MTC Week #63 - Absence (A Special John Doe Interview)

Thanks for joining me for this little interview with choir member Bro. Ryan Pitt as we explore one of the realities of mortal life and singing in the choir. . .

Q: So you were marked absent for Thursday's rehearsal and Sunday's performance. What happened?
A: Well, as what happens to all choir members at one point or another, I was out sick.

Q: Sorry to hear that. Are you feeling better?
A: Thanks for asking! Yes, yes I am...Certainly on the uphill.

Q: Do you plan to get back on schedule this week?
A: Indeed, that is the plan. 

Q: I'm sure the choir missed you. What happens when choir members are out sick or otherwise are gone for whatever reason?
A: LOL. I'm not sure the choir missed me per se. There are over 400 of us. And one of the reasons there are that many is so that when people are out, the choir can still function and carry on in its mission. The reality though, is that even though you're not missed from a numbers perspective, you are missed because of the individual contribution you make to the whole. Your talent, your testimony, your preparation, your prayers for other choir members and those who listen each week--all of these things are important for the choir to achieve its mission.

Q: What is your attendance requirement anyway?
A: We're asked to be in attendance for at least 80% of the rehearsals and performances. Each section leader in the choir takes roll at the beginning of rehearsals and the results are handed in each time. Even being late is noted in the roll. Six tardies turn into one absence. That all said, our choir handbook says it best: "Choir leaders have indicated on numerous occasions that 100% attendance is not expected of anyone. There will be times when your family needs you or something else arises. Serve in your Choir calling with commitment, but always put first things first."

Q: If you're just not feeling quite up to par but still feel good enough to go to choir, what are your options?
A: You can go and sit in one of the designated places to observe the choir (and even sing too, if you feel up to it). Taking this option will give you attendance credit.

Q: Having not missed very many rehearsals or performances during the 15 months you've been in the choir, how did you feel this week?
A: Well, I felt a lot of things. Physically of course, I wasn't feeling well. Emotionally though, I was very sad not to be there. Singing with the choir has become an important part of my life and something I look forward to each week. I kept looking at my watch on Thursday night and this morning, thinking about what the choir was doing. In fact this morning, I happened to look at the clock right at 9:30 and I thought "Here they go! They are right in the middle of singing "Gently Raise the Sacred Strain" and will soon be getting into the prepared repertoire (with special guests, the BYU Singers)." So yeah...it was hard. But I did try to take advantage of my time away by getting my health back and helping with the family when I could. AND, as you probably know, you really appreciate something a lot more when you suddenly don't have it. 

Q: So DID anyone notice (aside from the roll taker) that you were gone?
A: I'm sure some did. A couple of my fellow bass friends even texted to say they missed me and to give their "Get well soon!" well-wishes. So I really appreciated that. It always feels good to know you're missed!

Q: Thanks for this little interview Bro. Pitt. It's been insightful. Any parting words before we end?
A: Thanks Bro. John Doe. I don't think so, other than God be with you 'till we meet again!

MTC Week #62 - Taking a Breath

Given the incredible week we had last week, and the months leading up to last week, this week the choir finally had a chance to "catch its breath". 

For us 2nd-years, we went back to Tuesday night rehearsals with the Chorale, learning Mozart's "Requiem". We hadn't rehearsed if for a month-- so we were glad to get back into such a magnificent piece and start learning it in more earnest. It was good, too, to see and talk to the 1st-years again after a month of really not seeing them too much. About mid-way through, Ryan Murphy opened the floor up to anyone wanting to share any joys or concerns as he usually does Tuesday nights. Most of the comments centered around the spiritual experiences choir/chorale members had during ACDA week. It was a treat to listen to these experiences that further testified of how much impact the events of last week had on so many people. It made me think of this scripture.

Thursday night was a typical rehearsal aside from many choir members being absent. We rehearsed music for the broadcast this morning and just enjoyed doing it in a little less pressured atmosphere :)  In a very uncharacteristic move, Mack made us a little deal. He said if we sang what would become the last song of the evening, in tune, he'd let us go early. So everyone didn't hesitate to do so and we were indeed finished at 9:00. (I just think he recognized how tired we still were, but also just wanted to thank us for all we did recently.)

