TCATS #444 - Odds, Ends, & In-betweens

Some random thoughts for today...

<>The Music & the Spoken Word  broadcast today was a good one.  The Spoken Word was all about the beloved author C.S. Lewis and music wise, we sang the fan favorite "Let Us All Press On" arranged by our own Richard Elliott. There's just something really powerful about that particular arrangement and I wish I could articulate what, exactly, is powerful about it. I'm reminded of a question my wife asked me just yesterday: "What criteria do you have for what makes a song great?" She had HER list. But when I thought about MY list, I stumbled big time. Either a song "has it" or it doesn't. Right? I mean, I can name some things I don't like about songs in general, but trying to actually describe why I really like any particular song? I just don't know.

Here are a few tweets about "Let Us All Press On" that came in during Conference a couple of weeks ago:

<>During the run-through this morning, one of our sister choir members had an incident that caused her to go unconscious for a time. I mention this only because I was impressed with what happened next. Choir members around her caught her, members of the security team were on site within seconds, our resident doctor was there to help, and an ambulance came fairly quickly to assist. While I certainly hope the sister is OK, it was comforting to see how so many people were there to help.

<>The presidency of the Choir continues to add new people to the choir administration team. Most recently, a position called "Directors of Ensemble Operations & Support" was added. The couple serving in this position will work to better ensure the performance and other needs of each individual organization are met.

<>The Choir organization (which includes everyone) has an all-hands meeting coming up in November. The agenda of topics for that meeting has not been shared, but if I had to guess, at least one of the topics will be about the next tour. 

<>While I'm in the middle of my journey to really love my choir experience again, I've been able to look at this experience as a calling (which it has been all along, but sometimes it's easy to forget that). Everyone who has a calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has times when they are discontent, get frustrated, and just wish things were different. But at the end of the day, anyone who wants to succeed at their calling needs to look at it as giving service. "What can I do for the people I serve?" And if I answer THAT question honestly, the harder moments are better and the good moments become great moments. 

<>It was a first today regarding my carpool group. We all sat in the very same row. Given that there are two basses, one baritone, and one tenor, the likelihood of that happening again is rare. 

<>We started learning ELIJAH today. I've never sung it and have never actually heard it before. But we're getting a jump on learning it so that we won't have so many extra rehearsals in January (we perform it in February as part of the Tanner Gift of Music series). 

<>I'm thankful for my choir member friends. They are kind, supportive human beings and I'm a better person because of them.

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #443 - On Set With The Piano Guys

Members of the Tabernacle Choir had the opportunity to sign up for and participate in a music video with The Piano Guys this past Saturday. For awhile, I was a bit on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to participate. But in the end, I thought I'd give it a shot. After all, it WAS a pretty cool opportunity.

The morning of the video shoot for me started at the unearthly hour of 3:45AM. 

Yikes.

I showered, put on the designated Choir suit (which I picked up from the Conference Center after rehearsal on Thursday), and drove down to the home of my friend Wes. We then got in his car and traveled down to BYU's stadium parking lot (listening to some pretty awesome 80s tunes on the way), where we then caught a shuttle that took us to the LDS Motion Picture Studios. While en route, we consumed a boxed breakfast and talked about the experience we were about to have along with a few emails that had been sent to us around 10pm just the night before.  The emails explained how each of us were in certain groups and included instructions on where we were to stand, walk in from, etc. They also told us who are group leaders were and a few other details. 

Once we arrived at the studios, we all congregated in back of the mock Newell K. Whitney store in camping chairs while waiting for more instructions. As we waited--and indeed throughout most of the morning--we tried not to freeze as the temps were in the 40s. But with some amount of anticipation for the experience ahead, and with the socializing we were all doing, we tried not to think too much about the cool temperatures. Soon enough, several members of the production team explained how things would go and told us to get in our groups and go and find where we were to enter the set from. Since it was still dark (6:45), team leaders got out their flashlights looking at various pieces of instructions and maps and then began leading us to our locations. I was in Group C (there were groups A thru F)--one of the smaller groups--and we found our spot on the left side, diagonal from the piano which was in front of a log cabin. 

