In the Choir Loft

In early August, Cory, Zachary and I were called in for an interview with a member of our Stake Presidency. We wondered all week what it could possibly be for, and finally after conjecture and speculation the fateful day arrived. We were given a special assignment to sing in a choir made up of families for the upcoming October General Conference! They were selecting 5 or 6 people from every ward in 9 stakes in the Draper and Sandy area. They told us that this was the first choir of this composition ever to be heard in a General Conference, and that it would likely be 30 years or more before our Stake would be asked to participate musically in another Conference. This would truly be a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Rehearsals started almost immediately and were held for two hours every Sunday evening at a Stake Center in Sandy. This was a definite sacrifice on some weeks and we are especially grateful for friends and family who helped with our other children to make this possible.

The rehearsals were led by our director Timothy Workman. He is amazing! To create the sound he did out of amateur singers, many of whom were children and teenagers is truly a miracle. Every week I was impressed by how quickly the rehearsal time went by and how much our sound as a choir improved. On top of being exceptionally gifted with music, Brother Workman was funny and had a great way of sharing testimony through rehearsal. Every week felt almost like a special fireside or devotional. My voice never became over-tired.

Some of the "nuggets" he shared with us were..."when inspired music is well-performed it doesn't draw attention to the performers, but to the message." He talks about hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir once and being overwhelmed by their music not because it was exquisite--which it was--but because listening to it made him realize again that the doctrines about which they were singing were true. He also taught us that we should always sing every note and every vowel in a way that shows our respect and love for God. He told us that the majority of the people all over the world listening to us sing would not understand the words we were singing, but would understand the message if we truly "testified." He said that in any musical performance, the goal should be to "express" not to "impress."

There were many technical details that were dealt with. We had only 3 weeks to memorize the 4 songs we would be singing in Conference as well as 2 additional "contigency hymns" just in case. We had very strict guidelines about dress and grooming and had to wear our "choir-approved" clothes two weeks in a row to make sure they passed a very careful scrutiny. We were required to check in at every rehearsal with one of the 9 choir managers...absences or tardies were not acceptable.

A week before Conference, we carpooled up to the Conference Center for a dress rehearsal. Because this choir was made up of people from age 10 to 80, they could not seat us in typical height formations. It was chaotic, but eventually they managed to get us all into a choir seat. The open air of that enormous building was overwhelming. To hear the final chords of our songs reverberate into that space was inspirational.

The following Sunday evening, we had our final rehearsal and went over the last instructions for our Saturday arrival schedule.

Saturday Conference arrived. We drove to our rehearsal building, and boarded school buses at 10:00 a.m. As we drove up to the Conference Center, we tried to listen to the morning broadcast on the radio, but at the back of the bus, there was little we could hear. Once we reached the building, we were ushered into the theater where we were asked to sit "approximately" where our choir loft seats were. As we waited for everyone to arrive, we watched Elder Christofferson's talk on screen and then listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing. It was bizarre to hear the time delay from the screen and from the actual room they were singing in to our right. Then Brother Workman came in to warm us up and lead us in one last and brief rehearsal through trouble spots.

After rehearsing, we were provided with a quick snack and bathroom break, and then escorted into the catacombs and backways of the building. We finally passed the choir's dressing rooms and entered the back entrance to the choir loft. It was jarring to see the seats already beginning to fill almost an hour before the session would begin.

I can honestly say that I remember very little of our actual performance. It flew by in a surreal way, and I know I made way more mistakes than normal. As we finished the last chord of the last song, I found myself slightly emotional.

When it was all over, I was so impressed by the number of general authorities who took a moment to turn back and even come back and thank us for our musical contribution. They were so genuine and kind...true examples of Christ-like love.

And then we filed out of the building, reunited with our families, loaded the schoolbuses and headed home.

A truly once in a lifetime experience! When we got home, we quickly watched our DVR'd recording of our performance and discovered that while I had been given rather too much face time, Cory and Zachary had not shown up at all. Oh well! We will all remember the experience regardless of any visual evidence.