Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Omaha, Nebraska: Home, Home on the Plains The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square continued this year’s memorable tour across the vast, fertile plains of the mid-western U.S. as we traveled to Omaha, Nebraska on the morning of Tuesday, June 23, 2009 for the Choir’s first visit to Omaha since 1967. Long an important transportation center for the U.S., Omaha is the historic home of the Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific was one of the two railroad companies which built the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, linking the U.S. by rail, and culminating in the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit in northern Utah. The Omaha/Council Bluffs area (these two cities are immediately across the Missouri River from one another) is also very historic for the LDS Church. Choir and Orchestra members and guests were able to experience some of this history through visits during the day to the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters and the Western Historic Trails Center. The Kanesville Tabernacle (Click to enlarge). The Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was built in 2½ weeks by 200 Saints in late 1847, to provide a meeting place for a conference held on December 27, 1847 at which Brigham Young was sustained as the second President of the Church. That conference marked the first time in modern Church history that Church membership sustained a First Presidency of the Church. Choir and Orchestra members listen to a presentation inside the Kanesville Tabernacle. (Click to enlarge). At the Mormon Trail Center, Choir and Orchestra members caught a very humbling glimpse of what life was like for thousands of early Church members who spent the winter of 1846-47 encamped here at what they called “Winter Quarters”. The nearby Pioneer Memorial Cemetery is the final resting place of over 400 Saints, many of whom died during the harsh winters from illness, hunger or poor living conditions. Sister Missionaries were delighted to tell Choir and Orchestra members about the Mormon Trail Center. (Click to enlarge). The sanctifying presence of the Winter Quarters LDS Temple located adjacent to the cemetery, is a beautiful and moving tribute to the sacrifice of those early Saints. We have marveled at the faith, courage and strength of our pioneer ancestors who traveled much of the same route of this concert tour on foot, horseback and wagons over weeks and months through muggy, oppressive humid conditions, while we are able to traverse the same route in air-conditioned coaches in a matter of hours. Following our visits to these inspiring Church historic sites, the Choir and Orchestra loaded our buses for the sound check at the Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha, the site of our concert that evening. The Holland Center, completed in 2005, features the Kiewit Concert Hall, a magnificent 2,000 seat concert hall with tremendous acoustics. At the sound check, Music Director Mack Wilberg was anxious to get everything just right for the performance in the beautiful Kiewit Concert Hall. (Click to enlarge). Choir and Orchestra members were delighted to perform in this beautiful hall, the only indoor concert hall in which we would be performing on this tour. All of the concerts on this tour have been wonderful, but what a difference to move from a hot, humid, outdoor venue (Cincinnati), or an enormous indoor arena designed for hockey/basketball (St. Louis and Des Moines) to a modern, state-of-the-art concert hall with outstanding acoustics. The Choir and Orchestra were a spectacular sight on the stage of Kiewit Hall. (Click to enlarge). Combine the genius of a composer/arranger/director like Mack Wilberg, a dedicated, skilled Choir and Orchestra and a modern, acoustic concert hall, and you have the makings of a superb event. That is truly what took place in Omaha. The Choir was inspired by the beauty of our surroundings, and being able to hear one another extremely well! Plus, this was our third performance of our “tour concert”. After working out the “bugs” and memory lapses through two previous performances of our fully memorized tour concert, the Choir has gained more confidence in our memorization, and can truly put our hearts and souls into singing with the spirit. This concert was likely the best so far on this tour. The audience seemed to be generally a more mature audience, and responded with enthusiasm throughout the evening. Afterwards, Victoria Stamm and Alesha Alvis, twin sisters and college English professors from Woodvine, Iowa, said, “This was a dream come true! It was beyond beautiful. Words don’t exist in the English language to describe how incredible this concert was. Thank you for contributing so much to America’s music.” Karen Sarnecki, from Lincoln, Nebraska, expressed, “It was beyond perfection. It was simply precision—not one wrong note or movement, everyone performed so totally together.” Once again, audience smiles warm our hearts. (Click to enlarge). Our guest conductor for this evening’s concert was Chip Davis, the originator, founder and composer of the famous American instrumental group, Mannheim Steamroller. Mr. Davis is a well known, respected resident of Omaha, and was very excited to accept the invitation to guest direct the Choir and Orchestra at tonight’s concert. He told the Choir that he felt deeply honored to have been invited, and that he had been a great fan of the Choir since he sang in a boy’s choir as a young boy. Chip’s enthusiasm was contagious and his ease and musical expertise were evident to all. Guest conductor Chip Davis had a great time conducting "This Land Is Your Land". (Click to enlarge). After our recent visit to Nauvoo, and then today to Winter Quarters and the Pioneer Cemetery, the words of “Come, Come Ye Saints,” sung this evening as part of our concert, took on an especially poignant meaning for us. It has been a long, emotion-filled day, and a very memorable one for the Choir, Orchestra and our guests. We have made many new friends and hope to have left a positive impact on the Omaha area. “God be with you till we meet again.” By: Rob Prince, Bass section