Just so you get a visual.... think of a traditional, smaller log cabin, with candles in the windows and smoke coming out of the chimney. All around this cabin are trees, with old fence railings and leaves scattered on the ground. Then picture a mist permeating the area, creating an atmosphere of wonder and awe. Right in front of the cabin was the piano John would play and in front of him was a stool where Steve Nelson would be playing his cello. And around the entire scene are choir members, strategically placed and ready to film all of the scenes required to make the video.(see pics below)

Once we were all gathered on the actual set, there were some words from the director, the producer, from Mack, and from Elder Clayton. They all thanked us for being there and for being part of this grand project that was sure to bless the lives of many. After that, the morning was a mixture of waiting, being on set, following instructions on when to sing, where to stand, how to walk in, what facial expressions to have, and where to look. There were camera people, fog people, light people, refreshments people, fans blowing leaves people, calling out instructions people, and  a bunch of other people. It was rather amazing how many people were there working on this. 

As the morning progressed, some groups had been more involved with the video than others, while a select few were on set almost the whole time. But to everyone's credit, I didn't hear any complaints. It just seemed like everyone was content to play their part and if their part involved a lot of waiting with only minutes of set time, that was OK. Every part was important to make the video what it needed to be. 

Besides, all of the wait time gave us a chance to socialize--which we rarely have time for week to week. So that was nice.

As I watched everything unfold, I have to say how was amazed I was at how David Warner, who was the creative director of the project, was so intimately involved in every scene. He had sketched out story boards of how the entire video should play out and was continually talking with the video directors trying to infuse his vision in to each scene filmed. So much work. So much attention to detail. 

When it was all done, we gathered around the set and The Piano Guys gave us a special performance of "I Can't Help Falling In Love with You"--just to say thank you for our participation. (I know the song is an Elvis Presley song, but I always think of the last scene of one of my favorite 80s movie Some Kind of Wonderful)  Then, it was over. We filed back to the buses and shuttles, grabbing a boxed lunch on the way, and went our separate ways.

When will the video be out you ask? Hmmm. We're all asking that same question. And all we know right now is "sometime next year". Sigh. Good things come to those who wait I suppose.

Until next time, God be with you.

[Some pics from the day. Click to enlarge]

What the set looked like early morning

L to R: Patrick, Greg, me, Wes

On set with The Piano Guys

On set with most choir members circling the scene

L to R: Anthony, Siope, me

David Warner and Mack Wilberg reviewing scenes

 

TCATS #442 - Conference Oct-22

Another conference has come and gone.

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square continued to play its usual role of providing music for Saturday morning and all of the Sunday sessions. We had extra rehearsals for the past several weeks to adequately prepare and also had a Tuesday rehearsal (in addition to our normal Thursday one) this past week, just to make sure we were in tip top shape. 

This conference experience was different for me in several ways, mainly because I only sang on Saturday. That said, I wanted to just share a few brief thoughts/observations about this weekend.

**While I was glad to spend Sunday with my wife and family (which included sleeping in a bit, having a homemade cinnamon roll breakfast, etc), half of my heart was at the Conference Center as I watched my fellow singers do an excellent job delivering their musical message.

**From the feedback I got, Rick Elliott's arrangement of "Let Us All Press On" continues to be a favorite. It was sung right after some stirring words by President Nelson, which I'm sure just added to the performance.

**God often answers the righteous desires of our hearts (though, of course, sometimes He doesn't for whatever reason). A friend of mine was slated not to sing the Sun AM session due to not having as high of an attendance percentage. He was really really sad about it. There were two songs in that session he was looking forward to singing-- and I knew that given his testimony and personal devotion to his faith, his vocal contribution would help those songs be even more effective for those who heard them. Come to find out, at the very last minute (literally), some bass singer got sick and this friend of mine was able to take his place. He was stoked.

**I have another friend in the Choir who, just a few months ago, didn't know for sure whether he'd live to participate in another conference. But the long road he's traveled has led him to have had that opportunity and it was inspiring to watch him sing today.

