MTC #213 - 25 Times!

One would think that there's no song the Mormon Tabernacle Choir knows better than the iconic Climb Every Mountain. It is, after all, one of our signature pieces and one that we sing quite often each year. As such, you'd assume that we could just sing that song, on demand, without any (or very little) rehearsing needed.

Nope! 

As we rehearsed it Thursday night, the conductor stopped us a total of 25 times (yes, I counted) to fix this or that. Such stops were mostly related to intonation issues and after stop 10, I just kept thinking, "Really, we're that bad at singing this song? How could that be?"

I immediately thought about how this experience related to life in general. Most of us--at least the people who I know--sometimes get into a habit of just "going through the motions". It's like we flip on the "automatic pilot" switch and expect the results to be just as good as the last time we did whatever we're doing--all without much thought or effort. The problem is, by nature, we tend to gravitate to a result that's really only average. 

It's only by switching OFF auto-pilot and re-engaging ourselves that we can ascend upwards and obtain a result that's not ordinary, but extraordinary. As our conductors in the choir always say, we need to think! Concentrate on what we're doing and treat every step (or note) as something that deserves our attention and our very best. Then, we will have a product that's truly worth sharing--one that truly taps into, and capitalizes on, our potential.

On another note, the whole reason we were singing Climb Every Mountain Thursday night was not because we were going to perform it anytime soon, but because it was being used as a try-out piece for the individual who was auditioning for the part-time organist position. While those auditions are going on, the Choir has already selected its new full-time organist, Brian Mathias. You can read all about him, HERE. Welcome to the family, Brian! 

Lastly, next week we start extra rehearsals for the upcoming Easter Concert (Handel's Messiah). The choir has had a few weeks of no extra rehearsals lately. Which has been nice. But we will now say a fond farewell to those "normal" Sundays and say a hello to the new normal Sundays. 

Until next week, God be with you.