Interfaith Choir Festival

For the first time, the LDS Stake Choir was invited to an Interfaith Choir Festival. This festival comprised of eight different churches, consisting of Methodist, Lutheran, Christian, Presbyterian, and LDS faiths. Before we came together, each choir was supposed to rehearse the four songs we would all sing together, plus the one or two songs each choir would sing by themselves. The four songs were not supposed to be perfect. We just needed to be familiar with them so when we showed up for a combined rehearsal on Saturday morning, we would not be totally lost.

The 133 participants of this mass choir arrived on February 26 at 8:30 at the Sierra Vista Methodist church. Dr Elizabeth Schauer, Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of Arizona and director of St. Mark’s United Methodist Chancel and Cantorei choirs, was the guest director. She did a FABULOUS job of going through and perfecting each of the songs, working with each vocal part, and giving all of us lessons in singing in a choir. I learned so much from her and her techniques as director. I also learned different tips of how to use my voice and how to sing better. I completely and thoroughly enjoyed the 3 hour choir rehearsal.

A couple of pictures of the combined choirs practicing in the morning. In the second picture, you can sort of see me. Dr. Schauer looks like she is squeezing my head between her hands. Haha!

These pictures were sent to me in an email. It is a fun reminder of the day.

Then we had a short 1 hour break for lunch. I ran to pick up my mom and bring her back for the afternoon concert. During lunch, each choir had an opportunity to practice their own choir piece before the concert. We ran through our song once and then waited the rest of the time before the 2:00 concert. We had a little more instruction and practice in another building, then we were seated for the concert.

Five of the eight choirs sang their individual songs first. It was very well organized: the first choir were on the risers with the next choir in the choir room and waiting to come into the chapel. The other choirs were seated in sectioned off areas in the audience. Then when the first choir finished singing, the third choir in line got up to wait in the choir room while the 2nd choir walked to the risers and prepared to sing, and the 1st choir took the vacated seats in the sectioned off areas. We rotated like that until every choir had a chance to sing. Then we all got up on the risers to sing the four combined pieces.

All of the choirs were good. Some were a lot of fun to listen to. Dr. Schauer's choir sang a really fun and rousing song and we all clapped our hands with the beat. What a different experience from music in the LDS church!

The LDS Stake Choir sang second. We sang a song called "Come Home" that was published in a recent Ensign. It is a very pretty song with a great message. Only 18 members of our choir participated in this festival, but even with this small number, our sound was incredible! And the spirit was so strong! I had chills up and down my body as I sang! I really believe we had heavenly angels singing with us. When we finished the last note, there was an audible gasp in the very full chapel. Some people even dropped their jaw and mouthed "Wow!". It was an incredible experience. Later, my mom told me that she believed my dad was singing right along with us!

The rest of the concert was a lot of fun. The four songs we performed as a combined choir were challenging because a couple of them were so different than anything we sing in our church, but it was a great experience to venture to something completely different. The concert ended on a grand note when audience, all choirs, three trumpets, and the organ sang Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Old Hundredth Psalm Tune”. We were already fairly familiar with this song because we actually have part of that song in our hymn book (#242 Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow). I had never heard the complete song, and with the trumpets, it was probably my favorite of the four combined pieces.

After the concert was over, we got SO MANY compliments about the LDS choir. Even Dr. Schauer herself gave us a great compliment about our sound. She was so hard on the combined choir all day to produce the correct sound. Coming from her as a perfectionist, it was a huge compliment!

Another funny tidbit....our choir was the ONLY choir not to be in choir robes. We stood out a bit because of that. :o)

This experience was exactly what I needed. I've been feeling very down lately because of some stress at work. I've been really missing my dad and I've really wished I could talk to him about what to do. I've needed his advice...this is the first time I'll go through a major employment change without my dad's encouraging words and knowledge. The experience with the Interfaith Choir really helped buoy me back up and knowing that my dad was there really helped me. I almost passed up the opportunity to participate because I was just feeling so low and sorry for myself. But I am so grateful I stepped outside myself and joined my voice with these wonderful choirs! It is an experience I will not soon forget. It was a great missionary opportunity, and it was a great healing experience for me.