**President Nelson specifically requested that we change the last song of conference to allow for a little more time to speak. The new closing song was "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again." My whole family felt, along with some of my siblings, that having that specific song sung was a parting tribute to President Nelson, who would not live to see another conference. (That's purely just a THOUGHT, but since we all had it, and given the way President Nelson gave the final words of his talk, well, it may just come to pass) We all were singing it to him. And he was singing it to us. 😢

**My cousin had this to say about the music: "The messages of conference are so timely and wonderful, but without the music, it wouldn't be conference. The closing hymn (of Sun AM) did me in--I loved the arrangement even more this time....to me, it just made sense of everything in life and gave me courage for the next six months."

**I think I'm slowly, but finally coming back to the truth that fulfilling my calling as a musical missionary NEEDS to be about the music and the message. Sure, some of my wishes for the choir would be cool if they ever came to pass (IMO), and sure, it'd be great if I always personally loved the music we sang. But the fact is, there are many, many people that love what we do, just the way we do it. And I need to trust that if God is at the helm, which I believe Him to be, He'll inspire the program however He sees fit. And in His time. 

Until then, just carry on Ryan! Do your job. And do it well. 

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #441 - The Quartet

It's fairly common (from what I've heard and observed over the years) for Tabernacle Choir members to get pulled into other singing opportunities. Such an opportunity came my way today as I got to sing in a quartet at a ward missionary farewell (here's the song we sang). Rehearsals started a few weeks ago and since it was a capella, we wanted to make sure that our harmonies were as spot-on as they could be. Additionally, since I was singing Baritone (which was new to me), I spent quite a bit of on-my-own time getting it down. At any rate, the four of us feel like the performance today went well and enjoyed 1) getting actual feedback afterwards; and 2) getting to sing in a much smaller group where we knew each individual voice really mattered. I mean, I know (and have blogged about it) that each voice matters in the 400-voice Tabernacle Choir. But, if small mistakes are made in a large choir, no one really notices (plus, you have plenty of opportunities to breath!). It's when you're singing your part all by yourself that you feel like the spotlight is on you (and on you the whole time!). 

I suppose it would be well for me to adopt that concept though as I continue my journey in the Choir. Feeling like the spotlight is always on me would prompt me to do certain things: 1) if I didn't exactly know the notes or rhythm at a certain spot in the song, I'd pull out the sheet music and verify instead of just listening around me and self-correcting as I realized what mistakes I made. 2) I'd take my music home every week to look over it. Even if I felt confident in the notes and rhythm, reading over the lyrics and letting them be a part of my week might help me appreciate the songs and their messages all the more (or even at all). 3) I could be one of those singers in my section that leads out instead of follows along. 4) I'd feel the blessings of being fully prepared. I re-recognized that feeling today while singing my part in the quartet. 

I'll try better to do these things. After all, as a disciple of Christ, I should be living as if the spotlight were always on me.
Because it is. 

And now, switching gears a bit to just mention some Choir "odds and ends"...

First, we have been given the opportunity to record a music video with the Piano Guys--soon. It's no small feat to pull off any type of performance with a large choir--so it'll be interesting to see how this goes. I can't say that recording is even remotely associated with the word "fun" (think retake after retake after retake), but the finished product will, I'm sure, be pretty darn cool. If I remember right, the video will be released sometime in 2023. 

Second, we have General Conference coming up. I'd love some time to have the orchestra join us and let the Seventy General Authorities go sit with their wives (the orchestra needs the space they take up), but that's not happening this time. Or probably ever. (Tradition, you know?)  Standard conference music is being rehearsed and I suspect everything will go just as it always goes. 

Third, the announcement for the Christmas Concert guest artist is coming up here soon (I don't know exactly when, but would expect something to come out in October). Choir members have not been told anything about who it will be. But, if I were a gambling man, I'd wager it might just be The Piano Guys. It's not completely without precedent that special guests that join the Choir for Music & the Spoken Word or for the summer concert end up being the guest artist for the Christmas concert. Guess we'll see. Who knows? Maybe it's someone completely off my radar. 

