TCATS #438 - The Piano Guys

The Piano Guys joined us as guest performers on today's Music & the Spoken Word broadcast. It was truly nice to have them. I think very highly of both Jon and Steven and the great music they share with the world. Seeing them perform brought back some Christmas related memories for me personally since my wife and I, along with several of my siblings and my parents used to get tickets every year to Jon's Christmas show at Kingsbury Hall. Each show he'd delight us with his amazing piano skills and, invariably, he'd have his good friend Steven Sharp Nelson as a guest on the show to share his amazing skills on the cello. Of course that Jon Schmidt Christmas show ended as soon as The Piano Guys became "a thing" and Jon's gone on to enjoy a much wider audience with Steven and the other two members of the group, Paul Anderson and Al van der Beek.

One thing, among many, that impressed me as I observed them both on Thursday night and this morning, was their devotion to God. In the remarks they made at rehearsal and then publicly as part of the Spoken Word portion of the program today, they are always very quick to thank God for their talents and for being able to share their music with others. They are also very quick to ask for God's help before any rehearsal or performance. This was exemplified on Thursday when they came on stage to rehearse the first piece. Minutes before that, the Choir had opened the rehearsal in prayer as we normally do. But as Jon and Steven weren't there for that portion, they didn't know we had prayed. So, after only a minute or so into the rehearsal, Jon piped up and asked Mack Wilberg if we had said a prayer yet. And after Mack assured him that we had, the rehearsal resumed. It reminded me of a scripture from the Book of Mormon that says "...ye must pray always, and...not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." (and, if I may add, the welfare of others)

A couple of behind-the-scenes comments from Thursday's rehearsal and today's performance:

First, when Jon and Steven were being officially introduced to us Thursday, each of them took a couple of minutes to say a few words. Steven focused on how one of our main goals should be to fill the "music listening space" with wholesome music that the youth can latch onto instead of them listening to much of the popular music today that's explicit in nature (he cited the fact that on Spotify last year, 14 of the top 20 streamed songs had explicit lyrics). While I don't think that the youth out there will start listening (or listen more) to the Tabernacle Choir or The Piano Guys, the message of producing more wholesome content is definitely a good one.

Second, we had lots of people show up today. They filled the entire main floor of the Conference Center and started filling up various sections of the 2nd floor Terrance as well. I got the sense that several who showed up thought that perhaps The Piano Guys would be featured more on the program--as if they'd be performing sort of a mini-concert. While I think it would have been cool for Jon and Steven to maybe do a few numbers themselves after the broadcast for the audience's sake (since the broadcast can't go longer than 30 min), that's not what happened. That said, I hope they focused on what was in front of them: 30 minutes to feel and hear heaven inspired music.

Third, following the broadcast, the audience was invited to stay if they wanted, to watch us record the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.  Apparently at some future point in time, The Piano Guys will be releasing a video that shows them performing the Hallelujah Chorus (on piano and cello of course) and also shows The Tabernacle Choir somehow intermixed with that performance. I'm not sure how the end result will turn out, but knowing The Piano Guys, I'm sure it'll be very cool.

Fourth, the morning ended with Rick Elliott and Jon Schmidt performing a duet of the song "Waterfall"--which is actually one of Jon's signature songs he plays (or used to at his concerts). While I felt like the organ sort of dominated the duet, it was a pretty cool performance. I've always loved that song.

As for me and my current Choir journey, I felt fairly neutral this week. Which is actually an improvement. So I'll take it. While there aren't a lot of unusual or out-of-the-ordinary Choir performances coming up, I'm going to try my best to find whatever magic is in them.

Until next time, God be with you.

 

TCATS #437 - Reclaiming What's Been Lost

For any of you who have followed my blog for at least the past year or so, it should come as no surprise for me to admit that I've had plenty of Ryan-Choir relationship challenges. For most of the pandemic, I was soooo wanting to get back to Choir to do what I loved (sing uplifting music that inspires others). But for almost two years, that never happened and my longing was in vain. It was a terribly difficult time. Then, at long last, we started up again near the end of September! But it was not a normal start-up. No, it came with covid protocols a-plenty. Which, at least for me, completely obliterated any joy I once felt singing with the choir and turned my two year longings into frustrated lamenting. It's true that at some point those covid protocols were nullified and the Choir resumed "normal" operations. But I personally never quite recovered from it all. My varying negative emotions felt during those still-in-covid-but-singing-anyway months persisted. Yes, there were moments I was able to break out of those emotions and feel a level of peace and gratitude while fulfilling my musical missionary calling. And I'm grateful for those moments. But most of the choir train ride I was on, and still am on, was on the bottom of the valley floors instead of traversing through scenic and beautiful mountain vistas.

