Conference and Music

First off, some really exciting news! 5 new temples are going to be built in the near future! One in Calgary Alberta (woo!), on in Argentina (I forget where...), Kansas City, Phillidalphia and Rome, Italy! The last one is super cool. I hope they do a really cool design for the architecture there.

Secondly, for those of you who aren't LDS, there was a world-wide general broadcast for all Latter-Day Saints this past weekend. It was broadcast from Salt Lake City, Utah (church world headquarters) via satellite, internet, cable and radio to countries all around the world. It is something we only do twice a year; the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October. During this conference, various leaders of the church (apostles, seventies, the prophet, and others) prepare talks about subjects they pray about and deem to be appropriate.

So, that being said, I went to two sessions of conference (broadcast to the church) and watched a third online. There are five in total (one is a priesthood session). I always take notes, even though I know the talks will be transcribed, just so I remember what impressed me when listening to it. I also always write down the music that is sung. From the two sessions I watched at the church, these are the hymns that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang:

High on the Mountain Top (one of my favourites of theirs)
Redeemer of Israel
Oh, May my soul Commune with Thee
Come ye Children of the Lord
Do What is right
O, Thou Kind and Gracious Father
I need Thee Every Hour

Now Let us Rejoice
I know that My Redeemer Lives
Oh What Songs of the Heart
I Feel My Saviour's Love (a personal favourite)
Rejoice the Lord is King
(and I missed the last one...)

The fact that each hymn is about 4 minutes long, and they sing 6-7 hymns per session, that works out to about 24-28 minutes devoted to music, not including music and the spoken word the half hour before conference. 1/4 of our general conference is devoted to music. If that doesn't say something of its importance, I don't know what will.

I'm not just saying this as a music major, I really believe that music is something that can express what words fail to do. One of my favourite sayings about music is "Music is a Universal language". I love that quote because it's so true. You can communicate feeling with music, even if there aren't any words.

I had to go to a voice masterclass today (a masterclass is where 5 people each sing one song and then the voice teachers critique their performance and work with them each for 20 minutes trying to improve their sound and anything else they deem necessary) and even though 3 of the 5 performers weren't all that great, seeing them really connect with what the teachers were getting them to do and really having their sound improve was so exciting to me!

I was literally on the edge of my seat and waiting for the beautiful sound to come through. It put me in such a good mood that I haven't been able to stop smiling all evening. So, in conclusion, I just want to say that seeking after music that uplifts and is pleasing to the ear is something that will raise your spirit and make you happy, if you let it.

I have the tendancy to be so involved in the emotion behind the music that I feel so exposed when performing because I'm showing emotion that I normally wouldn't. Music is a release of those feelings and a safe place to let them show through the medium of another character. Music is an amazing thing and I'm so grateful that I'm in the program I am. Lastly, I want to close with a quote that Elder Dallin H. Oaks said in his conference talk, he said "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto the Lord". Think of that the next time you feel the urge to break into song.

Until next time,
-J