TCATS #423 - Sissel + Public Now Welcome

The Tabernacle Choir welcomed Sissel back this week--who joined us at both our Thursday rehearsal and at our Sunday performance. There was actually a dual purpose to her visit. First, she was here to get a few songs recorded with us (perhaps for a forthcoming album?); and second, she was here to perform a couple of those songs on Music & the Spoken Word today. 

As mentioned last week, today was the first day that the general public was invited to walk through the doors of the Tabernacle and enjoy MSW in person. And walk through the doors they did. :) Aside from a few side benches underneath the balcony, most of the seating was occupied by those who were eager to hear the Choir and Orchestra again after such a long break. It was great to see the hall filled up and certainly brought back memories of years ago when no one thought twice about the hall getting filled up.

Probably the highlight of the broadcast was the two songs Sissel performed: Slow Down, and Beautiful Savior (sung partially in Norwegian). From a music/tune perspective, I'm not as big a fan of Slow Down as some people are. But I do really appreciate the lyrics and can see the world being a much better place if people sometimes slowed down and unburdened themselves with the various distractions swirling around them. 

At the conclusion of MSW, we actually sang (for the first time since March 2020) "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again" to close out the program. It was formally directed at Sissel and her husband and pianist, but was directed, too, to all audience members. 

As I sat in my seat this morning before rehearsal started, I remembered back to what I used to do at MSW performances. I used to say a specific prayer in my heart that at least one person would feel something positive:  maybe a little lighter, filled with a little more hope, and feeling less alone. I also used to pick out one person in the audience to since the final song to. I thought it would be cool to start doing those things again.

By far, the hardest thing about this week was recording the songs. Recording is just a very long and tedious process and while we all appreciate Ryan Murphy's listening and feedback skills, sometimes it's just infuriating. Especially when we all feel like we just had a good take and even Mack said "That felt good, can we move on?" and Ryan replies from the sound recording booth "It was good, but. . .".  Haha. The infamous "but". In all seriousness though, thanks Ryan for not settling for anything but the best sound we can produce!

Until next time, God be with you.

 

 

 

TCATS #422 - Glorious Easter

Happy Easter everyone!

The Music & the Spoken Word program today was one I really enjoyed personally. The choir and orchestra were joined by the bells and the Gabriel Trumpet entourage --both of whom made the whole program sound more magnificent. It felt great, too, to have so many visitors in the Tabernacle to watch/listen. Technically, the "100 people only" restrictions were to be lifted next week, but I'm glad that whoever was in charge of that just let anyone in who wanted to come in. No better week to have a full house than on Easter! (It actually wasn't a full house, but probably around 300 or so)

Out of all the songs we sang, the last two were the ones that impacted me the most. I'm starting to FEEL again and "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and "Hallelujah Chorus" were the two songs I felt the most. Speaking of that former song, at Thursday night's rehearsal when we were practicing that song, there was a woman sitting up on the right side of the balcony that just couldn't stop crying. Obviously the words of that song had really touched her--and while the song itself is not my most favorite (musically speaking), I do love the words and how they can be a direct reflection (and powerful remembrance) of one's testimony of Christ.

As a follow-up from last week's post, I did want to mention that our non-vaxxed members of the Choir joined us on Thursday night--observing from the balcony. They WERE acknowledged by one of the presidency members (though he referred to them more generically), but I felt it was rather insensitive that the very next announcement made was one that admonished everyone to stay current with their vaccinations and boosters. Ug. That said, I am choosing to focus on the good here and the good is that they are back with us and, for the most part, feel very welcome and anxious to actually start participating again, beginning next week. 

Coming up soon...

*Sissel to be joining us on an upcoming broadcast
*An announcement regarding a concert in July
*The St. Olaf Choir will join us on an upcoming broadcast as well

Until next time, God be with you (and enjoy some pics from today's broadcast, below)

TCATS #421 - Soon to Be Whole Again

As I've mentioned before, there's a subset of individuals in the Choir, Bells, and Orchestra at Temple Square that have been waiting and waiting to rejoin us. The Choir Presidency has not allowed them to come back and fulfill their calling because they are unvaccinated against covid-19. Some of these individuals cannot be vaxxed because of various health conditions. Some have followed the Church's own handbook that says members are to "make their own decisions about vaccination...,counsel with competent medical professionals and also seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost"--and after following that counsel, felt a confirmation not to be vaxxed. Regardless, all of them have been spending a great deal of time waiting and wondering and hoping. 

