TCATS #329 - Logo #6 + Start Day

Even though the Tabernacle Choir itself continues to not meet, a new logo for the Choir was unveiled on Thursday of this week. There are several articles you can read about the new logo, HERE, HERE, and HERE. This is the 6th logo the Choir has had during it's existence. Check out all six, below (click picture to enlarge):

As for me and myself, I like the new logo. While some individuals I know are sad to see the iconic/traditional organ pipes replaced by the new, golden thinner ones, I kind of like the new ones. The one aspect of the logo I like the most is the font they used. All in all, I think the new logo is clean, bold, modern-looking, and--in my opinion--may just hold some special appeal to our younger listeners (we obviously love ALL of our listeners, but we're always interested in attracting whoever we can from the rising generation). 

You'll find the new logo already being used on the Choir's website and will be featured on an upcoming album to be released soon.

Changing topics, if I have my Sundays and dates correct, today would have been the day when our new choir members (who started Choir School back in January) would have sung on their very first Music & the Spoken Word broadcast. I feel sad that they'll have to continue to wait for that opportunity. But for what it's worth you new guys, we're thinking of you! Hopefully we'll all get to reconvene soon and do what we love to do: sing and spread the light of Christ through music and testimony.

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #328 - The Retirement (Postponed)

Today was supposed to be the one day a year when the Tabernacle Choir recognized those who were retiring--those who had given many years of dedicated "musical missionary" service. (As a reminder, choir members retire from the choir for one of three reasons: they have reached 20 years; they have turned 60; or they've decided to leave for personal reasons) Due to the pandemic-related social restrictions of course (what ISN'T related to that), retirement has been placed on hold--to be scheduled on some future mystery date. A date we wish we could actually know the month and day of. Thankfully however, those retiring will be invited back to sing on another broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word and will thus get the "closure" experience they can both prepare for and treasure.

I don't know all of the people retiring, but one of my best friends, Ryan Bateman, is. I've been thinking about him today and feeling very grateful for all of the wonderful experiences we've had in Choir together. I have many more thoughts to share about Ryan, along with a few photos, too, but I'll save all of that for the actual day in which he will be asked to say goodbye to the Tabernacle Choir experience and gently place his astounding 20 years of choir service on the shelves of his memory.

As for me, I continue to miss not being able to participate in the Tabernacle Choir experience. I almost hate to admit how much I've counted on it to give me a boost every week--both spiritually and socially. It'd be one thing if we just knew when--exactly when--we would resume normal operations. But we don't, and know one knows, and it's just all frustrating. Several people have been asking me about whether or not we're still going on tour this summer. And all I can ever say is, "I don't know." I'd frankly be surprised if we still were, but miracles can happen! We're all just waiting for the choir presidency and all involved in tour planning to analyze what they can and make decisions accordingly. I have no doubt they are doing their best with the information and forecasting they have available to them and when the time is right, they'll make the choice and let us all know.

Until next time, God be with you.
 

TCATS #327 - Day 28

The hiatus from Choir continues. . .
What are we doing with our time? 
Probably many of the same things everyone else is doing these days: helping our kids adjust to online learning, getting used to working from home, trying to limit trips to supermarkets and grocery stores (and sanitizing like crazy after getting back home), having lots of game nights, taking lots of walks, binge watching TV shows, getting used to extra dishes (kids being at home all day long=extra dishes), wondering when we'll get our next hair cut, finding projects we have been meaning to do but have never made a priority...until now, dreaming of actually having social contact with friends and loved ones, reading news headlines--95% of which are related to COVID-19, spending a little more time on Facebook and Instagram, contributing to the Coronavirus Quarantine Karaoke Party FB group, having Zoom conferences with family and friends, remembering how it felt to actually shake someone's hand or give them a hug, writing more in journals, being creative, and spending a little more time on various hobbies. And then, of course, there's praying for people--a lot of people. People out of work, those struggling with isolation-induced depression, those medical professionals on the front lines, those battling with COVID-19 themselves, and so many others. 

One day, though, we shall prevail and while the daily lives we return to might be forever influenced and/or changed in various ways by what we all just went through, hopefully we'll continue to be kinder, more sympathetic, less apt to judge, and more eager to be unified rather than divided. 

Anyway...

Any Choir-related news to report, you ask? 

Well, over the weekend, the Choir organization made arrangements to broadcast the 2018 performance of The Messiah (since we obviously couldn't perform it live this year). I did not catch the performance (I've seen it before), but those I know who did see/listen to it were very impressed and mentioned how much it added to their unique Easter celebration. If you'd like to watch it, you can do so HERE.

