I'm back

After a fast-paced February, March has been exactly what I needed and wanted it to be: restful. Earlier in the month, I spent a day at the Dallas Arboretum. While there, I attempted to categorize and make sense of all my journal scribbling from the past few months. It's a work in progress. I don't think I can necessarily process everything until I start putting some of it to use over the next few months. The past two weeks were spent on a beach--reading, relaxing, and sipping on ...um...wonderfully cold drinks. Now it's time to face reality. With Holy Week quickly approaching, I'm reacquainting myself with the anthems I'll be conducting. If you are in the Dallas area this weekend, please consider attending the St. Andrew Chancel Choir's spring concert, Haydn's Paukenmesse (Mass in Time of War). They have worked so hard, and I'm very proud of them. The concert is Sunday, April 5 at 7 p.m., in the St. Andrew sanctuary. Terry Metzger is conducting.

March update

The first picture is with Craig Jessop, former director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He is now at Utah State University. The next one was taken at a combined choir rehearsal at BYU. There are nearly 1000 singers in the BYU choirs. The third picture was taken near Park City. And the final one is with two of my favorite conductors, Ron Staheli and Rosalind Hall. The short videos near the end of this post are from BYU Men's Chorus rehearsals. The first is of the guys singing Bach with Craig guest conducting. The final one is just lots of fun.

It's been a fast-paced week at ACDA in Oklahoma City. I admit that the choirs overall were less stunning than usual because I just spent the month of February with the best! But...nonetheless I've heard some fantastic singing this week. Dallas was well-represented by Cynthia Nott and the Children's Chorus of Greater Dallas. She leads such a fine program. Perhaps the highlights for me were a Friday Peace Event at the memorial site of the 1995 bombing and a Saturday performance by the Incheon City Chorale from Korea. There is good coverage of the Peace Event here. If you've never visited the memorial site and museum, take the time to do so. I spent a few hours there several years ago, and that experience is forever etched into my mind and my heart.

I leave soon for a bit of vacation, and will likely not blog again until I return at the end of the month. If you are in the Dallas area, please don't miss the Mississippi College Singers on March 29. They will be the St. Andrew service choir at 9:30 and 11 that morning, then they will perform a brief 30-35 minute concert, immediately following the 11 a.m. worship hour.

I almost forgot...

For those of you who thought I spent all my time at Disneyland, here is proof that I actually sang with the Crystal Cathedral Choir. Click here then click on the anthem.

It just keeps getting better and better

Last week was incredibly fulfilling. From observing some of the finest university choral singing and conducting in the country to singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in rehearsal to hiking in the Arches National Park in Southeastern Utah, it has been a week I'll never forget.

This morning at the Tabernacle on Temple Square, I was granted permission to observe the taping of Music and the Spoken Word from inside the control room. What a unique perspective that was! Following the broadcast, conductor/composer Mack Wilberg and I had a very meaningful half-hour visit in his office.

I'm constantly learning the value of knowing what one wants and then asking for it. Remember that the worst answer you can get in those situations is "no". And on this journey, I've yet to hear that word.

I leave you tonight with wisdom from Joseph Campbell: "Follow your bliss. The heroic life is living the individual adventure. There is no security in following the call to adventure. Nothing is exciting if you know what the outcome is going to be. To refuse the call means stagnation. What you don't experience positively you will experience negatively. You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else's path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential."

Have a great week!

Week 1 in Utah

I arrived in Provo, UT, late Sunday. On Monday, I was invited to join my friend, Dr. Stephen Jones, (Fine Arts Dean at BYU) and his beautiful family for an afternoon tour of the new Draper Utah LDS temple near Provo. There are just over 100 LDS temples in the world. 12 of them are here in Utah. (There is also one in Dallas...perhaps you've seen it.) It's been almost 30 years since the last one was built here. The public can tour temples during "open house" prior to their dedication. Once the temple is dedicated, entrance to it is restricted to those who apply for and receive a "temple recommend" from their bishop. The most common ordinances that take place in a temple are marriage, confirmation, sealing of children to families, the endowment, and baptism for the dead. Here is a page with a bit more information on those temple ordinances.

For a Methodist boy, this was a unique and intriguing opportunity! The Draper Utah Temple is built of the finest materials including granite from China, Makore wood from Africa, and limestone from France. The "celestial room" was particularly stunning. The construction lasted two years. Read more on the Draper Temple here.

These two weeks will be intense. I'll be in rehearsals, lessons and classes at BYU most days. On Friday of this week, I'll be at University of Utah to meet and observe Dr. Brady Allred and his choirs. Brady was a student of Ron Staheli at BYU and Don Neuen at Eastman. It's a small world, indeed! Today, Stephen called Mack Wilberg (Morman Tabernacle Choir director) and asked if I could attend rehearsal this Thursday. Wilberg invited me to sing with them! And, I was asked to provide a brief bio so that Wilberg can introduce me to the choir. What an opportunity!

The weather here is not bad. We had a bit of snow today, but the rest of the week should be nice. To say the mountains that surround this place are stunning is a gross understatement. When the skies clear, I'll post some pics. More soon!

Final set of California pics

For all those who think Crystal Cathedral can do nothing but FORTE, I'm here to tell you this morning would prove you wrong. It was a comtemplative service that included Holy Communion, beautiful solos, an expressive anthem with flute and cello, and appropriately beautiful organ improvisations. You might find it interesting to note this type of service is much more common on the "non-taping" Sundays. The non-taping services focus more on the local congregation (the folks actually in the pews) and the taping services focus on the world-wide tv audience.

I had a great time in Pasadena on Saturday. The Fred Bock Institute and Fuller Seminary sponsored a workshop with presenters Gloria Gaither and Michael Hawn of SMU. I would have paid the money just to see those two side-by-side! It was great. Gloria spent most of her time effectively expressing her heart for worship and the church today. Michael was the nuts and bolts guy as he exposed us to seven streams of influence on church music since Vatican II. If you're interested in knowing what those streams are, email me. I'd be happy to share.

I'm sitting in LAX, waiting for my flight to Salt Lake City. Perhaps a good night's rest wouldn't be so bad at this point. Hope your week is off to a great start, my friends.

More pics

1. UCLA Choir rehearsal
2. Paul Salamunovich
3. Professor Neuen
4. Jon Bailey
5. Malibu sunset