, the book focused on the lives of just a few individuals and how they endured all of the tragic consequences that came from the war. Family separations, sad living conditions, hopes and dreams shattered, lives forever altered. And at the inferred center of all of these consequences were the soldiers themselves. Called upon to not only endure these same consequences, but to be thrown into the heart of fear, of death, of duty, and a desperation to make sense of it all.
In the end, it made me appreciate the life I have today. The freedoms I enjoy, the family I'm connected with, the food on the table, the shelter over my head, the opportunities to pursue goals and dreams, and the reminder to enjoy the little things we often take for granted.
So, I'm grateful for the program Sunday honoring our vets. Thankful for their sacrifices and dedication. Yes, sometimes the lyrics to a few of these patriotic songs can be a little contrived. But overall, they, along with the inspiring arrangements and notes and rhythms themselves, paint a picture of freedom that I'm very grateful for.
I end with the lyrics from the first and last verse of My Country 'Tis of Thee. When's the last time you really thought about these?
My country 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim's pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!
Our father's God to, Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!
Until next time, God be with you.
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| Dr. Andrew Crane |
The basses and altos had another long Thursday night as we came at 6pm (instead of the normal 7pm) for another round of in-service. Dr. Andrew Crane (who conducts the BYU Singers) was our instructor this time and did a really fine job of reminding us of things we need to be doing to be good singers. Having enough breath, raising the soft palette, shaping the vowels, maintaining good posture, and listening, were all important things to cover.
From there, we went up to the loft for a shortened rehearsal. As we rehearsed, members of the World Congress of Families (here for their convention in Salt Lake City)
started filing in and around 8:45, we ended rehearsal and went right into a mini-concert for them.
There's been some divisiveness surrounding this convention, and plenty of criticism has been thrown around for the congress's position on this or that. But you know what? The mission of the Tabernacle Choir is not to judge people or get involved in any of that. We're here to sing to people. All people. And we sing with a prayer in our hearts that the Spirit of Truth will enter people's hearts and they'll feel uplifted and strengthened and pursue a path of goodness and love.
As we concluded the concert with Come, Come Ye Saints, Come Thou Fount, and Climb Every Mountain, I looked out into the audience and saw person after person wiping tears from their eyes. Sometimes, when we sing these big, rousing numbers so filled with power and emotion, I just bring all of the joy and happiness I have to bear, hoping that members of the audience will connect and feel something. Something that will linger. Something that will help them strive to live just a little bit better. Something that will help them recognize God's love for them. And I feel like the majority of the audience did, indeed, feel something uplifting and encouraging.
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To end the post today, I want to share a special message, with permission, that came via text to a friend of mine, Ben, following our broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word today:
"Ben--the message, music, and scenery presented today in Music & the Spoken Word meant a lot to my parents who have suffered so much physically and emotionally this past summer and autumn. I am with them again this weekend and they were both brought to tears watching the program today. It inspired and lifted them at this time because they cannot be in Church (because of their compromised immune systems). So this is their "church" each Sunday and this is just the message and music they needed today. Please pass our gratitude on to your colleagues and the folks associated with the program."
You just never know, sometimes, what impact you'll have on others! God works His personalized miracles, behind-the-scenes, to affect so many. And often He uses others to accomplish those miracles. I hope we can all live to be someone's miracle this week.
Until next time, God be with you.
Twice a year, regardless of the length of service in the Choir, Choir members are required to attend an "in-service" session to brush up on their singing skills. This might strike some as kind of funny since Choir members are singing all the time. Aren't such singing skills reinforced and emphasized during normal rehearsals?
The answer to that question is "yes". However, there's not enough time during normal rehearsals to focus on any one skill. So, during in-service, a few skills are selected and our instructor assists us in applying those skills to our singing. We also get the opportunity to do some in-depth listening (imagine four sets of risers, each with five rows, facing into each other). As we sing, we hear each other a lot better than we do in the loft. They record us, as well, so we can listen and critique how well we're incorporating the skills being taught.
