Reflections on 20 Years with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir 20 years! Who would have thought anyone would spend that much time in one calling in the Church? Aside from a few General Authorities, that is something unheard of today. But there it is! After an inauspicious beginning on Thursday, January 16, 1986, I have managed to remain an active member of the world renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir, completing 20 plus years of service on Sunday, June 11, 2006. During this remarkable period I have participated in the solemn assemblies of three Presidents of the Church (Benson, Hunter and Hinckley); sung in the 3,000th and 4,000th broadcasts, not to mention the 60th and 75th anniversary broadcasts; sung at the Bicentennial Presidential Inauguration; witnessed first-hand the rededication of the Nauvoo Temple; joined with the Choir in singing for literally billions during the Opening Ceremony of the 19th Winter Olympics; toured Europe, the former Soviet Union, Australia and New Zealand and many of the United States; sung at the Garden Tomb at Jerusalem; and performed with the likes of countless celebrities from the respected newscaster Walter Cronkite to television actress Angela Lansbury, from pop icon Sting to Motown maven Gladys Knight, and from renown composer John Williams to renown diva Renée Fleming. Thanks to the encouragement, kindness and support of my dear friends Scot and Maurine Proctor, and my colleague Robb Cundick of the Choir, I hope to briefly chronicle what has not only been a unique chapter in my life, but the amazing opportunity I have had to take part in such an unheralded chapter in the history of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. My Beginnings with the Choir You’ve probably heard it before – so many saying they’ve always wanted to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Not so with me. During my high school and early years at college, I really didn’t have an interest in joining the Choir. However, during my mission to Korea (1975-1977), I began to have a change of heart. Then while finishing a degree at BYU, I served as an officer in the Oratorio Choir under Ron Staheli. During that time the choirs at BYU were invited to participate in General Conference. To prepare for the occasion, we thought it would be nice to invite Dr. Jerold Ottley, then music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and his wife JoAnn to come to BYU and give a fireside to the choral students about what to expect with their experience at General Conference. Because of my role as an officer in the Oratorio Choir, I was to be the liaison with Jerry and JoAnn to see they got where they needed to be while at BYU. It was a wonderful opportunity and I was particularly struck by the personable and humble countenance he and his wife carried. This was a person I wanted to get to know better. Then in the mid '80s, I heard about a concert being planned for the Tabernacle where the Choir would be performing with the famous Air Force Singing Sergeants. I had heard so much about the Singing Sergeants that I just could not pass up the opportunity. So I got myself a date and went. And though I was thrilled to hear the Singing Sergeants (who at that time were under the direction of Captain Craig Jessop – how ironic), I was absolutely stunned, amazed and blown away with the performance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. From that point on, my goal was to join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir when the opportunity afforded itself. Such opportunity came just following my 30th birthday in 1985. Back then you could not even call the Choir office for an audition until you were 30, as opposed to 25 today. The audition process hasn’t changed much since then. It is still at times nerve-racking and just a wee bit intimidating. I filled out an application, got my bishop’s recommendation, and began the process. And as fate would have it – or should I say, as intended by the Lord from the beginning – I made it through, an opening in the 2nd Tenor section of the Choir was available, and I received my letter congratulating me on my call as a musical missionary and a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the late fall of 1985. Little did I know what remarkable experiences awaited me. The Rigors of the Choir Being a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir can be both exhilarating and exhausting. And it is always time-consuming. During the course of a normal week, you could expect to spend an average of 5½ hours in Choir related activities (Thursday evening rehearsals and Sunday broadcasts). And that doesn’t include the commute time. Then there are the extra rehearsals to prepare for concerts, recordings and tours. They swallow up a good deal of the Tuesdays and quite a few extended rehearsals following a broadcast on Sundays. And then there are the events themselves, many occupying Friday and Saturday evenings, and plenty of Wednesdays, too. In fact, where the extra activities in the past would be the exception, in recent years with the demands on the Choir increasing so dramatically, it has become the norm. Case in point: during 2002, the Choir had the distinct honor of participating in the Opening Ceremony for the 19th Olympic Winter Games that were held in Salt Lake City. In conjunction with the Olympics, the Choir also scheduled a series of concerts in the Tabernacle with John Williams, Frederica Von Stade, the King’s Singers, clarinetist Richard Stoltzman and percussionist Evelyn Glennie as guest artists. On top of that, the Choir also had an active role in the Church’s contribution to the Olympics, “Light of the World” – a pageant-like presentation done in the Conference Center. Each of these events had its own music with its own rehearsal