MTC Week #15 - Final Exam

April 13, 2014 - Amidst all of the preparations for our upcoming Messiah Concert (which takes place this coming Friday and Saturday), there was the little detail of preparing for, and taking, our FINAL EXAM. No one was too excited for this event and I think secretly we in the Choir School were all hoping that somehow it would be canceled. We envisioned the Choir President coming into class Tuesday evening and saying "Beloved Choir School members: because this year had been a very unique year for our choir school in that you've delivered a beautiful concert a whole month earlier than normal; have sung in numerous Music and the Spoken Word performances before graduating; have already contributed to the recording of a new CD; and have attended numerous extra rehearsals for the upcoming Messiah concert, we feel it only appropriate that you be considered full-fledged Mormon Tabernacle Choir members without needing to take the final exam. Congratulations!!"

Ha!

This of course did not happen. So, we combed through our notes, handouts, and other materials that covered music theory, important music habits, and singing technique (oh, and of course, the Choir Handbook)--all of which we have been learning over the past 14 weeks, and showed up Thursday night to do our best. Truth be told, it wasn't THAT bad. Some tricky questions here and there to be sure, and I'm sure none of us enjoyed the multiple choice ones that had a bazillion possible answers ("a & e", "b & c", "a, d, & e", "all of the above", "none of the above".....you know the kind). But in speaking with others after it was all over, everyone felt about the same: just glad to be done and thankful for the things they had learned.

And truly, I am grateful for the things I've learned. While I believe I've incorporated a few of them already, I hope to incorporate a lot more as I continue on this journey.

I realized however, after it was over and I was walking up to the loft to rehearse Messiah pieces, that I was feeling a bit sad. Sad that our Choir School group was about to be incorporated into the Tabernacle Choir proper. Don't misunderstand. . .I'm stoked to be joining the Choir soon. I have to pinch myself often to remind myself that my Heavenly Father has given me such a choice opportunity. However, being in a smaller group, getting individualized attention, going through this part of the journey with the other choir school members (and becoming friends with many of them), getting to learn a difficult piece of music under the direction of Ryan Murphy...I will miss it. A lot.  A big shout out to all of the choir school members, the instructors, and the staff members who have made it all such a good experience. Thank you.

Well, we performed several pieces from The Messiah, on Music and the Spoken Word today and we have a couple of rehearsals left to try and perfect all of the other pieces we'll be singing (I counted, and I think there are 20 or so chorus numbers we'll be performing). This is challenging music to learn and my diaphragm is about ready to call it quits singing all of the melismas. But at the same time, it's been amazing. Handel was a genius and his music is truly inspiring and a work of art. His testimony of Jesus Christ is something that all of us in the choir (coupled with our own testimony of Christ) hope to share with the world this coming weekend.

Until next time...God be with you!

PS: The Choir announced their 2015 tour destination. You can find the official announcement here!