Work defines choir tour
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Don't call them tourists. And don't ask if they enjoyed their vacation.
While they toured and took vacation time from full-time jobs and busy schedules at home, members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir had little time for recreation, rest or relaxation during their summer 2003 concert tour. If truth were told, they worked harder than they would have had they stayed home from the trip that took them on a 3,000-mile journey (minus air travel from and back to Salt Lake City) to perform 11 concerts in 18 days in the northeastern United States. They certainly got less sleep.
The first of three charter planes left Salt Lake International Airport at 4:30 a.m., bound for Grand Rapids, Mich. And the first planeload of choir members returned home immediately after their final concert July 11 at Tanglewood in the Massachusetts Berkshires, boarding their plane at midnight. Add to these irregular travel hours an overnight train ride from Boston to Washington, D.C., for all the tour group, and an overnight bus ride for 100 choir members from New York to Boston and you'll gain some understanding about the commitment and dedication of choir members.
Factor in nearly unbearable heat and high humidity. Audiences mopped their brows and fanned themselves with concert programs in futile efforts to find cooling comfort at all but the last of the outdoor venues. Meanwhile, members of the choir stood in concert attire — long-sleeved gowns for the women and tuxedos for the men — while stage lights raised the temperature to something above 110 degrees. Unlike the audience, they couldn't use fans. But practicality came into play when the men were permitted to remove their jackets during some of the performances.
Choir members cooled off when they sang in the rain in New York City during an appearance on NBC's "Today" show July 3.
Despite discomfort, fatigue and challenges of a constantly full schedule of bus travel, rehearsals, sound checks and performances, the 360 choir members and the 25-member ensemble from the Orchestra at Temple Square stuck to their mission. When they took their places on concert stages, they did what they had come so far to do. They presented a program that entertained, touched hearts, opened doors and enlightened. Besides all that, they impressed audiences.
