Memories of Galilee (with Recording)

This is a piece that I've been working on for the last two years (Most of that was polishing, I swear I'm faster now). It's an arrangement on the tune by H.R. Palmer with words by Robert Morris. Well, after years of polishing I had it performed by The Wasatch Chamber Choir (an ensemble I help conduct), and recorded with them too. I just sent it in to a music publisher. I hope they like it. Here's a 45 second sample, a performance I conducted, along with pg 4 from the piece. Enjoy!

Memories Sample.mp3

Two Very Hard Concerts

These last two concerts have been some of the most difficult I've ever been involved with. The first one was back in March, the BYU Singers 25th Anniversary Concert. Why was this so hard? Three words: Two hour show. That's right 120 minutes of pure singing. We got a 5 to 10 minute intermission, but besides that it was guns blazing. And it wasn't packed with easy filler music either. It was HARD music.

Our Sets

Armaque cum scuto
Christus resurgens

Un Soir de Neige (Poulenc)
I. De grande cuilliers de neige
II. La bonne neige
III. Bois meutri bois perdu
IV. La nuit le froid la solitude

Zion's Walls
Down to the River to Pray
Followers of the Lamb

Cantate Domino (Monteverdi)
Kyrie for Double Choir (Rheinberger)
Alleluja, Christus Resurrexit (Mawby)
Gloria (Knauf)

Intermission

Evening Wind
Oread Farewell

Go Down Moses
Balm in Gilead
Ezekial Saw the Wheel

Si ch’io vorrei morire
Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine

And then with the Alumni of Singers we sang:
Sure on this Shining Night (Lauridson)
I Got Rhythm (arr. Staheli)
How Can I Keep from Singing (Staheli)
I mean, this thing was a beast! And there was no swapping out the way we usually do with Concert Choir. Usually we swap with Concert Choir and go back and forth between our sets, but we did not have that luxury this time. It was all us all the time.

It was really amazing doing this though. I felt like I had slain a dragon by the end. It felt so good singing all this amazing music, it was a wonderful feeling. Especially Leonardo. We really have never sung it better, even when it was stuck at the end and we were all tired. And singing with all the Alumni was amazing. We really are standing on their shoulders. They've helped build something amazing, and we're all just enjoying the harvest. They're heros in my book.

Next was our HUGE production for PBS, "The Pilgrim's Journey Home," We've been planning this one for three years. We were supposed to do it last year, but it ended up not happening. This year, however, it worked out great! Each ensemble (including the orchestra) had two solo pieces each. BYU Singers sang "Saints Bound for Heaven," by Howard Helvey, and "I Feel Like I'm On My Journey Home," by Dr. Staheli. The latter piece was really satisfying to sing. Even though we've been singing this the whole year I never tire of it. It's message is really piercing, and the arrangement is just exquisite. When we sang it both nights, it was probably the best we'd ever sung all year. Both nights were amazing.
Then we had the combined numbers. Concert Choir and Singers did two combined pieces. We sang "Whither Goest Thou Pilgrim, Stranger?" by Dr. Staheli, and "Homeward Bound," by Marta Keen. The later of which was a beautifully delicate setting that is really comforting. Men's and Women's Chorus had a combined piece with the orchestra, they sang "When Jonny Comes Marching Home." The four choirs had a combined piece and sang "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?" by David Zabriske. Then, the entire group had three combined pieces at the end. "Pilgrim's Song" by Ryan Murphy (now associate director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), "Come, Come Ye Saints," by Leroy Robertson, and "Lead Kindly Light" by Mack Wilberg.

It was really interesting filming this, an entire night was dedicated to just filming the combined pieces without an audience. This is a huge deal! Ain't no messin' around. Some of my highlights from the weekend include the combined choirs doing the wave. We got really slap-happy tired between takes, and there was no audience so why not? Also, Having all the combined choirs in a circle was really quite an amazing sight. I can't think of a more beautiful sight then over 450 singers all on the same stage, singing so beautifully and sharing the same message. It's really unforgettable to see the circle close up and everyone contribute to something beyond us. Nothing can quite take the place of that.

