MTC #226 - Hello New Friends!

With retirements happening last Sunday, it was a very happy time for new members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir since today was their first official Music & the Spoken Word broadcast. I did not get to sit right next to any of the new basses, but there were two in the row in front of me, and one in the row in back of me, which gave me the opportunity to see their excitement and feel their anticipation. I remembered back to when I was in their shoes, and part of me longed to be back there again.

Two other things that touched me today. First, some lyrics from "Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise." As everyone is very much aware, we all have hard times and we're all going through at least one hard thing. Life is that way. So when I sang "That glorious rest will then commence" (speaking of Christ's second coming and the thousand years to follow) I just really longed for that rest. I don't feel entirely ready for that event to happen, but some days I don't care too much. I just want it here. Second, as we were singing "God be With You 'Till We Meet Again", at the end, I looked up at the far balcony to see a middle-aged man just wiping his eyes over and over and over again. That made me tear up, and I was reminded, again, that we're always singing for "the one". 

I guess there's one other thing I want to mention. Sometime during each Sunday, I try and actually watch the broadcast via YouTube. I've noticed recently, that videos that were recorded live have a chat window next to them for viewers to comment (maybe this isn't a "new" feature, but one I just noticed). It was pretty cool to read through the first few comments from today's broadcast. Below is a screenshot. It just goes to show how many people around the world are tuning in! (And even tuning in 53 minutes before it actually starts)

The Choir will be recording in a few weeks. I don't think it's been announced to the public exactly what we'll be recording, so I won't say. But I'm really looking forward to owning the eventual CD. I think you will be too :) It'll probably come out sometime next year. Until then, THIS ONE comes out this week and it doesn't disappoint! You can listen to a preview of each track, HERE (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Until next time, God be with you.

Click to enlarge

MTC #225 - 4623 - Closing a Door

The more time I spend in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the harder it is to say goodbye to choir members retiring each April. But today was the day to indeed say that goodbye to 24 fellow brother and sisters who spent anywhere from 5 to 20 years as a musical missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

To recap policy, members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir are asked to serve at least 5 years, minimum, but can continue singing in the Choir until they turn 60 or until they've served 20 years--whichever comes first. It's rather remarkable, when you think about it--serving 20 whole years. That's 1/4th of a typical lifetime! But if you asked any of the retirees today if their service in the Choir felt like a long time, they would most certainly say "no" to that question. Time has a way of passing very quickly, especially when you're engaged in something so rewarding and spiritually fulfilling as singing in the Choir. 

Those retiring were asked to write down a few words (200 or less) recapping their thoughts about, and experiences in, the Choir. Brother Mack Wilberg had each of them come up one by one and then read their words. As I sat there listening to each of the tributes, I kept thinking what I'd want to say if it were my turn to leave. So much has happened in 4 1/2 years already! The more I thought about it, the more grateful I became. The East Coast tour, the European tour, ACDA, eight General Conferences, two Messiah concerts, four Christmas concerts, and over 200 Sunday broadcasts, just to name a few. I suppose if I had been retiring today, I could easily say it's been a very fulfilling experience.

While I didn't know most of the retirees too well, I enjoyed some good conversations with several of them over the years. They are good people who have served well and have impacted millions with their testimony and dedication. It was emotionally difficult to sing "God Be With You" to them, today, at the end of the retirement ceremony as their voices will no longer be heard in the loft, and their smiling faces won't be regularly seen in the underground hallways of the Tabernacle. But I suppose the character, Maria, from The Sound of Music, said it best: "Where the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." 

Until next time, God be with you. And for those who retired, may God be with you during your next journey in life!

PS:  Some shots from today's broadcast featuring some of the men retirees:

MTC #224 - Our Feeble Frame

There was a lyric in one of the songs we sang today that resonated with me. It reminded me of lyrics to other songs we've sang, particularly the well-loved "Come Thou Fount". 