Aside from everyone being a little sleepy from the time change, the broadcast went without a hitch this morning. I can't say that any one song really made an impression on me enough to expound on it here. But I was just simply glad to be there, doing what I love and praying that those listening today would be uplifted in some way. 

From today's broadcast (3/8/15)

Until next time, God be with you!

MTC Week #61 - Blessings of ACDA Concert Week

What a remarkable week it's been. I sit here somewhat in a daze as to how to describe and document it all. The emotion I'm feeling the most, as I reflect upon the experiences I had, is simply "blessed". 

As a way to expound on that feeling, I'll stick with the tradition I started a few concerts ago, and give you my ACDA Concert Week TOP TEN (in no particular order).

10) I felt blessed to realize the miracle of being able to memorize 26 pieces of music. Such memorization started months ago--from sitting in my office singing along to the practice tracks, to going over them in my head while exercising, to singing them in the car. Preparing and praying DO give way to great blessings. And having the songs memorized gave way to being able to concentrate on the meaning of the words I sang.

9) I felt blessed to hear Bro. Wilberg talk about how much these performances meant to him. He's known about this ACDA opportunity for years now and has been preparing for that long to put together the perfect set of memorable and unique concerts. He likened these concerts to the Olympics--and how there was virtually no margin of error if we wanted to seize the gold. 

8) I felt blessed to witness the wonder and results of the first concert we performed--Tues, Thur, and Fri nights. The repertoire was completely devoted to praising God and his son Jesus Christ and was markedly sacred in nature. The emotions coming out of these songs--particularly when experienced in a continuous flowing rendition as it was presented-- was indescribable. 

7) I felt blessed to take a little time after the Friday concert to really process the

ACDA attendees waiting for
the doors to open

experience. I credit a good friend and fellow choir member for suggesting that we take a few minutes and simply think upon what just occurred. Quiet, reflective moments can be priceless.

6) I felt blessed to hear what others (choir members and ACDA attendees) were saying about their experiences. I quote some here: 

"My heart is still shaking with joy. There are not words to express the gratitude I feel for what we've just experienced. It was transcendent, powerful, and spiritual."

"This week will rank pretty high in my tenure with the ‪‎MoTab‬. [Thanks] to our beloved director Mack who said all along that we could do it and pushed us to a higher musical plane--and mostly getting us there to allow the 10% to kick in. It really happened!"

"Last evening I attended the most awe-inspiring music event ever in my life… and I’ve been around awhile and have attended many such music performances. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, orchestra & bell ringers presented 75 minutes of uninterrupted musical oratory that was mind-blowing & soul-soaring in content, presentation & impact. I truly did not want them to stop when it was over. The flawless spiritual connection between the huge choir, the orchestra & bell-ringers in the balconies on both sides of the Tabernacle stage (with its almost overwhelming soaring organ-pipes assemblage), is testimony to the impressive talents of the performers & especially the unsurpassed creative & obviously inspired capabilities of the conductor/director." 

"Mack had us memorize nearly 30 pieces of music for this week, and even though I felt that I was unprepared and completely exhausted, the words and energy always came right when I needed them. I've learned what it feels like to have angels singing among us."

"Seriously- this was the best National Conference I have been to. Last night's Mo Tab concert was Exquisite! Almost converted me!" 

"Singing with thousands of kids, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Santino Fontana was so amazing. It blows my mind that I got to experience something so special." 

5) I felt blessed to sing next to the individuals I did. It's hard to describe how much it adds to the overall experience when you're standing next to someone who you know loves and appreciates you. 

From today's broadcast

4) I felt blessed to end this great week by being part of Music and the Spoken Word with special guests, the King's Singers. The pieces they sang were nearly flawless but what I'll remember the most was when we had them turn to face us at the end to sing "God Be With You". As their faces started to quiver and their eyes became moist, I knew the Spirit was speaking love and truth to their hearts. What great individuals!

