Sunday's Adventures
8:30 AM - Music & the Spoken Word
We began our day by arriving to door number 1 of the Morman Tabernacle where we met with our very special guide, Dr. Richard Elliott. He gave us a magnificent tour of the basement areas of the tabernacle. We saw the dressing areas for the choir, the choral library, the sound production room, along with several other exciting corridors that are not open to the public.
After our "behind the scenes" tour, we were taken to our reserved seats where we were able to view Music & the Spoken Word live! We were even greeted by the Tabernacle before the show began at 9:30 AM. It was quite the experience to see the filming of the longest running broadcast in America. It was truly a pleasure to hear the Morman Tabernacle Choir in person as they stood up to their reputation. What a powerful sound and an amazing testament to the holy word!
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| Mack Whilberg conducting the Morman Tabernacle Choir before the filming began |
Once the service concluded we met all three of the tabernacle organists: Richard Elliott, Clay Christiansin, and Andrew Unsworth. We even got a picture with them! (see the official LVC Group Blog and Facebook for more pictures). Then we adventured around Temple Square for a little bit before walking to the next location.
11:00 AM - Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine
Dr. Elliott suggested that we visit the Cathedral of the Madeleine to see their mass at 11:00 AM, which we decided to do. The mass was quite an amazing experience from other masses many of us had attended before. There was a full choir in attendance [which we would learn was a normal occurance] and it was made up primarily of children! They sang music that adult choirs normally would sing, but they seemed to be the average age of a youth choir! It was an amazing experience listening to them sing! The mass was truly a great experience, and we saw one of the best choral programs for children.
12:30 PM - St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
Our afternoon started off with another great treasurer, playing the Bigelow organ of St. Mark's Catherdral!
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| Charles Grove seated at the console |
We had a fantastic time playing this wonderful instrument. Each of us found something unique that we liked about the organ. My personal favorite was the way the romantic sounding foundations could be added together to create an amazing full organ sound without the use of any true principal stops! A true testament to organ building of the Bigelow company! We also later saw that the Positiv division made for a great baroque sound when Dr. Moorman-Stahlman played some Sweelinck for us!
Check out some videos of Margaret Taylor and Sarah Wagner playing this organ on our group YouTube Account (click their names).
5:30 PM - Birthday Dinner
Today was a special day for one of our organists, Dwight Weaver. So we went out for a special meal to help him celebrate his special day. Granted it was already the perfect day; he got to hear the Morman Tabernacle Choir, See an amazing mass, play a beautiful organ, and we were about to see an amazing Solar eclipse. What more could one want? Well we took him out for a cold beer and then embarrassed him by singing "Happy Birthday" loud and proud in the whole restaurant!
8:00 PM - Concert at Cathedral of the Madeleine
After dinner we again walked to the Cathedral of the Madeleine for an amazing concert by their choir [which we heard earlier]. On the way we stopped to watch the solar eclipse which was simply amazing! What a coincidence that the solar eclipse was visible while we were here in Salt Lake City, Utah!
We saw one of the most amazing concerts of our lives! These kids could really sing with power that traditionally is thought of with adults. They even sang Ralph Vaugh Williams' Mass in G Minor. Lebanon Valley College's Concert Choir sang that themselves only a few years ago! These kids had quite the talent when it came to singing and their voices filled the room in the most beautiful way.
The lovely people sitting behind us filled us in on the background of the choir during intermission, and we started to understand why the were amazingly talented. It turns out they have a choir school at the church from K-8 that trains singers. It is a full time school and they do amazing work. They sing at 4+ masses a week and several concerts each year! Talk about a choral commitment like no other for a child. And there were certainly some proud parents in the audience, as well as some astounded students sitting in the first row!
We cannot wait to see what is in store for us the rest of our stay here in Salt Lake City, however we know it will be an exciting trip to say the least. Tomorrow we have the joy of being on Temple Square. Check back for more pictures and fun!
Today was a special day for one of our organists, Dwight Weaver. So we went out for a special meal to help him celebrate his special day. Granted it was already the perfect day; he got to hear the Morman Tabernacle Choir, See an amazing mass, play a beautiful organ, and we were about to see an amazing Solar eclipse. What more could one want? Well we took him out for a cold beer and then embarrassed him by singing "Happy Birthday" loud and proud in the whole restaurant!
8:00 PM - Concert at Cathedral of the Madeleine
After dinner we again walked to the Cathedral of the Madeleine for an amazing concert by their choir [which we heard earlier]. On the way we stopped to watch the solar eclipse which was simply amazing! What a coincidence that the solar eclipse was visible while we were here in Salt Lake City, Utah!
We saw one of the most amazing concerts of our lives! These kids could really sing with power that traditionally is thought of with adults. They even sang Ralph Vaugh Williams' Mass in G Minor. Lebanon Valley College's Concert Choir sang that themselves only a few years ago! These kids had quite the talent when it came to singing and their voices filled the room in the most beautiful way.
The lovely people sitting behind us filled us in on the background of the choir during intermission, and we started to understand why the were amazingly talented. It turns out they have a choir school at the church from K-8 that trains singers. It is a full time school and they do amazing work. They sing at 4+ masses a week and several concerts each year! Talk about a choral commitment like no other for a child. And there were certainly some proud parents in the audience, as well as some astounded students sitting in the first row!
We cannot wait to see what is in store for us the rest of our stay here in Salt Lake City, however we know it will be an exciting trip to say the least. Tomorrow we have the joy of being on Temple Square. Check back for more pictures and fun!
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