MTC #248 - Conference Report (Unique x 3)

Conference is always an exciting and much anticipated event for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This time, in particular, given how much overtime the rumor mill was putting in, individuals and families tuned in to hear instruction and counsel by church leaders and to hear if any of the rumors were going to come true.

This blog, however, is not about conference itself, but rather about the music rendered during conference.  And this time, there were three important and unique aspects of conference music that I want to mention.

But before I do that, here are some numbers (for all you statistics people!):

Total songs sung: 21*
  Hymns from LDS hymn book: 13
  Children/Primary songs: 3
  Other hymns: 3
  American Folk Songs: 2^

Songs Memorized: 14
Hours rehearsed: approx. 10-12^^

*=this includes Music & the Spoken Word (MSW) on Sunday morning before the Sun AM session of conference
^=one of these was sung during MSW, one during conference
^^=does not include outside, individual memorizing time--which is fairly significant for newer members of the choir

OK. So on to the three unique things I wanted to mention...

First, it was the very first time that the choir performed as The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (yes, "MoTab" is no longer). The name change was announced this past Friday morning, and there are plenty of news articles that covered the announcement (here's one). While the reaction to the name change has been mixed, I, personally, am excited for the change. Yes, it's going to take a very long time for the new name to take a firm hold around the world. And I suspect that even though there will be a lot of effort to educate people on the new name, some will continue to use the old one. But the change just feels right, and it falls perfectly in line with not only what the prophet has asked us to do, but it matches up with the other musical organizations of the Church: The Orchestra at Temple Square, and, The Bells on Temple Square. Already, church members and fans who have heard about the change are giving us a new acronym to go by: TCATS or TabCats. Not sure I'm on-board with that, but we'll see over time what acronym sticks.

Our last rehearsal as The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

For all of those who are not happy with the change--well--there's little to say. I just hope you can hop on board and continue to enjoy what's at the core of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square: high quality inspirational music!

The second unique thing about music at this conference was one of the songs we sang was requested by President Nelson. That, in and of itself, is not unique (he and other prophets/general authorities have requested songs before), but, what is unique is that it was not a traditional LDS hymn! It was actually a beautiful, somewhat haunting folk-song titled "His Voice is the Sound." When Mack first told us all about this, he said he had been somewhat shocked at the request, simply because the song was not a hymn or in the "traditional" Conference repertoire. Given that President Nelson is already being called the "prophet of change" though, I guess it's not too much of a surprise he requested a non-traditional song. But still...a pretty big deal, at least in the eyes of the choir. President Nelson didn't mention the song in his conference address that immediately followed the song, but as I talked with people, and thought about it, I realized how perfect it was as a backdrop to his talk (which was about the importance of correcting the name that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been known by--namely, "The Mormons"). One only need ponder on the title of the folk-song to see how well it supports the theme of the talk: The Lord's voice is the sound we should hear. It's the sound we should follow. It's the sound that should resonate within our heart and within our soul. For me, too, the song seems to connect the Christ of long ago, with the Christ of today--and why it is that we should worship Him and strive to be like Him. AND, why we should strive to help the world understand that the Church we belong to is none other than the Church of JESUS CHRIST.

The last unique thing about the music at this conference is that it included a hymn with words written by our prophet, President Nelson (titled "Our Prayer to Thee"). It was fittingly sung as the last song of conference. If you would like to listen to it (and for some, listen to it again) with the lyricist in mind, you can, HERE.

All in all, I just want to say how grateful I am that I get to sing with this marvelous choir. I'm humbled, all the time, at the unique opportunity. Several of the newer members of the choir were making similar comments during the past couple of days and those comments reminded me of the importance of always approaching this opportunity with humility and a focus on the choir's core mission: to musically uplift, inspire, and testify of Jesus Christ to all the world. 
Lastly, a huge thanks to the organists (they have a heavy load playing so many pieces without any other accompaniment), the tech crew, our directors, and, of course, my wife and kids who continue to support me in this adventure. Love them!

Until next time, God be with you.