TCATS #360 - On to Christmas!

The Choir and Orchestra wasted no time in kicking off the Christmas season with a Christmas-themed Music & the Spoken Word this morning. I was in my car traveling back from Phoenix and since my daughter was doing the driving at that particular leg of the journey, I was able to watch the program on my phone. It brought back a lot of great memories. For six years now, part of my Christmas experience has always included performing 15-20 Christmas songs for the MSW broadcasts, the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, and the three performances of the Christmas Concert. Those fun and rewarding experiences were enhanced with all of the festive decorations in the Conference Center, the talk of Christmas plans and memories amongst choir members, and observing the dancers and guest artists during rehearsals. 

This year I'll simply look forward to getting to be part of that magical experience, next year. And that's OK. If 2020 has taught us anything, it's the art of adjusting and appreciating more fully what once used to be.

I don't have a lot more to add right now. My fatigue is calling me to bed soon. But I did want to list out my favorite Christmas songs as performed by the choir. I hope you'll consider adding these to your holiday playlist as they can be found on Spotify or Apple Music. BUT, these are links to the video versions that typically include cool visuals, dancers, special guests, etc. Well worth your time.

WEXFORD CAROL

THE FIRST NOEL

LITTLE DRUMMER BOY

ANGELS FROM THE REALMS OF GLORY

I SAW THREE SHIPS (Organ + Percussion Trio)

NOE NOE

And that, as they say, is that. An early Merry Christmas to you all. I hope this season is one in which you'll find some refuge from the 2020 storm and you'll feel wrapped up in the arms of our Savior, whose birth and life we celebrate.

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS# 359 - #GiveThanks

When the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that he'd be sharing a message of hope and healing, I was, unfortunately, a bit skeptical. "What more could he say than what he's already said?" was the question going on in my head. And in all honesty, I almost didn't want to tune in to the message at all. I was afraid my poor attitude would ruin whatever message President Nelson really wanted me to hear and then I'd feel worse. But then as if God was monitoring my thoughts (which of course He does), he invited me to consider the story of the Israelites and the brazen serpent as referenced in the Book of Numbers. If you recall,  the Israelites were afflicted with poisonous serpents and many were dying as a result. At one point, God told Moses to attach a brazen serpent to a pole and then hoist it up and whoever had been bitten only need look at the brazen serpent and be healed. 

The Book of Mormon adds this scripture: "But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them." (Alma 33:20)

I realized (with perhaps some new found humility) that I was being as ridiculously stubborn as some of these Israelites had been. Just as some of them were skeptical that an act so simple would heal them,  I was being skeptical that hearing a prophet's message would heal me.  

So, I listened. And even though nothing grand and glorious happened within my heart, something about the simpleness of his message rang true: just be grateful.

My mind though was screaming "Be grateful? What? Count my blessings? Seriously? THAT is going to help me feel better? It can't be that simple."

But then the thought came: just try it.

So, I did. And it has helped. And the more I express gratitude, the better I feel.

So in that spirit, I want to express gratitude for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. 

I'm grateful for the opportunity to sing such stirring and beautiful music. 

I'm grateful to feel a sense of community and unity with my fellow Tabernacle Choir singers. 

I'm grateful to be good friends with many of the brethren in particular. Their goodness and talent and testimonies and support are things I cherish and that carry me. 

I'm grateful to serve in the music library as it helps me have an added opportunity to simply do some good. 

I'm grateful for Mack and Ryan who's inspiring directing talents are a wonder to behold. 

I'm grateful for the spirit I feel when I sing and for the knowledge that even one person makes a difference. 

I'm grateful for engaging in an activity that I truly love and is heavenly in origin. 

I'm grateful for the support of my wife and kids and love them for it. 

I'm grateful for a choir presidency that I know loves us. While I wish they could come up with ways for us to fulfill our callings during this break, I trust they are doing their best.

Lastly,  I'm grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ who has, over time, allowed me to finally be OK with the way things are and to permanently latch on to hope and patience.

 

Until next time, God be with you.
#GiveThanks

TCATS #358 - A Spot in the Top Ten

I didn't think much about the Tabernacle Choir this week. The only news to really report is that the Choir received a fairly prestigious honor by being named as one of the Top 10 choirs in the world by the well respected BBC Music Magazine. You can read the article, HERE. I think the only other choir I knew on the list was the Choir of King's College--which goes to show how choir-knowledgeable I am! I look forward to checking out some YouTube videos of the other choirs just for fun.

The other news is that PBS/WGBH created a specific website just to highlight past Christmas concerts by the Tabernacle Choir. I was actually pretty impressed with the site. Normally when you're trying to look for videos of past Christmas concerts or any "extra" or "behind the scenes" videos, you have to sort of do a blind search and hope the hits you get are the ones you're really after. But if you go to this site and click on Watch link (near the top left), you'll be taken to an all-inclusive page that includes dozens of videos of each of the Christmas concerts from 2019 thru 2016 that are nicely organized. For the concerts prior to 2016, I'm not sure WGBH was involved so that's why there's no pre-2016 content. To see that content, you can go to the Choir's YouTube channel and then to the Christmas playlists and there's a variety of videos to watch, there. 

Other than that, life for choir members goes on just as it does for many others these days. We wait for the pandemic to end, and while we wait, we use the time to work on hobbies, spend more time with family, pursue vocational or education interests, and support each other through social media posts and individual texts of encouragement and love. 

Love and prayers to you all as you treasure the moments of joy and at the same time, work hard to combat the trials you're working through. Being a Lord of the Rings fan, I thought this dialogue between Sam and Frodo is especially applicable right now, so I'll leave you with that. 

Until next time God be with you.

Frodo: "I can't do this, Sam."
Sam: "I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mister Frodo. The ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened.
But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mister Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something."
Frodo: "What are we holding on to, Sam?"
Sam: "That there's some good in this world, Mister Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."