While going through all of this, I've been really trying hard to adjust my attitude, to "reinvent" my excitement, to look at oft-repeated songs with fresh eyes, and to remember all of the people out there who are deeply moved & impacted by the product the Choir produces. I feel, though, like a yo-yo that occasionally moves upwards along the winding string but just doesn't have enough momentum to make it clear to the top (and then ends up at the end of the string...spinning, but not going anywhere). I've become too critical, too discontent, and too infatuated with a hope that the Choir will be propelled on this new and exciting trajectory. A trajectory that really only exists in my head. 

How silly of me. 

The formula the Choir has prescribed to for the past 90+ years has "worked". And by most measurements (number of streams, number of YouTube views, etc), the formula continues to work. Some could even argue that the slightly modified formula has taken success to a whole new level. And I would agree that the modifications have indeed helped (using the teleprompter so that viewers can look into our eyes more, finally ditching CDs and embracing streaming platforms, involving choir members more in concert narration--to name a few). So why can't I be content and excited with these improvements and finally recapture the joy I once felt? Why can't I be like the new members of the Choir who are all smiles even when they spend ten hours outside of rehearsals to learn music they are unfamiliar with? Or heck, why can't I be like Choir members who have been in Choir as long as I have and STILL dutifully rehearse on their own time during the week, and who come with bright happy attitudes and who love what they do?

It's got to be me. All me. There is no one else to blame.

I think my goal at this point is to see how the rest of this year goes and then perhaps do some serious re-evaluating. Maybe it's time. Maybe it's time to go quietly into the night. I hope not. But if I can't reclaim what's been lost, the Choir organization would have absolutely no problem replacing me with someone who isn't struggling to reclaim anything. Someone who truly loves to be there. Someone who's smile is completely genuine. And someone who will gladly and wholeheartedly work hard to let his musical testimony shine forth into the hearts of those waiting to receive it. 

How I long to be that person again.

Until next time, God be with you.

TCATS #436 - Surprise Visit + Recognizing Ukraine

To be honest, I was in one of those slumps this week. The songs we sang were nice but most we had sung many, many times before. I was looking for change, something new, something exciting. And yes, I know Choir is not about me. I should always put my personal satisfaction way below the needs of our listeners. And yes, I typically believe that with the right attitude, anything can be great. But I'm sorry...none of that was working for me this week. Call me mortal...call me lazy...call me whatever you'd like. But I did not have it in me to be that choir member--the kind who's excited, so thankful, and incredibly thrilled to be there!

But, there are a few things that touched my heart and I'd like to share them with you.

First, near the end of the rehearsal on Thursday night, Mack mentioned there was a surprise. And as he sort of backed away from the podium, up came none other than Kristin Chenoweth. Her comments were brief, but basically she mentioned she is currently working on improving her relationship with God and wanting to listen to Him more and she said that there were few places she could think of that would help her do that better than being with the Tabernacle Choir. So, she took a chair down in the audience seats and spent time just listening to us rehearse. Granted she kept having to greet various people who wanted to come up to her and say hello, but she did get some time to focus on the music. On Sunday, she attended the broadcast and was much more able to hone in on the music. 

I think it's pretty cool that she chose, out of all the places she could have chose, to spend some time with Tabernacle Choir--all in an effort to improve her spirituality and her relationship with the Divine. I sincerely hope she received what she hoped to receive.

Second, on Sunday right before the broadcast started, Lloyd Newell introduced several guests in the audience who had come to listen to Music & the Spoken Word. Of note was the official National Curling Team of Ukraine who was using some of the facilities in the SLC area to train on. Everyone stood and gave them a round of applause. Then, after the broadcast was over, one of our organists Andrew Unsworth, played a personally arranged version of Ukraine's national anthem. It was very touching and several choir members around me had tears come to their eyes just thinking of what these Ukranians, their country, and their loved ones, have been through given the ongoing war there. 

Third, during one of the songs today--one that I didn't expect to really touch me personally--I felt a very comforting warm feeling as I honed in on the lyrics "Pray, He is there. Speak, He is listening. You are His child, His love now surrounds you." Was grateful for that. 

Soooo....all in all, despite my initial unenthusiastic mood, I'm grateful for how things played out. Whether this mood continues, I can't say. But for today, I'll take what was given me and go with it.

Until next time, God be with you.