The lyric today was from "Praise My Soul the King of Heaven":
"Father-like He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He knows."

And the one from "Come Thou Fount":
"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love."

The first makes reference to our feeble frame. And regardless of whether we feel confident and strong, spiritually speaking, we are feeble. We lack the ability, innately, to remain spiritually strong--on our own--should we even reach that level in the first place. In a talk my wife gave today, she mentioned the concept of reaching--reaching for your spiritual potential and stretching to maintain it. It takes daily, hourly, work. It's a choice we make over and over and starts and ends with "What do I really want?"

The second describes how we are prone to leave our Savior (which implies we found Him). So it's really the same thing. The natural man in all of us "an enemy to God" so it's always a struggle to keep our spiritual "order" from falling into "disorder". But it's the little choices we make that truly make all of the difference. 

Singing "Praise My Soul" on today's broadcast

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Switching gears, on the near horizon, the Choir has retirements next week (24 choir members are leaving), the new choir members have their first Music & Spoken Word the following week, and then we start extra rehearsals for six recording sessions mid-May. Extra rehearsals then start up for tour preparations, followed by tour in June. 

The train never stops.

Until next time, God be with you.

MTC #223 - Refinement

OK. I admit it. I was a little annoyed during today's pre-broadcast rehearsal. Or maybe it was frustration. Or maybe a combination of both. Either way, I felt as though the choir could not reach the level of perfection that was being expected. We kept stopping, working, reaching, resetting, and once we actually delivered, we fell back again--and again. I was tempted to conclude that maybe we should just settle. Settle for less. But we kept at it, even though it seemed to take forever to arrive at the world of blissful intonation! 

Somewhere along the painful journey, I again realized that there are so many life analogies to draw from this experience. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to get pretty good at something. It may be a hobby, or a skill at work, or loving your neighbor, or listening to a spouse, friend, or child. But once you get pretty good at something, we can't (or shouldn't) stop there! We'd do well to keep going forward and go from "pretty good" to "excellent". 

But oh! How hard it is to make that leap. Even harder than the "pretty good" journey was to begin with! It's ironic because if you apply some mathematics to this, you might label "pretty good" at, say, 80 or 90%. And getting to 90% has definitely taken some effort. But it's the sheer uphill climb we must be willing to undertake in order to move from 90% to 99%--a climb that takes an enormous amount of continual effort and focus. 

In the end though, it makes all the difference. And I think our broadcast today reflected that. 

Until next time, God be with you.

MTC #222 - Mission Accomplished

In the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Handbook, a mission statement is included. It says: 

The mission of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, Temple Square Chorale, Bells on Temple Square and Staff is to serve as goodwill ambassadors for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and, through music, prepare the hearts of members and non-members throughout the world to actively follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I've had the grand opportunity to sing with the Choir for a little over four years now, and during that time, I've participated in nine General Conferences. I feel that for this conference, more than any other, the songs we sang highlighted and enhanced the messages given, and prepared the hearts of church members and church leaders to more fully understand and support the significant announcements that were made. This was most evident during the last session, as we sang "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy", "Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd", "Love One Another", and "Let Us All Press On". The first three of that set perfectly complemented, and spiritually supported, the announcement that home teaching and visiting teaching were now to be replaced with ministering--"a 'new and holier approach' to Christlike caring for others and helping meet their spiritual and temporal needs." (lds.org) The last song, "Let Us All Press On" was a perfect ending to the five sessions of conference as members of the Church now press forward in faith, accepting the announcements and incorporating all of the messages given during the past two days. Singing that song was my personal highlight of conference-- and I found myself wishing I could bottle up all the feelings I was experiencing so I could let them out later in the week as needed!

The men singing "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet"

Other songs complemented other themes, including sustaining a new prophet ("We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet", "Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice"), Easter ("On This Day of Joy and Gladness", "Christ the Lord is Risen Today", "He Sent His Son", "He is Risen", "Jesus Has Risen", "Since by Man Came Death", "Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise"), and increasing testimony of Christ ("Tell Me The Stories of Jesus", "Sweet is the Work", "My Redeemer Lives", "Hallelujah"). 

