Building bridges along tour route
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To Scott Barrick, general manager of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, every member of an audience is a VIP — Very Important Patron (of the arts). While it wasn't possible for him to meet and shake hands with the approximately 50,000 people who attended concerts on the choir's recent tour, he did manage to rub shoulders with a few hundred other VIPs — Very Influential people.
Brother Barrick coordinated with local committees to host business, government, civic, religious, education, art and political leaders at VIP receptions at concert venues in Toronto, Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Nashville and Memphis. Because of its remote location, a VIP reception was not held at Chautauqua Institution near Buffalo, N.Y.
The receptions were the culmination of months of work that started in the fall of 2006. "They're a time for socializing and connecting with people," Brother Barrick said of the receptions.
They also provide an opportunity for guests to learn a little about the Church and, in particular, the Tabernacle Choir. Elder W. Craig Zwick of the Seventy presided over and addressed the first four receptions and Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Presidency of the Seventy presided over and addressed the last two receptions.
At each reception, Brother Barrick and Mac Christensen, president of the choir, gave brief remarks to help people learn more about the choir and its mission. Brother Barrick talked about four ways the choir fulfills its mission: tours, concerts, recordings and broadcasts. Brother Christensen pointed out that members of the choir and orchestra are all volunteers.
The receptions gave guests a chance to meet Craig Jessop, music director of the choir, Mack Wilberg, associate director, and Lloyd Newell, narrator of its Music and the Spoken Word broadcasts who served as announcer for the concert programs.
Two members of the Orchestra at Temple Square provided music at the receptions: Jeannine Goeckeritz played the flute and Tamara Oswald played the harp.
Brother Barrick said that people can't quite put into words what it is about the choir that impresses them. "In some of the places on the tour, fine music is almost a requirement," he said. "The audiences hear it all the time. Then to see audiences have the kind of reaction they had to the choir was tremendously gratifying. It makes you realize how unique the choir is. There is not another choir anywhere that evokes that kind of reaction. Audiences see the choir and orchestra performing, doing something they love; couple that with the caliber of their performance — it is stunning and takes people's breath away."
Brother Barrick read from an e-mail Elder Zwick forwarded from a member of a university's fine arts faculty after one of the concerts: "I have seen precision before. I have seen excellence before. All of which I saw this evening. But to describe the experience I had, you would have needed to be there. It was the feeling I felt that was different."
The dean of the faculty of music at another university said that there was no way in which he and his wife could describe the performance they witnessed. "People would ask what it was like," the dean wrote. "We would try to say how great it was. But we could never really explain what it was like. The difference was one of faith. You could feel the total dedication. The performers were using the music to express their faith."
It's that message of faith that Brother Barrick and others on the choir staff aimed to take to thousands of people during the tour.
E-mail to: gerry@desnews.com