schedule running up to the Games. And when the Olympics finally came in February, the Choir was in Salt Lake City every day of the month with the exception of four days (and all but 8 of the 31 days in January). The only way to make it work was to imagine that the Olympic experience was akin to a major (and I mean MAJOR) Choir tour. But we made it and performed in four concerts to some 30,000 people in the Tabernacle, around a half-million in the Conference Center, and millions and perhaps even billions on live TV during the Opening Ceremony. What an opportunity for not just the Choir but for the Church as well. And though grueling, the ordeal was met with grit and all in the Choir were humbled by and grateful for the experience. But the ones to put up with the most during such times are not the Choir members themselves, regardless of how trying the schedule might be, but our families, who sacrifice much for us to be in the Choir. For me, this was particularly unique. I entered the Choir as a single in 1986. Two years later through a blind date, I met my future bride, Denise. After a lengthy courtship of all of three weeks, we were engaged in February of 1988 and married Memorial Day weekend of that year, 2½ weeks before the Mormon Tabernacle Choir left for a tour to the South Pacific (Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia). Not too many people can say that they went on their honeymoon with 350 of their closest friends – but that we did. It was a choice experience for both Denise and I and one we will long cherish. Needless to say, we were known as the “honeymoon” couple on the tour and had our fair share of ribbing and teasing during the three week excursion. In fact, one of our close friends that sang in the Choir at the time commented to us that if we could survive a Choir tour together, our marriage was destined to last forever. Well, survive we did and our marriage has as well. Since I was married while a member of the Choir, our children, Michael, Kevin, and Amy, have only known Dad in the Choir. For those in the Choir with young families, being away so much can be trying. You miss a lot of events – first words, first steps, bumps and bruises, activities, parent/teacher conferences, music lessons, practices, games, school concerts, and so on and so forth. It also means that Dad isn’t there a lot when Mom has to get kids ready for and go to church. In fact, when your ward meeting schedule switches to an early hour you become unofficially “inactive” and your spouse a choir widow. In our current ward Denise related how once while on such a schedule someone came up to her thinking she was a single parent or widowed to express her admiration of how Denise faithfully comes to every meeting. It does become a source of much fun at times. And in many instances, the Lord has been a great help and protector of Denise and the kids while I have attended to my Choir responsibilities. One such experience occurred on a Saturday during an October General Conference a few years ago. Of course, I was in Salt Lake to fulfill my responsibility with the Choir. In addition, I had to stay the day because the men of the Choir were also scheduled to sing during the Priesthood session that evening. As with every time the Choir meets, the formal rehearsal begins with a prayer offered by a member of the Choir. I was particularly impressed with the prayer that morning as the individual invoked the protective care of the Spirit on our families as we fulfilled our calls during General Conference. Little did I realize how important that inspired prayer would be for my family on that day. After the morning session I got a quick bite to eat at the mall in Salt Lake and returned to the Little Theatre in the Conference Center to enjoy the afternoon session of Conference before we had to return to the Choir loft to prepare for the Priesthood session. Early during that afternoon session I was approached by another member of the Choir who informed me I was wanted on the phone at the Conference Center Ticket Office. Surprised, I went with him to the ticket office and answered the phone. It was Denise. She was a bit distraught. She needed information about our insurance, which we had just changed that week and I had in my car. When I asked why, she said while she and the children were traveling home on I-15 following a touch football game of Kevin’s, the right rear passenger window of our van had been shot, apparently by a pellet gun fired by some teens and a young adult as a prank. The pellet hit the window right next to where Kevin was sitting and completely blew it out. Fortunately, no one was hurt. It was an answer to that morning prayer by a faithful Choir member that my family was not seriously injured that Conference weekend. Then there is the music . . . and music, and music and more music! It has been estimated that during the course of any given year the Choir will see approximately 350 individual pieces of music, from sacred to secular – classical to contemporary. During the course of time much of it becomes memorized, either by force or by fate. That aspect has changed significantly as well during the 20 years of my tenure. Originally, pieces were rarely if ever memorized, generally a couple for a concert – although there were always four that had to be memorized from the moment you entered the Choir – “God Be With You”, “Come, Come Ye Saints” (first the Cornwall arrangement, but more recently, Mack Wilberg’s), Malotte’s “The Lord’s Prayer”, and of course “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” But in the last half-dozen years, the memorization requirements have increased substantially; and for good reason. With songs memorized, the ability of the director to better mold the Choir into a fluid instrument that is responsive to the nuances and unique