Through it all, I just felt really grateful, again, that I got to participate in these sessions of conference by singing such beautiful music and helping to prepare hearts (including my own). 

Until next time, God be with you.

 

MTC #221 - The Payoff

There are payoffs for everything.
The payoff for completing a project at work is receiving a "job well done!" (and maybe monetary compensation if you work for a really great company).
The payoff for being a parent is seeing one of your kids succeed at something and remember what you taught them.
The payoff for diligent exercise is more energy and a healthier body.
The list goes on.

The payoff for hours and hours of extra choir rehearsals is performing in a concert. And this time, specifically, The Messiah concert. 

The choir and orchestra, along with four soloists, performed The Messiah this past week and though I wasn't able to enjoy the payoff myself, everyone that I talked to (performers and audience members) said it was a remarkable experience. Congregations all over the world were invited to not only watch the concert via live stream, but to sing along as well. To that end, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provided a downloadable PDF of the score along with instructions for how best to learn the chorus parts. At the time of this writing, the Concert has been viewed over 52K times and the accompanying chat shows people sharing their comments and appreciation from Australia, Chile, Peru, Mexico and various other countries. I think it was a success!

Tyler Nelson, on today's MSW broadcast

The tenor soloist who sang at the concerts, Tyler Nelson, joined the choir and orchestra on the Music & the Spoken Word broadcast today. What an amazing voice! As I wasn't able to participate in the concerts, it really meant a lot to me that I could see him perform today, and could participate in singing "Worthy is the Lamb Who Was Slain"--the powerful grand finale of The Messiah, which was the closing song on the broadcast. I'm thankful for such wonderful music that testifies of Jesus Christ, and particularly thankful for it during this time of the  year that we get to celebrate Easter.

Until next time, God be with you.

 

MTC #220 - Noticing

My View Today

It's been a very long week. I missed choir last Sunday, and then missed it again on Thursday due to a lung infection-- which zapped all my energy and definitely zapped all of my lung capacity. The old familiar saying that goes something like "You don't know what you're missing until you don't have it anymore" rang true on several levels. I couldn't go jogging; going up the stairs or moving too quickly caused me to be out of breath; and almost worst of all was not being able to sing. All of those things were replaced with moving around s  l  o  w  l  y, taking lots of breaks, continually catching my breath, and watching my whirlwind family life just swirl around me and not being able to be a part of it. In fact, my wife had one of her busiest weeks, and all I could do is cheer from the sidelines and wish I could do more to lighten the load. 

Yes, it was frustrating. But in all of my "moving slow" moments, I became thankful for a lot of things that before, I had taken for granted. I mean who, really, thanks God for being able to go up stairs without being winded? I sure hadn't until this past week! 

I went to choir this morning and sat in the balcony observing the choir rehearse and perform. It was nice to just listen, but like always, my heart was wanting to be singing. After the broadcast, I moved over to occupy the last row in the loft ready to try and sing as we moved into rehearsing for our Messiah concert this week. I was partially successful and felt encouraged. But I just didn't have a lot of breath during the sustained notes and realized I'd have to just do my best and be OK with my limitations for now. At least I was able to sing some of the notes.

So I guess the take home message is to be grateful for the little things and the things that you may not notice. I'm thankful for breathing. I'm thankful for breathing deeply. I'm thankful for normally having energy. I'm thankful for exercise. I'm thankful to be a very involved dad who loves working hard at home and with family needs. I'm thankful for singing and for being able to sing with the Motab choir. And I'm thankful for all the many, many people out there who struggle with much harder physical challenges each and every day. My week, or two, or even three, is nothing in comparison with those whose struggles don't ever go away. 

What blessing that you're normally not consciously thankful for, can you think of, (and be thankful for) today?

Until next time, God be with you.