MTC #152 - Alleluia + The Prodigal Son

The learning of Christmas music for the Sunday broadcasts, the upcoming First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and the upcoming Christmas Concert, is coming along nicely. We still have plenty of work to do, though, and about nine hours of rehearsing were logged this week with more to come. For the Christmas Concert, we'll have a teleprompter giving us the words, but knowing the rhythm and the notes is up to us! While it's all a lot of work, I'm trying hard to enjoy the journey because as is always the case, time goes by so quickly that before I know it, it'll be Jan 1, 2017 and all of these music events related to Christmas will be but a memory. 

I enjoyed ushering in the Christmas season with a couple of Christmas songs on the broadcast today. My favorite of the bunch wasn't necessarily a traditional Christmas song anyone would recognize. But there was a piece by Giulio Caccini called "Alleluia" that I really loved. The words consisted of just "alleluia" repeated over and over, but the way the different parts fit together produced an amazing set of harmonies. The word "alleluia" by the way, means "God be praised." And what better Christmas message to send to the world? God be praised for sending his Son Jesus Christ to the world. God be praised for all of the blessings He gives us. God be praised for simply loving us and caring about us. And God be praised for allowing us to forgive and be forgiven. (Here's an earlier recording of this song, if you want to give it a listen) 

From The Wexford Carol Music Video

From "Winter Thaw"

Lastly, regarding that forgiveness theme, I want to promote two depictions of the Prodigal Son story. One is a great music video that features the Tabernacle Choir singing "Wexford Carol" as background music to a modern day depiction of The Prodigal Son parable. I thought it was rather amazing and touching. A perfect way to bring in the Christmas season (and the Wexford Carol is one of my absolute favorite Christmas songs). You're invited to watch it (HERE). The other is a short film directed by a friend of mine, Adam Anderegg called "Winter Thaw." You can catch it on the BYU-TV channel app or on the BYU TV website, HERE. It includes a dual prodigal son story line, as well as several other heart-warming themes. So good.

Are we not all so blessed?

Until next time, God be with you.

MTC #151 - Pausing to Give Thanks

The extra busy weeks for the Choir have begun! We met Tuesday night to work on Christmas music, then met an hour earlier on Thursday for Inservice (a review of good singing practices), had our regular Thursday rehearsal, then stayed after our Sunday broadcast to continue learning Christmas songs. This is how it will go for the next few weeks until Christmas Concert week arrives and we are at the Conference Center every night except Monday. Of course, we all knew this was coming--as it comes every year. But the reality of going through it and spending so much time away from home and family is a reality that can be anticipated, but not fully appreciated, until you're right in the middle of it. That all said, learning Christmas music is definitely a rewarding experience for which I'm grateful to have. I can't imagine the Christmas season without it.

Aside from the early Christmas focus, the broadcast today was all about being THANKFUL, seeing as how the Thanksgiving holiday is just four days away. I have plenty to be thankful for and could make a very long list of blessings in my life. But for purposes of this post, I want to share ten blessings (in no particular order) of being in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

10. I'm thankful to simply be able to sing several times a week. It uplifts me and helps me be a better husband, father, and friend.

9. I'm thankful to sing to so many people each week. The reality that the Choir's melodic message gets heard each week by potentially millions of people is humbling.

8. I'm thankful to associate with so many great people in the Choir. Whether it's with those who have become dear friends or just with those who I talk to only occasionally when circumstance puts us together, I've become a better person through their influence.

7. I'm thankful for energetic and talented directors who tirelessly extract the best from me.

6. I'm thankful for the types of songs the Choir gets to sing. Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, nature, joy, praise, love and heaven-earth connection are all themes that speak to my soul.

5. I'm thankful for Lloyd Newell (and his writing staff) who consistently puts together messages that are insightful, thought-provoking, and timely.

4. I'm thankful for a wife and for children who's love and support allow me this opportunity and for being able to see how the Choir has impacted their lives.

3. I'm thankful for the many, many people behind the scenes who's efforts I don't always see directly, but are woven in and out of any success the choir takes credit for.

2. I'm thankful for the orchestra members and the bell ringers who do such a fantastic job both performing on their own, and when accompanying the choir.

1. I'm thankful just to have this opportunity in the first place! I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who saw fit, for whatever reason, to give me such a unique opportunity. 

Until next time, God be with. 

MTC #150 - Playing Our Best for Him + Tenebrae

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was honored to share the program today with guest choir TENEBRAE, from London, England. As was listed in this week's Choir Notes, "Tenebrae has collaborated with internationally acclaimed orchestras and instrumentalists and now enjoys a reputation as one of the world’s finest vocal ensembles." They honestly DID sound great. They were very much in tune and incredibly unified and I felt happy to hear them and enjoy the spirit they brought to the overall program. I was looking forward to singing "God Be With You", to them, after the program was over, but I guess a decision was made to simply keep them in their seats. So we sang out to the audience, instead, as we normally do.
 