Other than that, we choir folks have a lot of questions that just don't have any answers right now. I won't speculate about anything, but I think the top questions on every choir person's mind include 
1) when will we be able to sing together again? 
2) will we still be going on tour at the end of June or will it be canceled or postponed?
3) will there be a retirement ceremony for those leaving the choir?

Until those answers are known, we'll carry on as we have been.

I do want to end today with my testimony of Jesus Christ, seeing as how it IS Easter today. 

I know that Christ lives. I know He loves me. I'm most grateful for his Atonement that allows me to do better, be better, and start fresh no matter how many times I mess up and fall short. I love to learn about Him--to study and ponder His amazing life full of miracles and wonder. Amazing mostly because of how many people He helped on both a group level and on a personal level. I'm grateful that I get to testify of Him and the truths He taught through music and song. Not singing for four weeks has made me realize just how much I miss doing it and how much I look forward to doing it again. I pray I'll continue to follow the one person who understands me and loves me the most.

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #326 - Two Places at Once

It was a strange, emotionally challenging conference weekend for me. 
I tried to mentally prepare myself for it, but I either over-prepared or under-prepared...or something.

Like the rest of the world who was interested in watching Conference, I watched from my home today, surrounded by my family, which of course was nice. It's been six years since I've watched Conference with my family and I was thankful for the opportunity. I think it would have been even more memorable had I not already been spending every day with my family for the past three weeks. But regardless, I love spending time with my family and I was grateful to listen to the words of living prophets and apostles with them, while also helping to provide the music for the conference at the same time. 

As mentioned in earlier blog posts, the Choir had prerecorded some of the music for Conference many weeks ago, just in case COVID-19 prevented us from gathering today. Kudos to Pres. Nelson for being so inspired. We ran out of time, though, to record ALL of the music. So throughout the sessions of Conference, it showed our prerecorded numbers, as well as other music that was taken from past sessions of Conference--even going all the way back to October of 2000. I will say that it WAS kind of cool to see songs from various years in the past, mainly because I got to see people who aren't currently in the choir anymore. 

I think my favorite number today was the one at the end. It was one that we HAD prerecorded a few weeks ago and it involved other choirs from around the world. I hope we do more of this sort of thing as it powerfully depicted how global our church really is and how many talented singers there are in every country around the world. 

While there were several members of the choir who commented on Facebook about how they were so moved today in watching the choir, and how songs caused them to just cry tears of joy and peace, I didn't quite feel any of that. I'm glad they did though. Surely this is a time, particularly, when finding peace is so important. 

For more about how choir members reacted to the music today and thoughts on all of it in general, go HERE and HERE. 

Until next time, God be with you.

 

TCATS #325 - You Know. . .When

As the effects of the pandemic continue and the members of the choir aren't able to resume normal rehearsals and performances, I thought I'd take a light-hearted approach to today's blog post. Taking some of these comments from the choir's Facebook group, today's post is based on the theme "You know I haven't gone to Choir for awhile when...."

...my gas tank is sill basically full.
...the only clothes needing to be washed are my sweats.
...my beard is coming in nicely.
...I haven't set an alarm for quite some time now.
...I can't remember the last time I wore makeup.
...I don't know what's going on with the construction in Lehi.
...I can't remember what day it is.
...I find myself watching a movie with my family on Thursday night.
...I'm awake and responsive on Sundays.
...my white shirts are feeling very unused and lonely.
...I don't feel any guilt for staying up late on Saturday nights.
...I set an alarm to remind me to WATCH the broadcast on TV.
...I don't need to remind my carpool whose turn it is to drive.
...I can dismiss the recurring thought that I need to spend time memorizing music.
...I keep deleting choir-related events from my calendar. 
...my kids are now used to me being home Sunday mornings.


As for when the choir will be able to start up again, it's really anyone's guess. I think everyone around the world is wondering when "normal" life will resume again. With Governor Herbert's social distancing edict in place until AT LEAST April 13th, the earliest we could hope for is Thursday, April 16th. But, obviously there's no way of knowing how successful (or not) our current social distancing is or has been, and whether or not we'll have more weeks of needing to follow it after the current two week edict is over. The master plan Governor Herbert put in place some time ago mentioned "8-12 weeks" as part of the urgent phase of the plan and that would take us past Memorial Day. It's pointless to speculate though, so the best we can all do at this point is to just live each day and do our best with the time we're given. One day in the future, things will get back to normal and we'll be even more grateful for the routines and opportunities in life that perhaps we once took for granted. 