3) I felt blessed to see all of the honor choirs in attendance at our 

Rehearsing the final piece for Saturday's concert

concert Saturday night. There were children's choirs, middle school and high school choirs, and college/adult choirs as well. We were able to sing the last song of the concert with all of them and it was a sight to behold! I can't imagine how it felt to be Bro. Wilberg in directing such a large group. I thought, too, afterwards, that surely most of the kids in these choirs will never forget this experience. And hopefully what they don't forget most of all, are the FEELINGS they felt.

2) I felt blessed when the ACDA executive announced that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was being inducted into the American Classical Hall of Fame.

President Jarrett receiving the Hall of Fame Award

While presenting the award to the Choir's president, he said “This remarkable ensemble of 360 volunteers has inspired generations of choral conductors such as you and me through concerts, recordings, broadcasts, tours and prestigious appearances at world’s fairs and U.S. presidential inaugurations. Together with the Orchestra at Temple Square, they continue to inspire us with their work.”

1) I felt blessed knowing how much support my wife and kids have given me over the past few months in preparing for this. Life for us lately has reached a crescendo and me being gone so much has been difficult. Thank you Jennifer. I love you. And thank you Rebekah, Joshua, Lydia, Sarah, and Matthias. You guys are the best!

Until next time, God be with you!

Special thanks to all of those who contributed to this blog (pics & comments from Facebook posts)

MTC Week #60 - Mimicking the Starlings

For me, one of the most interesting birds to watch is the Starling. When they fly together, they are a spectacle of precision and grace. As one author noted, the Starlings "often fly at speeds of 40 miles or more per hour, and in a dense group, the space between them may be only a bit more than their body length. Yet they can make astonishingly sharp turns that appear, to the unaided eye, to be conducted entirely in unison."

The author goes on to reveal how they can fly so close together and with such precision:  "What’s really nifty about this spatial asymmetry is that the researchers have been able to use it to calculate the number of neighbors to which each starling pays close attention. By looking at correlations between the movements of neighboring starlings, they can show that each bird always pays attention to the same number of neighbors, whether they’re closer or farther away." (Peter Friederici; audubon.org)

As these birds work together in such unison, they are able to avoid predators and enjoy other benefits that come through working as a group. In essence, they succeed because they rely on each other, protect one another, and trust one another.  

(And the patterns they make in the sky as a result are really quite magnificent)

Many of these starling characteristics can be applied to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We really do rely on each other to be successful singers. Just as the starlings, we pay very close attention to those all around us (and especially to those in close proximity) and if we have a moment of memory failure, we are very quick to listen and adapt. During rehearsal, if there is some dispute what the note or word should be, we look to those around us who we can trust to settle the matter. During a live performance, if we come to a place in the music where we're not sure whether to move up or down in pitch, or aren't sure of a certain word that comes next, we take what we hear and in that split 10th of a second, make an adjustment if needs be. Yes, it would be great if we all knew our parts 100% of the time. And believe me, we try. But sometimes we're bound to have one of those moments of indecision and because of the trust we have in those around us, we're able to follow them and thus protect the overall sound of the choir.  

As we march into ACDA Concert week, I think the group mentality is that we are very excited. We've worked hard, spent countless hours memorizing, and we're ready to project great sounds and heartfelt testimony to those who will listen and participate. In going through a surprise run-through this past Thursday, it was magical (as it always is) to see how all the songs fit together. But it was also fulfilling to realize that yes, all that memorizing has paid off! 

What should the audience hope to get from these concerts?

As a fellow bass and friend, Ryan Bateman, put it:  "This concert will be unlike anything we've done before. It will be a transcendent musical journey for the soul." 

Amen.

And may I add, in reference to our friends, the starlings, the resulting "pattern in the sky" so to speak, will be magnificent!

Until next time, God be with you.

MTC Week #59 - What It Is

Typically I have something come into my mind each week that I build my blog post around. But this week I've just been so buried in memorizing that I haven't really thought of much else in regards to my experience with this great choir. I finally printed off the listing of pieces that we'll be singing next week and went through them one by one--putting an "X" next to the ones I know well, an "O" next to the ones that I kind of know, and a STAR next to the ones I don't know very well at all. I needed to do this so I could bring some order to the chaos, and hopefully help me see that I'm further along than perhaps I thought I was. 