characteristics of a given piece is greatly improved, thus enhancing the edification to both the performer and the listener (D&C 50:13-22). There’s only so much that one can do in a short period to prepare music for the weekly broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word, especially with all the other demands on the Choir. But the conductors do all they can to push that preparation to the limit and many members of the Choir take music home to work on it. In the end, the lights go up, the cameras roll, and “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain” heralds the beginning of yet another broadcast. And whatever the preparation, you feel each week that the Lord acknowledges the preparation and steps in to make up the difference and another wonderful broadcast is carried over the airwaves. It is an amazing process and you know the Lord is very much a part of it. Experiences with the Choir After 20 years with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, it would be safe to say that there were a few experiences during that time that would inspire and move you. And it has always been amazing to see the hand of the Lord in it. Two related incidences stand out in that regard. The first was early 1991 as the Choir was making its final preparations for its tour to Eastern Europe and the then Soviet Union. The announcement of the tour was met with great excitement and anticipation. But that was quickly tempered after U.S. and coalition forces invaded Iraq in January 1991 as part of Deseret Storm. Anxiety heightened as word began to circulate that travel to Europe was not being recommended by the U.S. State Department. Because of this, President Wendell Smoot, then President of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, approached our General Authority advisor President Gordon B. Hinckley (who has served in that capacity since 1971) about those concerns. After consultation with President Hinckley, President Smoot came back to the Choir to inform them that President Hinckley said, in essence, “Don’t you worry. You go on with your preparations and go on your trip to Europe.” So we did and the rest is history, as that trip was one of the most successful in terms of missionary efforts that the Choir has ever had. In contrast, the other experience revolved around the summer of 2005 when the Choir had again planned a major trip to Europe. Initial plans had the Choir flying to Denmark where they would board an ocean liner/cruise ship and tour the Baltic countries and Scandinavia. Financial and logistical concerns resulted in the cancellation of that trip and a new tour was planned for Great Britain, which included a concert in Cardiff. This was significant to me because my final tour with the Choir would include Wales, my ancestral homeland (my Roberts’ line came from Wales in 1856 and crossed the plains with the Bunker Handcart Company). To make it even sweeter, the Choir eventually added a stop to Paris at the end of the tour and I had a nephew just called to serve in that nation. Shortly after April Conference 2004 and after the funeral of President Hinckley’s wife Marjorie, President Hinckley asked the Choir leadership to come to his office to discuss the pending 2005 tour. During that discussion he expressed reservations about the Choir going on that trip, citing concerns about security and other related matters. He then asked the Choir leadership to let him speak with his counselors in the First Presidency and he’d get back to them. The next day he asked them to return. They went to his office where he told them that the trip to Britain was to be canceled and that they go to the Pacific Northwest instead. “I need you more in Portland than I do in Paris,” said President Hinckley. So the joke became, the Choir went from a boat on the Baltic to a bus to Boise. As fate would have it, instead of finishing my Choir career with a concert in my ancestral homeland, I finished it with a concert in my hometown, Boise, Idaho, before many of my family who still live there and countless friends and acquaintances that knew me as I grew up. Choir Tours There are many other experiences that stand out, particularly the tours. I remember with fondness my first “tour” with the Choir in August 1986 to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for the World Expo, which included a concert in Seattle – and an impromptu fireside on Victoria Island. The day following the concert in Seattle, we boarded a ferry to Victoria Island, where our buses took us to the beautiful Butchart Gardens and eventually on to a chapel where the local ward had fixed us a scrumptious lunch of freshly broiled and steamed salmon. In gratitude for their efforts, we gave a special fireside where some of the Choir leadership spoke and Jerry lead the Choir in Isaac Watts’ “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” The Spirit was overwhelming. Many in the congregation were very moved, including many of us in the Choir, and there was not a dry eye anywhere. The goodness of these wonderful Saints in Canada was met with appreciation on the part of the Choir. A similar experience occurred in 1992 when the Choir made a trip to Jerusalem at the special invitation of the mayor of that city and close friend of President Howard W. Hunter (then President of Quorum of the Twelve), Teddy Kollek. The Choir and Bonneville International took advantage of this opportunity to film the Choir in several key sites in Israel for a special video (In a Land Call Israel), including the traditional site where the Savior delivered His Sermon on the Mount, the Mount of Olives, the Shepherd’s Field near Bethlehem, and the Garden Tomb, where latter-day prophets have felt impressed was the vicinity of the Savior’s resurrection and initial appearance to Mary Magdalene (John 20: 11-18). For this