This past Thursday, the basses and altos had their in-service turn (meeting separately). Our instructor was a gentleman from BYU who assists individuals in preparing to sing in Men's Chorus there (sorry I can't remember his name). He knew his stuff, and it was a good opportunity to remember, learn, incorporate, and improve.
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On the broadcast today, we sang some beautiful arrangements of the following: How Great Thou Art, Psalm 150, When You Wish Upon a Star, Simple Gifts, and O God, Our Help in Ages Past. I'll mention some quick thoughts on the first two.
I really love the lyrics to How Great Thou Art. My favorite verse is
When Christ shall come,
With shouts of acclamation
And take me home
What joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration
And there proclaim,
"My God, how great Thou art!"
I can't wait for that day. I can't wait to go home.
As for Psalm 150, this song may have a somewhat boring title, but the music was absolutely terrific--and just in time for all of you Halloween fans out there. It starts off as something you might hear when watching a suspenseful scary movie. Give it a listen.
As we were ending today's broadcast with the traditional "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again," I looked out in the audience for someone to directly sing to (like I always do). My focus settled on a guy on the third or fourth row. His fingers kept going up to his eyes to wipe away tears--probably at least three times. I don't know his story, or if he'll be back, or if his circumstances in life will prevent him from ever returning. But it reminded me that every Sunday, the Choir has one chance. One chance to sing our testimonies and allow for the Spirit to impact the lives of those who listen and experience.
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To end the blog post for today, I wanted to mention that they announced the guests artists this week, for the Christmas Concert. You can read all of the fun details HERE. We're having not one, not two, but six guests join us on stage for what I'm sure will be a fantastic concert. For those of you who are wanting tickets, you can request to be added to the random ticket selection process HERE. May the odds be ever in your favor.
Until next time, may God be with you.
For whatever reason, some weeks (infrequently, thankfully) I just have an average Mormon Tabernacle Choir experience. I don't end up feeling a lot, even though I wish I did, and even though the music we're singing is more than enough to produce deep spiritual feelings. Such was the case this week, with both rehearsal and the Sunday performance.
The one thing that was a little different this week, though, was having some individuals from all over the world attend the broadcast. That happens every week, actually, but this time several of these individuals were from The Parliament of the World's Religions. From what I understand, their goal is to promote understanding, common ground, respect, and tolerance among the different religions of the world. How they do this, exactly, I'm not entirely sure. But they do hold conferences, and this year they chose Salt Lake City as the conference meeting spot.
As we sang our songs today, even though I didn't feel much, myself, I was
aware of them in the audience. And I knew that for most, this would be their first time (and perhaps last time) they'd hear us sing. I prayed for them. And I was grateful for them. Anyone who tries to promote peace and harmony in a world that is full of disrespect and hatred deserves respect and gratitude. Hopefully they came away from the experience having felt God's love for them and knowing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints loves and appreciates them, too.
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This week, on Thursday, during the Doug Wright Show (radio station KSL), they will be announcing the guest artist for this year's Christmas Concert. The committee has worked hard and prayed hard for this year's artist to be the one the Lord wanted, and we'll soon get to learn who that is.
Oh, and by the way. If you're interested in getting last year's Christmas Concert on CD or DVD, you can find that here. Note that soon, I'm told, Amazon will be offering a digital download (in HD) of the concert. Not sure exactly when, or the price, but if you appreciate high definition like I do, you may want to adhere to the saying, "Good things come to those who wait."
Until next time, God be with you.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has become good at being flexible.
So was the case on Thursday morning (day of our weekly rehearsal) when we received an email from the Choir office saying that ESPN has asked the Choir if they'd do a recording of the University of Utah "Fight" song as part of their College Game Day segment that coming Saturday. Apparently, ESPN had ran a story on BYU's Tanner Mangum that featured the Choir singing “Hallelujah,” and had received a lot of positive feedback on it. As that story had put the music of the Choir in front of people who might not usually see it, the Choir Presidency approved this last-minute request by ESPN to record the Ute fight song.
