All-State Choir

Last night I had the amazing opportunity to listen to my sister sing in the Utah All-State Choir concert. 750 voices from the state of Utah all come together to sing a few songs with a special conductor. The conductor this year was Brother Mack Wilberg, conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. There was a guest choir that sang as well, Weber's Chamber Choir. They [Weber] sang one of my favorite songs of all time "Lux Aurumque" by Eric Whitacre. They did such an amazing job! Also, Clay Christiansen played an organ solo entitled "Festival Toccata on St. Anne". It was such a fun piece! I couldn't believe the things he was doing! His feet were doing glissando's and his hands were moving between all of the different keyboards! It was amazing!!!

However, the highlight last night was definitely hearing the All-State Choir. They performed pieces such as: "Ring Out Wild Bells" (Ron Nelson); "Zadok the Priest" (Handel); "Nunc Dimittis" (Alexander Gretchaninoff); "The One Hundredth Fiftieth Psalm (Howard Hanson); "Bile the Cabbage Down" and "Come Thou Fount" (both arr. by Mack Wilberg). The last two were my favorite. Bile the Cabbage was a fun number! There were two male soloists and they did awesome! The first one had a lot of character and a good voice; the second one had an AWESOME voice for a high school senior! The greatest song of the night was "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". That song has such a great and powerful testimony behind it! It was amazing to see people, of all faiths and religions, come together and share testimony of coming unto Christ. The spirit was powerful and strengthened my testimony! I'm so grateful for music and the power it has to bring people closer to God. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to share my testimony through music, but also through word and deed every day of my life! Music is a powerful thing. Walter Savage Lander said: "Music is God's best gift to man; the only art of heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to heaven." Music is a gift from God, and I'm so grateful that He's blessed me with talents in music, but also a deep passion for music!