Thankfully the Xs and Os exceeded the stars! 

So I pulled out those I put stars next to and went to work this week trying to get them down. Some days it was an hour, some 1/2 hr, and some just a few minutes. I played the rehearsal tracks while working and while in the car too. One day I just needed a break. So I put all the music away and tried to clear my head and make room for other things since, despite the calling of being in the choir, life outside the Tabernacle marches on and needs my attention and focus (I can hear my wife and kids agreeing with that statement!).

This morning for the Music & the Spoken Word broadcast, all pieces were to be memorized (as was the case last week and will be the case next week). Of particular importance was "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" and "Hymn of Praise". It doesn't happen very often that you see senior members of the choir looking over their music minutes before the broadcast begins. But today was one of those days. I think there are more words in "Hymn of Praise" than any other 5 min song I've sung. And unless you are thinking one phrase ahead all the time, you're likely to miss words here and there because they go by so quickly. The biggest reason why "Hymn of Praise" was being memorized all over again for the non-newbies is because half the words had changed since they had sung it last. I guess composers and lyricists have the right to do that (Mack Wilberg & David Warner)!

Anyway, it all turned out well this morning. I think I got most of the words and most of the basses around me did as well. Plus, Mack gave us two thumbs up after the broadcast, meaning we did very well. Aside from it sounding well from a technical and lyrical standpoint, I was really impacted by the "Love Divine..." song. Tears weren't far away for that one. I kept thinking that surely someone out there listening would really be touched by this song today.

I end today with a paragraph from the Spoken Word portion of today's program (compliments of Lloyd Newell). Mainly because I really believe this theme of LOVE is one of the most important of them all. 

"Those three words "I love you" are perhaps the most important words in our language. Of course, they mean something only if they are backed up by authenticity and actions. But the words themselves are important too. So many people go through the day or week or even the year and rarely hear those three simple words. We all need to know that we are loved, that we matter to someone, that we have a place in another's heart. This is what gives us confidence to face the cold world; it is what makes us feel alive.

"Tell someone, 'I love you' today."

Singing "Hymn of Praise" (2/15/15)

Until next time, God be with you!

MTC Week #58 - Hill #3

The summer before my senior year in high school, I trained with the Viewmont Cross Country team. I had been running on my own for years previous, but a good friend of mine was on the team and I thought it would be fun to be on it with him. The training was rigorous, long, and demanding and there were plenty of moments I felt discouraged. Most on the team had been on the team for years and could run faster and run longer. 

Thankfully, the Lord helped me keep it all in perspective and the thought came to me that I should just set a goal to improve each and every race--even if it were only by a few seconds. So that became my focus. 

My second race that season was one of the hardest experiences I had gone through in my life up to that point. I had been warned beforehand that the course was was full of lots of twists, turns, and HILLS. Add 90 degree weather to that reality and things were looking rather grim. 

The gun sounded and we were off! With what seemed like hundreds of people in

front of me, I found my pace and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I made it up hill #1 but my pace slowed as I tried to get more oxygen. I barely made it up hill #2, and by the time I got to hill #3 I was just about to keel over. Hill #3 was near the end of the course and after I descended, I was nearly without hope. But, looking up, I saw the bleachers and the oblong race track which served as the finish line and I was determined to keep going. 

I didn't know, though, how I was going to get there.

As I somehow made it to the track, I saw my coach off in the near distance. He looked at me and knew I was struggling. He motioned for me to keep going. Looking back now, I think "Why, with all of the other team members racing, did he focus on me?". But he did. And that was what willed me forward. 

As I crossed the finish line, I collapsed right into his arms. I remember looking up and seeing a big smile on his face. And amidst the gasps for more air, and the tears of weariness I realized I had made it. I had done a hard thing. And I was grateful for a coach who knew I could. 

