Last Thursday, I went with my sister Barbara to visit one of our sister Bonnie's last rehearsals with the Tabernacle Choir. She joined the choir in 2002 just after the Olympics were held in Salt Lake City. That year many choir singers retired from the choir (probably burned out by participating in the Olympics), so over 70 new singers were accepted. She began her service young enough that she served her 20 years, but was granted an extra two years because of the havoc of COVID. So, now, in April 2024, she is retiring.
Barbara Lee Acheson, Bonnie Lee (holding Thomas Acheson), and Betsy Lee Bailey 4/11/24 She witnessed so many changes to the choir in those 22 years. Here are just a few: The Music and the Spoken Word weekly television programs have remained constant, but now there is more attention to singing in Spanish and other languages. Early on, the tours were much longer, sometimes three weeks. Now they are more frequent, but shorter. There was more social activity within the choir earlier on. Bonnie served on the committee that planned the Christmas Party for the Choir. She even approved the fancy meal, arranged who sat at each table, and set around the name placards. There seemed to be many more recordings pre-Covid. And the concerts for Pioneer Day and Christmas were a lot glitzier and even had dancers.
Some of the new changes are exciting, though. For a couple of years now, singers from around the world have been invited to come to SLC and sing with the choir for General Conference. Bonnie told me about a sweet story of one of these singers. After one of the previous General Conference sessions last year, Bonnie was leaving to go to her car. She notice a couple who looked lost. She stopped to talk to them. The woman said that they were from South America and she was a singer. She had a dream to sing with the Tabernacle Choir someday. Bonnie mentioned that she should try out to be one of the International Singers for General Conference. She gave the woman the contact information to get her started. Then they got a selfie together.
Last week, during General Conference, she noticed a woman in the dressing area who was carrying a small photo around looking earnestly at all of the women as they were getting ready. Finally she found Bonnie. She said, "I have been looking for you! See, I am here! I am singing with the Choir! Thank you for helping me." The lady from South America had been carrying around that selfie she took of her and Bonnie hoping to find her. What a sweet experience to have just before retiring from the Choir.
This is Bonnie's last week of being in the Tabernacle Choir. So, I am volunteering to help fill her time post choir. She has promised to help make costumes for my new Summer Theater Camp Show. Yay!
Some of the new changes are exciting, though. For a couple of years now, singers from around the world have been invited to come to SLC and sing with the choir for General Conference. Bonnie told me about a sweet story of one of these singers. After one of the previous General Conference sessions last year, Bonnie was leaving to go to her car. She notice a couple who looked lost. She stopped to talk to them. The woman said that they were from South America and she was a singer. She had a dream to sing with the Tabernacle Choir someday. Bonnie mentioned that she should try out to be one of the International Singers for General Conference. She gave the woman the contact information to get her started. Then they got a selfie together.
Last week, during General Conference, she noticed a woman in the dressing area who was carrying a small photo around looking earnestly at all of the women as they were getting ready. Finally she found Bonnie. She said, "I have been looking for you! See, I am here! I am singing with the Choir! Thank you for helping me." The lady from South America had been carrying around that selfie she took of her and Bonnie hoping to find her. What a sweet experience to have just before retiring from the Choir.
This is Bonnie's last week of being in the Tabernacle Choir. So, I am volunteering to help fill her time post choir. She has promised to help make costumes for my new Summer Theater Camp Show. Yay!
RSS Feed