Thankfully, in our choir announcements on Friday, the Choir Presidency made the announcement that our unvaxxed brothers and sisters will finally be able to return:

"The Choir Presidency has concluded it is time to invite all members of the Choir, regardless of vaccination status, to return to the loft and stage. Returning members of the Choir, Orchestra, and Bells may begin attending rehearsals on Thursday, April 14 and may begin participating in performances on Sunday, April 24."

Woohoo! I was so, so happy about this!  Ever since October last year when the Choir started moving forward again, it's been difficult not to feel this "incomplete" feeling and to continually remember how difficult it's been for our fellow unvaxxed friends to sit on the sidelines. A few texted me on Friday expressing how happy they were and shedding tears of joy of having this long wait finally come to a close.

I don't know if the Presidency will make mention of them on April 14th or not. I would hope so. But regardless, I hope they receive a warm welcome from the rest of us who have eagerly awaited their return.  Indeed, I hope they feel they are on the receiving end of the hymn lyrics we've sung many times before:

As I have loved you,
Love one another.
This new commandment:
Love one another.
By this shall men know
Ye are my disciples,
If ye have love
One to another.

Until next time, God be with you.
 

TCATS #420 - April 2022 Conference

Here are my top 10 highlights from April 2022 General Conference (in no particular order):

10. Seeing the excitement, nervousness, and humility of those in the choir who's first conference this was. I was introduced to several of them, talked to a few of them (nice to meet you Matt, Patrick, and Alberto), and noticed many of them. It's fun to remember back to my first conference--to re-live those emotions  and try and recapture that energy. 

9. Sitting next to my good friends Ben and Siope. Ever since our new seating manager re-took our height measurements, I've been moving to higher rows and sitting next to people I used to sit next to many years ago. Anyway, it was a privilege singing next to them and I had several good friends right in front of me as well. Surrounded by love!

8. Hearing first-hand how it feels to go through someone's last conference. My dear friend Ryan is retiring from the choir in a few weeks and he related to me how he was feeling about this being his last conference to sing in. (I'll highlight Ryan in a future post)

7. Having donut holes to consume during the break before the morning session. I was really hungry and those hit the spot. Thanks to whoever provided them!

6. Being a part of Choir history as this was the first General Conference where the Choir sang everything memorized. A couple of weeks ago, we were told we'd be able to hold music for "I Love to See the Temple" and "Iron Rod" because they were brand new arrangements. However, after all of the rehearsing, we felt we had the notes down well enough to sing them both by memory. So we did. Granted, we did have a teleprompter for all of conference music. But as I mentioned before, the teleprompter does not give us notes, pitch, rhythm, etc. 

5. Talking with Siope a few minutes here and a few minutes there during our "waiting to rehearse or perform" breaks about what we were thinking and how we were feeling. We took a minute to acknowledge choir members who have not yet been invited back because of their vax status. Love you guys!

4. Hearing very positive feedback from both Mack and Ryan on our performances. Always feels good to know our hard work is paying off.

3. Being thankful for all of the volunteers who help make conference a reality. Everything from the flower arrangements (thanks Andrew!), to the parking attendants, to the teleprompter people, to those providing us lunch, to the security people, and the many who usher and kindly assist. And of course, a very special thanks to our awesome organists. They are amazing.

2. Having good conversations with several of my buddies. 

1. Getting to sing inspiring music and hear inspiring messages. I'm not sure which of the songs we sang was my favorite. I really liked the two newly-arranged songs. But "It Is Well With My Soul" is always a favorite. I was hoping that singing that one today would help in the process of making my heart soft again. But while that didn't happen, I was able to see it emotionally affect many people around me. Regardless, I hope the music helped at least one person today. If it did, all the work we put in was worth it.

Special thanks as always to my family and their support. They are the best.

Until next time, God be with you.