Music and the Spoken Word

Ha Ha! I'm blogging back in time! Betcha didn't know you could do that! Anyway, I wanted to share about my experience on Music and the Spoken Word.

So, Our call time was 7:20 in the morning. That's when we had to be there ready to sing. I'm not exactly a morning person so this was a little hard. To soften the blow, I decided to stay at my Grandma's condo up in Salt Lake. It's right across the street from the LDS Conference Center, so virtually no travel time! Still had to get up wicked early. So, after early wake up, short breakfast, beautification, I was ready to go.

Getting there we rehearsed for a bit in this room with a way low ceiling. Warming up such difficult repertoire early in the morning is super hard. But the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square gave us cookies! They're awesome. After our warm up and individual rehearsal we went up to join the choir in the loft.

They put us in the center section and sat and listened to the Tabernacle Choir rehearse. Dr. Wilberg is meticulous when he rehearses. We're used to the same finickiness from Dr. Staheli, but it just seemed a little odd coming from Dr. Wilberg for some reason, I'm not sure why. Anyway, he had some brilliant things to say ("Men, put it in the top shelf"). He knows exactly what he wants and knows exactly how to get it. We then rehearsed some of our pieces together and our solo pieces. We sang "There is a Balm in Gilead," and "Whither Goest Thou Pilgrim, Stranger." The latter of which is actually rather difficult for us because, we're used to singing it with Concert Choir and their huge sound. Alas, there's only 40 of us. We did well though.

Next came our taped run through of the entire program. For some reason, singing for TV is ten times more stressful than it normally is. I mean, we've sung in front of cameras before, but Live TV is even more intense. After that came a break, and then the main event, the 9:30 downbeat. It was pretty exciting I must say. What a great challenge and wonderful opportunity.

I was surprised to find that rehearsal was so short. The responsibility is really on every single singer. If you're not there, you're not there, and ain't nobody gonna pick up the slack after you. I was also surprised to find that there weren't more briefings and policies about what you can and cannot do during a broadcast, or what to do in case something happens. I was also surprised to find myself really really tired at the end. Probably more tired then even our huge two hour concert (more on that later). I dunno.

Anyway, singing with the Tabernacle Choir on Music and the Spoken Word was a thrill. I highly recommend it to anyone out there. It's really quite exciting to sing with 300 really great musicians who are volunteering their time just like you.
P.S. Some guys from the Tab choir starting making fun of our ladies' outfit with their blue sparkles. The ladies basically retorted, "You're one to talk, you're wearing a burgondy blazer!" And the pot calls the kettle black. Hilarious.

Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine

This is a video we worked really hard on. Come see our Concert this Saturday!

Leonardo Dreams from BYU Singers on Vimeo.

I could really use a . . .

. . . massage. Anyone know a good place in the Utah Valley (preferably Provo area)?

P.S. I took two tests today: Music 302 (Music Lit) and 352 (Pro Tools). I don't think I did all that well on 302, but I feel fine. I'm not stressed out or anything. I actually feel relieved. The first time that's ever happened. When I took Music 301 tests I got physically sick from the stress. No fun.

P.P.S. I'm getting an MBox 2 this week with Pro Tools! Finally! My own copy of Pro Tools! Stay tuned.

Hilarious Commercial Right Up My Alley

If you're a choir nerd and a sound geek, you'll love this. P.S. Don't adjust your volume.



P.P.S. Name that tune . . .

Radiohead at the Grammy's

I love Radiohead (my favorite album is Kid A) and I saw them perform on the Grammy's with the USC Marching Band. I'm not a huge fan of marching bands, but this was flippin' brilliant. Here's the video:



Congrats Radiohead on the two Grammys!