Until next week, God be with you.

TCATS #324 - Empty Chairs and Empty [Benches]

This will probably be one of my shortest blog posts to-date as I honestly don't have a lot to report. Due to COVID-19 and social distancing efforts and recommendations given by the United States and the State of Utah, the Choir did not meet Thursday night for rehearsal. Nor did it meet in the Tabernacle this morning to do the traditional Music & the Spoken Word broadcast, either. Instead, at 9:30 this morning, I tuned into WATCH the broadcast (a rerun was being shown). I savored the music and the very timely spoken word, and also enjoyed being able to see my fellow choir brothers and sisters--if not in person, than on the screen :).  In fact I texted my carpool group during that time saying it was good to see them on the broadcast!

What's strange is that it seems like a LONG time since I've been to choir, when in reality, it's only been a week. But not just any week. A week of time being slowed way down (seemingly) and one in which it's felt like a whole month has passed! 

The Choir's Facebook group was alive and well with choir members posting their thoughts about the pandemic and how it's affecting us. President Jarrett suggested we send out words of hope and encouragement and link to choir music to help spread that message of hope. I was grateful for that suggestion. As choir members, we are, after all, musical missionaries, and there are a lot of people out there who could use the hope and inspiration that our music provides. 

As for this coming week, it'll be more of the same. More empty [choir] chairs and more empty [Tabernacle benches]. And for anyone that might have missed it, the music that will be provided at the upcoming Conference in April will be pre-recorded (we recorded the music awhile ago as a contingency plan). 

That's it. Stay safe and be extra loving and kind. Everyone could use a extra dosage of kindness as we move forward in these trying times.

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #323 - COVID-19 Flexibilty

Little needs to be said about how the realities of COVID-19 has changed all of our lives already. Over the span of just 36 hours last week, instruction from our church and civic leaders caused the shutdown/suspension/closure of almost too many things to count. 

Until further notice...

No more church meetings or activities.

No more school for K-12 and colleges (online only).

No more professional or school-related or local-league sporting events.

No group meetings or gatherings of over 100 people.

No more temple work (except for live ordinances).

No more missionaries in the MTC (missionaries will learn via video conference from home).

As for the Tabernacle Choir, the leaders of said organization issued THIS statement which basically informed the public that The Messiah concerts were cancelled; the Chorale Concert was cancelled; and until further notice, the weekly Music & Spoken Word broadcasts would be cancelled (though previously-recorded broadcasts would be aired instead). 

Suddenly, the choir went from very busy to not very busy. It was a weird feeling. 

Several people have asked me what, exactly, ARE we doing. Well, a statement issued by the Church some time ago regarding the upcoming April General Conference included the following verbiage: "We plan to conduct all five sessions of that conference at the Conference Center. General authorities, general officers and their spouses, musicians, choirs, technicians, and others will participate as assigned. But, proceedings of the conference will be distributed throughout the world via technology only."

As such, we are still preparing to participate in General Conference (three weeks away)--at least for the time being. Obviously things could change. But for now, we are still preparing for that event.

"But Ryan," you say, "what about heeding the Governor's counsel to not gather in groups of over 100 people for the next two weeks? The Choir is obviously over 100 people...".

Good question. 

In order to better comply with that two-week guideline, the choir, for the next couple of weeks, will not be rehearsing altogether. They'll be rehearsing in smaller groups, and will be spread out among the seats so as to not be too close to other choir members. Obviously, if choir members are not feeling well, or have been traveling internationally, or don't even want to attend just to be extra safe, they will remain at home. The rest of us will use Thursday night rehearsals to prepare for General Conference and will also enjoy some extra time with our families--particularly on Sunday mornings. (Wait...I get to sleep in next Sunday? What? Woohoo!)

During these most interesting times, our prophet President Nelson reminded all of us of that "we should be comforted by this promise from the Savior: He said 'I the Lord am bound when you do what I say.' I promise you that joy is always within the reach of everyone who will hear Him and obey His laws. Please take good care of yourselves and your loved ones. And look for opportunities to help those around you near and far. We have the great privilege of ministering to our neighbors wherever they live."

I hope we call adopt the important characteristic of being flexible and remember how important it is to be nice, kind, and helpful to all of those around us--not only during this unique time, but always. 

Until next time, God be with you.