That as they say, is that.
Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #440 - The Virtual Sick Room

I wasn't planning on posting anything today given the fact I missed attending both the in-person rehearsal Thursday and the performance today. But I thought I'd share a few thoughts about what it's like when a choir member gets sick and still tries to fulfill his/her calling.

First of all though, I have to comment on the timing of all of this. Given my attitude and reluctance to be "all-in" with Choir lately, you might think that missing a week would of sort have been a treat for me. Ironically though, I was actually very excited to go to Choir Thursday--for four main reasons.  1) It was the first time back to the Tabernacle after what seemed like a long summer in the Conference Center--and I was anxious to finally be able to look into the faces of those who came to listen to us rehearse. 2) I was going to go early and rehearse a quartet number that a friend of mine invited me to be a part of (to be performed in a sacrament meeting later this month). 3) The songs we were rehearsing for both the performance today and for future broadcasts were songs I really loved. And 4) I was anxious to say hello to my buddy Wes who I hadn't seen for a few weeks. 

But, it was all not to be. 

I started feeling sick on Tuesday and it was clear on Thursday that I was in no condition to go sing. So I contacted an individual on the Choir admin team letting her know I was sick. And she put me in contact with someone on the medical committee who asked about my symptoms and laid out how things would go. Basically, the medical committee is treating every illness as covid-19 and in order to come back, I'd have to have two negative tests within 48 hrs of each other. I could choose not to do the test, but would have to wait longer to come back to ensure I wasn't potentially bringing the virus with me. Anyway, for rehearsal, I received authorization to attend the virtual sick room which is basically just a Zoom meeting that, when logged in, is zoomed in on the conductor leading the Choir. Attending the sick room would allow me to get partial attendance credit. The sick room felt a bit lonely as it wasn't like a typical zoom call. I couldn't see anyone else who was logged in and therefore had no chance to chat about the rehearsal as it went along. However, I knew my friend Willy was in the sick room too so we started up an external chat and enjoyed commenting on the various songs being rehearsed. 

On Saturday, I again contacted "Jill" from the medical committee to let her know I still wasn't feeling that great and she authorized me to attend the sick room again, the next morning (today). She also said I'd need to test Monday and then again on Wednesday if I wanted to come back to choir on Thursday. Willy was again in the virtual room and I later found out Wes was there too. The bonus to being in the sick room today was getting credit for joining the extra post-broadcast rehearsal even though we didn't have to actually stay logged in (technical issues). 

Anyway, I just wanted to give you a glimpse into the "being sick process". Hopefully I'll be back on Thursday and not have to find out anything more about it!  :) 

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #439 - The Super Six

A shorter post today, but I did want to mention a few things.

First, I really liked all six songs we sang today. Saints Bound for Heaven brought me back to my Concert Choir days at BYU where I was first introduced to that song and fell in love with it. We Thank Thee Lord for This New Day is a new song by Mack Wilberg that debuted several months ago. I love the harmonics, the changes between major and minor keys, and how it's different from our standard fare. O Come Ye Nations of the Earth talks about letting your light shine. Each of us has something to give and I appreciate that reminder. My Song in the Night is one I've always loved mainly because I feel like, at least for me, much of our lives is spent wading through the dark as we search for more light. I mean, we live in the light that we feel like we have and that light is important to cling to. But there's also our ever growing "faith shelf" which contains oh so many questions and causes us to feel like we're in the dark. Hold On is definitely a favorite musical song with an important message about patience and perseverance. And Come Labor On is a relatively new hymn for me personally, but reminds me of missionary work since my daughter is out serving (Ryan Murphy shared the same sentiment). Apparently this hymn is widely known in other Christian sects--so it's nice to finally know it now myself. And while the message can apply to missionaries, it also applies to each of us since "work" is a very important part of finding happiness.

Second, the Choir started using a new attendance app called "Roll Call". Up until now, there have been designated individuals in each section of the choir that would take attendance the good ol' fashioned way. By observation and pen/paper. This was very time consuming and prone to error. Now we all just scan a QR code on our way in, and then again on our way out, and bam! All done. While the Church (and by extension, the Choir) is always a bit slow to adopt technology, I'm glad we're making progress on this front. Especially, as mentioned before, putting more emphasis on the digital music streaming apps instead of always taking about buying CDs. 

