TCATS #257 - Results

Thursday night's rehearsal was a complete workout as we went through every Christmas song not only for Sunday's broadcast, but for the upcoming Christmas concert. The idea was to not only learn the music more, but to also test our memories to see if all of our extra rehearsals and outside-of-choir memorization time, had paid off. 

I'm glad to say that it indeed has paid off.  By the time 9:30 rolled around, Mack mentioned how pleased he was with the progress we've made and how he feels like we are prepared for next week's Christmas Concert adventure. That isn't to say the songs are perfect. We each have some work left to do to clean up a few notes here, and a couple of rhythms there. But at least for the majority of us, the hours of rehearsing, of listening to rehearsal tracks in the car, and utilizing the power of repetition, has given way to relishing in that really nice prepared feeling.

A friend at choir reminded me of an important principle in regards to preparation: if you put in the time and work hard, you are entitled to the blessings of those efforts--with anything in life. You get out largely what you put in, and from a religious standpoint, you're also entitled to God's grace--which can (and does) make all the difference.

Looking to the week ahead, I'm not just excited for the concerts themselves, but I'm really, really excited for the Tuesday and Wednesday rehearsals this coming week. It's so fun and magical to see the whole concert come together. We choir members are never really told much about what the concert will include (which seems funny, I know). We have the songs we're learning--and that's about it. What the visuals will be like--what will be happening on stage and all around the Conference Center--is still very much a mystery until that Tuesday rehearsal where we finally see how it all comes together. 

Before ending my post today, I just wanted to give a shout-out to my good friend (and fellow bass) Wes, who became a daddy this past week. So great! Best of luck to him as he grows into this new and exciting role.

Until next time, God be with you. 

PS: Some great Christmas videos from last year's Christmas Concert were posted this past week by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. Check them out here. (My favorite of the bunch, here)