Vocal group Tenebrae, on today's MSW performance

As much as I enjoyed the program today, I think the experience that touched me the most was during the rehearsal we had afterwards to prepare for our upcoming Christmas concert. One of the songs we practiced was "Carol of the Drums," or, as most know it, "The Little Drummer Boy." 

I've heard and sang this song quite a bit during my life time, but for some reason, today's rehearsal of it was a different experience for me. Here's this boy, or perhaps even a young man, who comes to see Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. And he's feeling bad that he doesn't have anything to offer as a gift--especially a gift that's fit for a King. But then he has the idea to share his talent of playing the drums. So with encouragement from Mary, he plays. And not only does he play, but he plays his best. Afterwards, baby Jesus smiles at him. And I can only imagine how happy that made the young man feel. A smile that acknowledged his gift had been accepted. 

I was just tearing up as I thought about this little story and how it applies to all of us. We all have something to share, something to give. And we may not think it's anything special. In fact, we may not consider ourselves special at all. But when we do what we can, and we do it the best we can, Christ smiles at us and accepts our gift. After all, He gave us that gift in the first place. The gift of life, the gift of talents, the gift of loving, and caring, and helping one another.

I'm so thankful for those gifts.

Until next time, God be with you.

MTC #149 - Thanks to Those Who Serve

Our program today was filled with patriotic songs to mainly honor our veterans, and those still serving in the military. I'm certainly thankful for these individuals who have worked to preserve our freedoms and make the world a safer, more peaceful, place. I took the opportunity to ask the choir member who I was sitting next to, today, to tell me a little about his time in the military. As he recounted some experiences in Bosnia, his words and emotions helped to put a "reality stamp" on the fact that most Americans have little idea of the sacrifices made in our behalf. 

That all said, I struggled a bit in singing the songs today. I kept thinking about the election, just two days away, and how this great nation will end up with a leader unfit to lead. I kept thinking about the words to the songs I was singing and whether or not they truly still applied. Is our nation great? Is American still a sweet land of liberty? Are Americans still free? Is God still willing to mend America's every flaw? Are we a nation of morals and values and decency and service? Do we stand up for what's right? Do we feel a false sense of pride as we sing/listen to these songs or is what we're singing about still applicable?

Please don't get me wrong. I love this country. For the most part, I believe people are good and in their hearts, they want to do good. While some of our freedoms are eroding, we still enjoy many of them. And we still have great opportunities to succeed and prosper. The list of blessings we receive from living in the United States are quite lengthy if you stop and think about it. But I see things happening that are troublesome and alarming. And a lot of those troublesome things just continue to get worse. 

Thankfully, amidst it all, God is still at the helm and if we work to do what's right and exemplify all of the positive characteristics we'd expect to find in a patriotic American, I think we'll continue to enjoy all that's wonderful about this nation. Respect, tolerance, love, service, patriotism, duty, virtue, and morality, just to name few, are attributes I hope all Americans (and certainly people all over the world) can strive for.

Until next time, God be with you.

From today's broadcast "This is a Great Country"

Dallyn Vail Bayles was a guest artist on today's program.

 

MTC #148 - All People

I couldn't have been more pleased this week to sing Mack Wilberg's full version of "All People That on Earth Do Dwell", based on the Old Hundredth hymn tune. I probably sound like a broken record but there is just something about that song! Something that directly ties to Christ's second coming. I know full well that I have no proof of that, obviously, but my head and my heart tell me so every time we sing it. So, I believe those feelings, one hundred percent. 

Those feelings all started back when we were preparing for the ACDA Concert which both began, and ended with, a variation of that song (and was woven throughout the entire concert's repertoire). The feelings continued as Bro. Wilberg took a modified version of our ACDA concert on tour to the East Coast in 2015, and then again to Europe in 2016. And every single time, as we sing that song, the same feelings and emotions and thoughts just spiritually stir my soul like no other song has. The strings, the notes, the harmonies! But especially the strings. 

I invite you to take just 5 min and listen to this song either at the link above, or, for a few days, you can see the one we performed today, HERE.

Until next time, God be with you.