Third, we have a new Director of Travel - Justin Smith. I guess the choir will once again go on tours after all. Some of my choir friends had begun to wonder. 

Fourth, the best part of today? Having my wife surprise me by coming to watch Music & the Spoken Word ! 

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #438 - The Piano Guys

The Piano Guys joined us as guest performers on today's Music & the Spoken Word broadcast. It was truly nice to have them. I think very highly of both Jon and Steven and the great music they share with the world. Seeing them perform brought back some Christmas related memories for me personally since my wife and I, along with several of my siblings and my parents used to get tickets every year to Jon's Christmas show at Kingsbury Hall. Each show he'd delight us with his amazing piano skills and, invariably, he'd have his good friend Steven Sharp Nelson as a guest on the show to share his amazing skills on the cello. Of course that Jon Schmidt Christmas show ended as soon as The Piano Guys became "a thing" and Jon's gone on to enjoy a much wider audience with Steven and the other two members of the group, Paul Anderson and Al van der Beek.

One thing, among many, that impressed me as I observed them both on Thursday night and this morning, was their devotion to God. In the remarks they made at rehearsal and then publicly as part of the Spoken Word portion of the program today, they are always very quick to thank God for their talents and for being able to share their music with others. They are also very quick to ask for God's help before any rehearsal or performance. This was exemplified on Thursday when they came on stage to rehearse the first piece. Minutes before that, the Choir had opened the rehearsal in prayer as we normally do. But as Jon and Steven weren't there for that portion, they didn't know we had prayed. So, after only a minute or so into the rehearsal, Jon piped up and asked Mack Wilberg if we had said a prayer yet. And after Mack assured him that we had, the rehearsal resumed. It reminded me of a scripture from the Book of Mormon that says "...ye must pray always, and...not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." (and, if I may add, the welfare of others)

A couple of behind-the-scenes comments from Thursday's rehearsal and today's performance:

First, when Jon and Steven were being officially introduced to us Thursday, each of them took a couple of minutes to say a few words. Steven focused on how one of our main goals should be to fill the "music listening space" with wholesome music that the youth can latch onto instead of them listening to much of the popular music today that's explicit in nature (he cited the fact that on Spotify last year, 14 of the top 20 streamed songs had explicit lyrics). While I don't think that the youth out there will start listening (or listen more) to the Tabernacle Choir or The Piano Guys, the message of producing more wholesome content is definitely a good one.

Second, we had lots of people show up today. They filled the entire main floor of the Conference Center and started filling up various sections of the 2nd floor Terrance as well. I got the sense that several who showed up thought that perhaps The Piano Guys would be featured more on the program--as if they'd be performing sort of a mini-concert. While I think it would have been cool for Jon and Steven to maybe do a few numbers themselves after the broadcast for the audience's sake (since the broadcast can't go longer than 30 min), that's not what happened. That said, I hope they focused on what was in front of them: 30 minutes to feel and hear heaven inspired music.

Third, following the broadcast, the audience was invited to stay if they wanted, to watch us record the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.  Apparently at some future point in time, The Piano Guys will be releasing a video that shows them performing the Hallelujah Chorus (on piano and cello of course) and also shows The Tabernacle Choir somehow intermixed with that performance. I'm not sure how the end result will turn out, but knowing The Piano Guys, I'm sure it'll be very cool.

Fourth, the morning ended with Rick Elliott and Jon Schmidt performing a duet of the song "Waterfall"--which is actually one of Jon's signature songs he plays (or used to at his concerts). While I felt like the organ sort of dominated the duet, it was a pretty cool performance. I've always loved that song.

As for me and my current Choir journey, I felt fairly neutral this week. Which is actually an improvement. So I'll take it. While there aren't a lot of unusual or out-of-the-ordinary Choir performances coming up, I'm going to try my best to find whatever magic is in them.

Until next time, God be with you.