'Celestial music': Choir tours in Idaho
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Though not speaking officially, and not once using a phrase that contained the words "whereas," "wherefore," or "be it resolved," Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne made a proclamation about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir: "This is celestial music."
The statement was made in an interview with the Church News after the governor sang with the choir during the first concert on its tour to the Pacific Northwest.
Gov. Kempthorne was in the audience — and on the stage — during the concert in Pocatello, Idaho, on June 17. The experience was so great, he said the next evening, that he made room in a busy schedule to attend the second concert, in Boise on June 18, and sing again with the choir.
In Pocatello, Gov. Kempthorne and Idaho Sen. Bart Davis, a Church member, sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" along with the choir, an experience for which both said "there are no words to describe."
Brother Davis said that when he was serving as a missionary he set some goals, one of which was to sing with the Tabernacle Choir. When he learned of the goal, Gov. Kempthorne suggested that Brother Davis, who is a member of the Mill Run Ward, Idaho Falls Eagle Rock Stake, sing along from the audience. It wouldn't be the same, the state senator said.
Brother Davis told the Church News, "At 50, I realized my voice wasn't improving with age. I felt that my only hope of achieving this goal was that some day I could rise high enough politically that maybe, as a courtesy, they would let me stand in the back row if I wouldn't sing very loud."
When the L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center was under construction at Idaho State University, the governor suggested that the Tabernacle Choir should be invited to help celebrate the opening of the center. A letter was sent to President Gordon B. Hinckley, the choir accepted the invitation to perform in the center's Joseph C. and Cheryl H. Jensen Grand Concert Hall and, in turn, invited the governor and senator to sing along.
Brother Davis said he wasn't sure "it would really happen" until he received an e-mail with music attached. "I don't believe my feet touched ground from the time I left my law office until I got home," he said. "I sat down at the piano and started to pound out those notes, trying to find a voice to match it." His daughter Rebecca helped him. "We practiced and practiced and practiced," he said.
Still, he was very nervous. "When we walked onto that stage, I couldn't remember the song we were going to sing; I couldn't remember a note, not even a word. When Craig Jessop (Tabernacle Choir musical director) pointed to us, there was a sense of peace. As those men powerfully began that song, I felt such a strong spirit. It is one of the highlights of my life."
Gov. Kempthorne said that he listened to the hymn on a choir CD. "I practiced," he said. "I sang the song as a child. I remembered the words, but I needed to make sure of the verses they were singing, and also where their pauses were. I tried to do my homework so I wouldn't cause them any discomfort."
He concurred that singing with the choir was one of the perks of his office. But, he said, he felt he wasn't singing just for himself. "Having a couple of us from the audience up there was a way for all of the audience to experience it," he said. "Then, near the end of the hymn, everyone joined in singing and, for a moment, we were all part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This was one of those moments in time when we were one."
He resorted to a much-used word to describe the experience of singing with the choir: awesome. "This is a world-renowned choir, and rightly so because they're just such great musicians. This is celestial music. To be able to join with them for a moment and to be surrounded by those voices is an honor."
Since the concert hall's stage could not accommodate all the choir and orchestra, only 234 of the choir's 360 members performed in Pocatello. John Longhurst and Clay Christiansen, Tabernacle organists, accompanied, playing the Steinway & Sons concert grand piano that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation donated to the concert hall.
Fifty members of the Orchestra at Temple Square accompanied the choir in the concert in Taco Bell Arena at Boise State University on June 18. Also, Brothers Longhurst and Christiansen and Richard Elliott, also a Tabernacle organist, accompanied on an organ that the choir brought along on its tour. Some 10,000 people attended the concert, giving applause and cheers befitting the indoor sports arena.
The concert program included hymns; three Glorias of the classical repertoire, folk songs and "songs of the land" of America. Two hymns of faith concluded the program, "Come, Come, Ye Saints," and "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
The tour moved to Washington state with performances in the Spokane Arena on June 21 and Seattle's Paramount Theatre on June 23. Concerts are scheduled for Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Ore., on June 25, and in California at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland on June 28; H.P. Pavilion in San Jose on June 30; and Arco Arena in Sacramento on July 1. The concluding performance will be at Lawlor Arena in Reno, Nev., on July 2.
The choir, staff and guests are traveling on nine buses.
E-mail to: gerry@desnews.com
