Saturday my daughter Cami called to remind me that I had promised to come hear her choir sing. She was right in reminding me, because I had not remembered anything about it other than I had promised her something. She explained that she and her daughter had been invited to sing with their previous Stake Choir for their Stake Conference usually held in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. But because there is construction going on outside of the the Assembly Hall, their venue had been changed. The Stake Conference was now going to be held in the TABERNACLE.
At first I was drawn to hear little 4 year old CJ sing with the Primary chorus. But then when Cami told me that she would be sitting in the Tabernacle loft possibly in my old seat, I decided I'd better go, for sure. Her friend, their choir director had called a lot of his musical friends to try to swell the ranks of his choir to 200 singers. It's not usual for a Stake Conference to have a choir of 50 singers, let alone 200 singers! But being able to sing in the Tabernacle is quite a draw. I was surprised that they were able to get a pretty even ratio of men to women singers, too. They didn't fill the 360 seats in the loft, but 200 singers looked pretty good!
The Tabernacle on Temple Square is a very important and historic place for Tabernacle Choir singers --- new or old. For me, it is a place of so many wonderful memories as well as the overwhelming presence I feel of so many of my ancestors who sang in the choir in those very seats. I am the 7th out of 9 family members we know the names of who sang in the Tabernacle Choir or played in the Orchestra on Temple Square. Others of our Welch Pioneer forebears likely sang in the early choirs there on Temple Square before the Tabernacle was built and before the Tabernacle Choir was a formalized entity. Who knows how many of their descendants have sung with the choir through the years!
It was important for me to be there to watch my daughter and granddaughter sing yesterday. Unfortunately, CJ was sick in the night and couldn't come on Sunday. And I actually made it there before Cami did (during the rehearsal). So, since I knew the songs and there were a lot of empty seats in the soprano section of the loft (and lots of extra singers anyway), I invited myself to go help them out.
It was such a joy to sit in the Tabernacle again singing praises to God. And then when Cami arrived, we realized that singing together in the loft is something we never expected would ever happen. We just had to take a selfie to document this momentous occasion.
I almost got myself in trouble though when I started singing the original descant of Mack Wilberg's "The Spirit of God" not realizing that this choir was singing a simplified version. Oh well, what's an extra high note or two, anyway?
The Tabernacle on Temple Square is a very important and historic place for Tabernacle Choir singers --- new or old. For me, it is a place of so many wonderful memories as well as the overwhelming presence I feel of so many of my ancestors who sang in the choir in those very seats. I am the 7th out of 9 family members we know the names of who sang in the Tabernacle Choir or played in the Orchestra on Temple Square. Others of our Welch Pioneer forebears likely sang in the early choirs there on Temple Square before the Tabernacle was built and before the Tabernacle Choir was a formalized entity. Who knows how many of their descendants have sung with the choir through the years!
It was important for me to be there to watch my daughter and granddaughter sing yesterday. Unfortunately, CJ was sick in the night and couldn't come on Sunday. And I actually made it there before Cami did (during the rehearsal). So, since I knew the songs and there were a lot of empty seats in the soprano section of the loft (and lots of extra singers anyway), I invited myself to go help them out.
It was such a joy to sit in the Tabernacle again singing praises to God. And then when Cami arrived, we realized that singing together in the loft is something we never expected would ever happen. We just had to take a selfie to document this momentous occasion.
I almost got myself in trouble though when I started singing the original descant of Mack Wilberg's "The Spirit of God" not realizing that this choir was singing a simplified version. Oh well, what's an extra high note or two, anyway?
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