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.