As you can imagine, there were plenty of comments from choir members regarding this "opportunity" as we congregated that evening in the choir loft. I, personally, am not a huge football fan. (Ok, what am I saying? I'm not really into football whatsoever) So I was fairly neutral about the whole thing, even though I did get my bachelors degree from BYU and I do cheer for them whenever I find myself in that rare moment of watching a game. For the die-hard BYU fans however, it was a hard thing. But we can do hard things, right? While I can't say for complete certainty that everyone saw the bigger picture of what this was all about, I feel good about saying that the majority probably did.
So, with 15 min of rehearsal time, the words on the big screen in front of us, and ESPN cameras ready for action, we sang the Ute Fight Song and hoped it would help ESPN viewers get exposure to the Choir and maybe even look us up to get more information. Who knows?
[As an aside, upon conclusion of the recording, a bunch of the men started singing "Rise and shout, the cougars are out...", just for the fun of it.]
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Guest artist Sylvia McNair was back with the Choir today and sang two numbers on Music & the Spoken Word: This Little Light of Mine, and Climb Every Mountain. We were honored to accompany her and she sounded wonderful. We're always excited when guest artists come and sing with the Choir and we hope that they feel the Spirit and know how much we love and appreciate them. Sylvia was last with us when she performed at concerts we did for the ACDA convention last February.
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Lastly, we had a small team of three (that I noticed), from Australia, with us today on the broadcast. One of them was singing with the choir and the other two were filming the choir. Apparently they are doing a "Faith" documentary for a news station and had come up to experience the choir first hand. I'm sure things like this happen all the time--whether we know about them or not. People are interested and want to know more...
Until next time, God be with you.
The last two days have been very spirit-filled, uplifting, and peaceful. I just want to express my appreciation for being in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir which is the musical face of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A church that is led by living prophets and apostles; a church that is likened to a hospital, where members and non-members alike can come and work on being made whole; a church that has, at its foundation, the gospel of Jesus Christ--a gospel that does not change and is not influenced by the philosophies or practices or the opinions of men; a church that holds on to its values and doctrine and teachings, all of which bring real peace and hope to anyone and everyone who wants to step out of this dark world into a place of light and love.
Singing at General Conference twice a year is always a privilege. And this time was no different. What was different was being able to witness three new apostles being called to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It was a special experience to hear their testimonies today, and I certainly support them in the great work they are involved in--the work of loving and serving others.
Since this blog is about the MUSIC though, lets get to it!
The songs we sang for the three sessions of conference we were involved in, were
Press Forward, Saints
Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah
I Know That My Savior Loves Me
Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer
Come, Come, Ye Saints
Arise, O God, and Shine
Redeemer of Israel
If the Savior Stood Beside Me
There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today
The Spirit of God
Praise the Lord with Heart and Voice
Our God Is a God of Love
Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel
Love One Another
Each of these songs contains a sermon of its own and I really enjoyed singing
them all. For me, for this conference, it was the "bigger", familiar numbers that seemed to affect me the most. Come, Come Ye Saints, Redeemer of Israel, and most especially, The Spirit of God.
I can honestly say, that in all my days of singing--which are quite a few--I've never been so affected by any song as I was with this one today. Yes, there have been songs that have caused me to inwardly weep and to deeply ponder. Particularly a few that we sang both at ACDA and on our most recent tour. This was different though. When we sang The Spirit of God, today, it was as if there were literally angels from the other side joining in with us. The whole experience left me trembling and emotional.
When I got home to my family, and we were talking about the music at Conference, before I even mentioned that song, they mentioned it! I was glad that what I had felt was being felt by those listening. I asked another choir member what his experience with that song had been, and he, too, said it had been an amazing experience.
So anyway, I'm grateful for all of the songs we sang today and hope that all who listened were uplifted and strengthened. That is our mission. That is our calling. And I always pray for that to happen.
And now, I'm off to bed. I'm beyond tired. Thanks for reading. And until next time, God be with you!