From "O Come Ye Nations of the Earth" from today's broadcast

 

MTC #147 - Making History from the Eccles Theater

Although the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has, on occasion, broadcast it's weekly Music and the Spoken Word program from other locations around the world, the only place it has broadcast the program within Utah is the Tabernacle on Temple Square, or the Conference Center, across the street from Temple Square. So, today a little bit of history was made as the program was broadcast live from the new Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City. I don't know exactly why we accepted the invitation to broadcast it from there, but all of the choir members I talked to had an enjoyable time this morning singing in a new and beautiful hall that will soon be home to a variety of musical and theatrical programs for all to enjoy.

Other than waking up earlier than usual, and having to walk a couple of blocks to the theater, there really wasn't any additional sacrifice choir and orchestra members made to be a part of the program today. However, my deepest thanks goes out to the stage crew who, as Mack reported this morning, was there most of the night setting things up for today's broadcast. THANK YOU!

Interestingly enough, we didn't sing any of our traditional "big" or "grand" pieces for which the Choir is known for. But, the songs we did sing were enjoyable and as always, I prayed that those in attendance would feel uplifted and inspired to be just a little bit happier.

So in conclusion, I have to mention another "first"... Typically, because of where I sit in the choir, the cameramen who walk in and out of the choir and orchestra getting close-ups don't come up to where I am. I've always sort of felt bad for those choir members on the front row who are often put on the spot with a camera right in their faces--cameras that seem to speak the words "OK choir member. Let's see how well you have memorized this song!" Well, today I had that "opportunity." I saw the camera guy walking up and he stopped right on my row! Thankfully, I was confident in my words and everything worked out fine. But now I know how that feels, and I'm not sure I like it!

A few pics from today's event are below...

Until next time, God be with you. 

 

MTC #146 - Of Peace, Preparedness, & Christmas Concert Tickets

This past Thursday night, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang for a group of newly called temple presidents and their wives. It was a very nice and uplifting experience. Several in the group had tears in their eyes as we ended the "mini-concert" and I hoped that we had been successful in helping them feel peace and love.

The 30 minutes leading up to the concert, though, were anything but peaceful for me. As I arrived at rehearsal around my usual time of 6:40, I entered the long corridor that runs underground from the Conference Center to the Tabernacle and quickly noticed that no one else was in the hallway with me. I tried to think why this could be. A little bit of fear crept into my heart and the longer I walked the empty hallway, the more I realized that I must have forgotten an important detail regarding the night's rehearsal. 

As I got to my music locker, I saw someone else! Finally. Craig looked at me and then he put his hands to his head and said, "Oh no. I forgot!" 

I said "What? What did WE forget?"  

"We were supposed to come early for the mini-concert." 

Ug. He was right! We quickly walked to the dressing room to get the right suit on and I was lucky enough to have had a white shirt handy. I looked around and noticed there were a few others that had forgotten as well who were quickly getting dressed. While it was comforting to know I wasn't alone, I felt like I had been injected into the parable of the Ten Virgins. And I was not one of the five wise ones! 

Thankfully, we got up to the loft of seats and slid into the back row just in time to participate. "At least the (symbolic) door hadn't been locked," I thought.

Needless to say, the whole experience was a wake-up call to me to pay more attention to the Choir's weekly newsletter and to not take things for granted. It also made me think about when Christ comes again and how I don't want to "be late" to that event. I want to feel ready, prepared, and anticipating it. 

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Changing topics, Christmas Concert tickets were made available this week on Saturday, at 10:00am. 90% of the people I knew who tried to get some, weren't successful in doing so. After all, it took less than 10 minutes before all of the tickets for the three nights were gone. The website kept giving messages that requests couldn't be completed and there were enormously long "prove to me that you're not a robot" words to type in that made the whole experience very frustrating. As I analyzed the situation though, I realized that there is not a good way to distribute these tickets, period. Random selection, or first come first served--either way, there will be plenty of people who will be left out. There's just no way that the Choir can perform enough nights to accommodate demand. A sad reality, but one that the Church has to acknowledge and do its best to live with. 

If, by chance, you did not get a ticket, here are two things to keep in mind: 1) if you come early enough and get into the standby line, I feel very confident you'll get in. There have always been many ticket holders who just don't show up for whatever reason and that reality allows for many in the standby line to fill up the empty seats. 2) while we will not be performing the full concert on Sunday, we do perform many of the same songs-- and the guest artist will perform that morning, as well. There are no tickets for Sunday so you are welcome to come and partake of open seating.

From today's broadcast, singing "Simple Gifts"

Lastly, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed today's broadcast. Loved all of the songs and several in my family showed up to listen and watch. The foreign exchange student from Germany living with us for three weeks, Isabel, also came along and loved the whole experience. 

L to R: daughter Rebekah, Isabel, me, son Josh

My beautiful wife Jennifer, and me

Until next time, God be with you.