RSS 2.0 FeedJuly 1, 2009, Cover Stories, Classical
Mormon Tabernacle Choir remains a model of choral excellence
The Choir sang traditional hymns, choral masterpieces, and folk music from America and around the world. They even included popular songs from musical theater.
The year 2009 represents the 80th anniversary of the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir's weekly broadcasts. To celebrate this anniversary, the group has embarked on a summer tour across America. Last Thursday evening, the choir, joined onstage by the Orchestra at Temple Square and conducted by Mack Wilberg, thrilled a large and appreciative audience at the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City.
A large arena like the Sprint Center is without a doubt one of the last venues I would have ever expected to see a choral/orchestral concert. Having been to the Sprint Center occasionally since the venue opened, I know of the arena's mediocre-at-best acoustics. I wondered how the choir would sound in the vast space, and I couldn't fathom how their performance would connect with an audience in an arena setting. I was pleasantly surprised on both counts.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of this country's oldest and most prestigious musical ensembles. They were organized in 1830 and have since performed all across the world, for numerous presidential inaugurations and functions, at the Winter Olympics, and have released more than 175 recordings. Their Music and the Spoken Word broadcast is the longest continuing network broadcast in the world.
For this tour, the Choir and orchestra have made previous stops in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Des Moines, and Omaha before stopping in Kansas City. They will conclude with stops in Oklahoma and Colorado. Their tour is a full-scale production, featuring over 300 hundred singers and a full orchestra, organ, narrator, and countless people working behind the scenes. The Sprint Center's upper bowl was curtained off for this performance. Using an 'end-zone' stage setup, the arena floor and lower bowl were quite full at Thursday's performance.
The more than two-hour concert was programmed with an eclectic mix of repertoire. The Choir sang traditional hymns, choral masterpieces, and folk music from America and around the world. They even included popular songs from musical theater. Music director Mack Wilberg, who became director in March of 2008 after having served as associate director since 1999, arranged many of the choral selections. Dr. Wilberg is a gifted composer and arranger and is widely sought after as a clinician and conductor. His leadership during this concert was exemplary, somehow managing a nuanced and musically pleasing performance despite the acoustical challenge.
There were a few highlights that stood out from the rest. The first was a performance of Chesnokov's O Lord God. The choir sung this unaccompanied masterwork with great diction and sensitivity. The Nigerian carol Betelehemu, complete with a battery of percussion, vocal solos, and synchronized clapping was a crowd favorite. Mack Wilberg's arrangements of Amazing Grace (featuring bagpipes) and Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing were my two favorite selections of the evening. The only instrumental selection of the evening was a highly virtuosic arrangement of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, performed and arranged by organist Richard Elliott. The concert concluded with the traditional Latter-Day Saint Hymn Come, Come, Ye Saints and Wilhousky's timeless arrangement of Battle Hymn of the Republic.
As I reflected on the concert, I marveled at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's longevity and great tradition of excellence. One of the reasons why the Choir is able to maintain their high standing is due in large part to their approach and execution of the art. Their choral approach is rock solid. There are no cheap tricks or bells and whistles. They are living proof that refined choral technique never goes out of style. With their new release, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, reaching #1 on the Billboard Classical and Classical Crossover charts, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, led by their esteemed conductor Mack Wilberg, will no doubt continue their storied tradition of excellence with the grace, dignity, and class that they have exhibited for all these years.
REVIEW
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
June 25, 2009 7:30 p.m.
Sprint Center
Downtown, Kansas City, MO
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