History was made today as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir had their 4,500th broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word. It was a fitting day to reach that milestone, as not only the choir sang, but they were accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square and the Bells on Temple Square. And, given it was a Christmas special, there was a large number of people who attended and seemed to enjoy what they heard today.
By my calculations (math was not my strong suit in school), the next milestone, the 5,000th episode, will occur on July 28, 2024. Or thereabouts.
Aside from making history, the choir is now (and has been) in full Christmas concert prep-mode. We're working hard to memorize the music and are anxious to see how it all comes together this week when the dancers and the guest artists combine with the orchestra and choir.
A friend in the choir did a few calculations that I thought sum of Christmas week from a numbers perspective:
7 trips (120 miles) from Centerville to SLC in 8 days, 39 hours of Choir (including driving), 4 rehearsals, 5 performances, 1 recording session, 15 memorized songs (149 pages), including 8 new songs or new arrangements (78 pages), including 2 David Warner songs (23 pages): Welcome to Christmas concert week!
Numbers aside, we could start adding to that list in other ways: several spiritual experiences while singing beautiful Christmas songs, watching audiences be touched by the music and overall performances, hearing their clapping, feeling the energy and excitement of fellow choir members, seeing how the program affects the guest artists, and simply feeling the true meaning of Christmas.
I'm thankful for this time of year, not for how busy things always are, but for those things that help keep me centered on Christ. One of those things is being in the Choir and singing these wonderful Christmas songs.
Grateful!
Until next time, God be with you.
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