video, the Choir recorded all the pieces at the Tabernacle prior to leaving on the tour and sang to the recording from the various locations. At the Garden Tomb, they used “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” But the Choir gave more than “lip-synch” service to this powerful anthem of redemption and exaltation. Testimony came through strong and clear that He indeed had risen and “Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small, Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.” It was a moment to cherish. An experience I had during the Choir’s 1991 tour to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union stands out as one of the more poignant to me. The final stop on that trip was Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. As at several venues during the course of this tour, our concert was held in a classic European concert hall. This one, the Philharmonia Hall, was as exquisite as any in which we had performed – and one of the smallest stages as well. It required some clever staging to fit everyone on for the performance. In order to make it work, they put a row of chairs on the front edge of the stage where medium height people sat during the concert. One of those was me. This gave me a remarkable perspective of the audience I had not previously had. As the concert began and we took our places on stage, a couple out in the audience caught my attention – who I perceived to be an older woman and her son. Their look epitomized what you would expect to see of Russian farmers on the pages of National Geographic – haggard and hardened by years of struggle. Perhaps they were remnants of those that survived the siege of Leningrad during World War II. Regardless, their faces echoed the trials of life and said to me, “Give your best to entertain us; we are not easily impressed.” With the first strains of our opening number, I made it my purpose to sing especially to this woman and her son and to the extent I could, convey the love of Christ to them. The program itself was one of Jerry Ottley’s traditional ones for tours. The music was heavier at first (and included three beautiful, sacred pieces by the beloved Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff) and after the intermission, the music became lighter, being filled with toe-tapping songs of Americana. With each number the woman and her son and the audience as a whole would quietly sit and observe and then politely applaud at its conclusion, which applause grew in intensity as the performance wore on. By the time the Choir finished their final number and sang their traditional encore of “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, the audience in unison rose to their feet in thunderous applause, tears of joy flowing over every cheek, including my little farm family. As had been the case throughout this tour, following the conclusion of the concert, we were encouraged to mingle with members of the audience – an integral part of our missionary calling. As we exited through the back stage door of the hall, I stopped to linger, hoping I might see someone I recognized in the audience, particularly the two I felt so attached to during the performance. I wandered for a time and eventually began to head towards the buses when out of the corner of my eye, I was approached by none other than the “son” that I had watched so intently from on stage. He came to me, clasped my right hand in both of his, and in the little English he knew and with tears streaming down his face repeated over and over, “Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!” Again, the Choir had touched a heart and perhaps lightened a heavy burden, and I was so grateful that I was part of that effort. The Nauvoo Temple Dedication Another experience that stands out was the dedication of the Nauvoo Temple in 2002. As Craig Jessop relates it, he and President Christensen were approached by President Hinckley to have about 80 Choir members come to Nauvoo for the dedication services. Craig countered and asked if the entire Choir could come, but President Hinckley indicated, “You’re too expensive; you’ll take up every hotel room in the area!” Then Craig and President Christensen suggested the idea of giving a concert in Quincy, Illinois for the citizens there in gratitude for the compassion their ancestors showed the early Saints following the expulsion from Missouri during the winter of 1839. They also added that the Choir would pay for the trip themselves and find hotel rooms outside the Nauvoo area. President Hinckley warmed to the idea and the wheels were set in motion to pull it off. The Choir would stay in Quincy, do a concert there, and bus to and from Nauvoo for the dedication services. The arrangements were made and the Choir made the trip in groups to accommodate the sessions. Not everyone in the Choir could fit in the Temple at one time, so the Choir was split into four groups of about 80 singers each that would participate in at least two dedicatory sessions a piece. I was in the first group of singers to leave for Illinois. The trip itself was uneventful, but the arrival in Nauvoo for that first rehearsal was one to remember. I recall from my earlier trips traveling up the highway to Nauvoo and being told to watch for the yellow water tower that could be seen above the trees. That would give you an idea of what the Saints must have felt as they came up the river and would see the Temple rising above the horizon. What a thrill that would have been for them then. Now, as we traveled, we could actually see the newly restored temple rising in all its splendor and the feeling was one of awe. But I was not prepared for the overwhelming emotion I would have as the bus finally pulled into Nauvoo and I disembarked and walked up to the Temple site. I was overcome with gratitude