As the choir continues to prepare for ACDA, memorizing 26 songs, I feel kind of like I'm in that race again. The seasoned singers know many of them already, but even they are feeling the pinch. One commented "It's daunting. I can't imagine what it's like for you newbies." 

Umm....yep! Exactly.

But newbies and seasoned singers alike, I know we'll get there. These next two weeks are going to be like hill #3 and the final stretch to the finish line. While we don't necessarily have a coach waiting for us at the end (though Bro. Wilberg and Bro. Murphy will certainly be smiling as we make it to these concerts having prepared well), we realize, rather, that God is helping us every step of the way. Note by note, lyric by lyric, rhythm by rhythm. 

I remember a week after running that cross country race, having a feeling like I wanted to do it again. How can that be?!, I wondered. I almost died! But accomplishing hard things feels good. It's all worth it. 

President Spencer W. Kimball once said: “There are great challenges ahead of us, giant opportunities to be met. I welcome that exciting prospect and feel to say to the Lord, humbly, ‘Give me this mountain,’ give me these challenges.”

So with the excitement of that quote, I say:  OK hill #3. We're ready for you!  

Until next week, God be with you.

MTC Week #57 - Connecting with Emotion

The Giver: Just like music, there's something else you can't see with your eyes. Something that's deep inside you:  emotions.
Jonas: You mean, like "feelings"?

The Giver: Feelings are just fleeting--on the surface. But emotions, they are very deep. Primal. They linger. Jonas, you might not understand where you are or what is happening, but don't think about what you are seeing. Listen. Listen to what's calling inside!

(from the 2014 film, THE GIVER)

An interesting aspect of our humanity is how we influence others and let others influence us--through emotions. Such emotions find their way to the surface in various ways--through conversation, through experiences, through anticipation, and through various modes of expression, such as music.

Choir this past week was full of connecting with that emotion.

At Chorale every Tuesday, after we have been rehearsing for awhile, Ryan

Murphy pauses for 5 minutes for what is called "Joys and Concerns". This is a time when choir members can share joys they've experienced or concerns/trials they are having. Personally, I must admit that I found this weekly ritual both interesting and perplexing. I kept thinking "We all know probably less than 10% of the people in this room. So why would anyone want to open up and risk sharing personal feelings?" After awhile however, I gained respect for what this ritual was trying to accomplish and for the people who chose to participate each week. 

Individuals stood up and told of sons or daughter getting called on missions; of anniversaries being celebrated; of those who were just diagnosed with cancer or other life-threatening diseases and needed prayers; of getting promotions at work. There were the funny joys of having a car heater finally fixed so journeying to the Tabernacle each week could be more enjoyable. And there were some very open concerns shared--one who shared it was his goal to lose weight, or one hoping to conceive after years of not. As I listened and connected with the emotions being expressed, I realized the importance of "Joys and Concerns": such sharing helps us connect with others and helps us love them. Which in turn helps unite us as missionary choir members. 

And as human beings.
===============

Emotions seem to be running high with ACDA on the near horizon. Our beloved directors are, shall I say, a little stressed out. And understandably so. (For all of you who may not appreciate what performing at ACDA is all about, it's like having all of the best football coaches come together to watch YOU play with reporters ready to call out your best--or not so best--plays). As they strive to help us sing the very best we can sing, we as choir members are faced with the continual opportunity to connect with that emotion being expressed and let it work within us for our good. In so doing, our hard work will lead to musical excellence and a feeling of confidence as we perform at these ACDA concerts. More importantly, we'll be prepared to change lives and influence those who listen. They'll connect with us, and us with them.
===============

Speaking of emotions, I did want to make mention of one of the pieces we sang today. It has a rather plain title: "Psalm 148". Most of those who are familiar with Christian music would recognize it's tune as "All Creatures of Our God and King". But there's just something about the notes and the arrangement and the words (which, by the way, don't follow the lyrics of "All Creatures..."). This piece is heavenly and wonderful and very much worth connecting to emotionally. As the last note is sung and Bro. Wilberg motions for us to cut off, the notes we had been singing just reverberate through the Tabernacle. It's simply amazing. 


Until next time, God be with you!

Singing "Psalm 148".