Singers' high spirits overcome dawn's chill
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"Let the mountains shout for joy," 167 other members of an outdoor regional choir and I sang at dawn Sunday, Jan. 8, during cornerstone ceremonies at the Bountiful Utah Temple. The words of the song echoed our feelings. The weather, with a cold breeze, was chilly, but our spirits were high. Snow and rain had been forecast, but a clear day was dawning.
For those of us in the outdoor choir, along with 56 members of a regional choir squeezed inside the temple, it was the culmination of months of anticipation.Each of the 28 stakes in the temple district was asked to provide four choir members - a soprano, an alto, a tenor and a bass - for the cornerstone ceremonies.
"Who, me?" was my reaction when a high councilor in the Kaysville Utah Crestwood Stake asked me if I'd be willing to participate. Four months later, I'm still bewildered over why I was selected. I'm one of the baser basses in my stake who still struggles with basic music. But singing for the ceremonies was a delightful experience.
We were divided into indoor and outdoor choirs in September, with three-fourths of us serving in the outdoor choir. Following a recommendation by Elder James E. Faust of the Council of the Twelve, the size of each choir was doubled in November, giving four youth from each stake the opportunity to participate.
Brent Thompson, conductor for the outdoor choir, had a great way of motivating us to sing better. "That really sounded great!" he'd often tell us. "But let's take it again, and this time . . . ." His broad smile, enthusiasm and gentle humor endeared him to all.
On Dec. 17, we met at the Salt Lake Tabernacle and recorded our four numbers, accompanied by Clay Christiansen on the Tabernacle organ. A lighter moment during the recording session came when we had to retape one of the hymns after two choir members' digital watches started beeping.
Because of the chilly weather for Sunday's 7 a.m. cornerstone ceremony, our program was cut to two hymns. But there was no cutback in the warmth of the experience as we sang to the accompaniment of ourselves and the Tabernacle organ on tape.