and appreciation for the tremendous sacrifice the early Saints made to complete the original edifice so they might obtain the promised blessings before being driven to the West. The tears came uncontrolled and I openly wept. This carried over to all the events during those eventful few days. That first dedicatory session was full of spirit and testimony. From the moment I entered the House of the Lord, I knew that this was a special occasion, particularly given the date, June 27th, the anniversary of the deaths of the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum. The solemnity of the event was underscored as bells tolled marking the hour of martyrdom as the session began. As President Hinckley spoke of the great sacrifice of the Nauvoo Saints, you could not help but weep for them, yet at the same time feel of their great joy at the rededication of their beloved temple. And no matter the hymn being sung, whether “Come, Come Ye Saints” or “Praise to the Man” or any of the others on the program, it was easy to imagine the choirs of early Nauvoo being there in the temple with us, lifting their voices right along. And when President Hinckley bore witness that not only the early Saints – Joseph, Hyrum, Brigham Young and so many others – were there to rejoice with us, but the Master was there as well to accept our humble offering. The veil was indeed very thin that session, as it was for each session. It was a humbling experience and an honor to participate. As for the concert in Quincy, it evolved into a benefit affair for the city and all proceeds that came from it were donated. President Hinckley even made an appearance at the beginning of the performance to express his personal thanks to the citizens of Quincy, both past and present, for the generosity they have shown to the Church. Later, when the audience was asked how many were descendents of those in Quincy who helped the early members of the Church, a good number of individuals stood. It was then asked who in the Choir had ancestors that were part of that trek of Saints that were assisted by the citizens of Quincy, and nearly 80% of Choir rose to their feet. The sight was moving and the impact very touching. In all, we were all so grateful for Craig’s insistence we all go and President Hinckley’s willingness to allow us. General Conference But the experiences that will stand out in my memory are each and every General Conference. My first was so very significant, being a solemn assembly when Ezra Taft Benson was sustained as the 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I remember as a student at Ricks College witnessing on television the solemn assembly for President Kimball back in 1974 and the powerful witness that I had received at that time that he was in reality a living prophet, a spokesman for the Lord. But the feeling here was matched, if not exceeded. And it was repeated at the sustaining of Howard W. Hunter as the 14th President of the Church and Gordon B. Hinckley as the 15th. These men were indeed preserved for a very special purpose at a very special time, and I gladly raised my arm to the square to sustain them as a prophet, seer and revelator and President of the Church. Similar feelings were experienced at every conference. I was humbled to sit at the feet of the Lord’s anointed and hear first hand their counsel as they were “moved upon by the Holy Ghost” and to know I was hearing “scripture . . . the will of the Lord . . . the mind of the Lord . . . the word of the Lord, and . . . the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation” (D&C 68:3). There were many instances when the spirit was so strong that singing became very difficult as emotions welled up in my throat and my contribution had to be limited to my countenance. Conclusion But now it all has come to an end. My 20 years of service have been completed and it is time for me to move on. I have had many people ask me over the course of the last several months whether or not I will be sad with this passing chapter of my life. I would be less than honest if I said I would not be affected. How could anyone give 20 years of their life to so great a cause and not have some angst at its completion? I remember how I felt as I left my mission to Korea back in 1977. The member of my Stake Presidency who released me expressed well the feelings I experienced at that time. As I boarded that plane in Seoul and the wheels lifted off the ground, I could just feel that special spirit needed to fulfill my mission call leave me. And I knew it was being transferred to another who was in more need of it. This is how I feel about this call. As I have reflected on my release, I have seen great wisdom in the policy that was established shortly after Jerold Ottley became the Choir’s music director (service is restricted to 20 years or age 60, whichever comes first). My time in the Choir has been phenomenal and the Choir has changed so much since I joined – all for the better. But that time is now done and it is important for me to step aside so that someone else can take that special spirit I had to fulfill my call and continue to help improve the Choir. The words of President Hinckley sum it up quite well: “Personnel changes have occurred through the years, but the quality of performance has only improved. This choir is one of the great treasures of the Church. I think it is one of the great treasures of America. I regard it as the outstanding choir in all the world. May it continue its great mission of providing lofty and inspiring music at home and abroad.” Gordon B. Hinckley, “Remember . . . Thy Church, O Lord,” Ensign, May 1996, 82. Indeed it will – for ages to come and even into the Millennium, at which point I look forward to joining them and the other angels in singing praises at the return and reign of Christ, our Master.