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By
Phil Lowry
In early 1999,
President Gordon B. Hinckley appeared at a rehearsal of the Mormon
Youth Symphony and informed that ensemble that it was soon to be
disbanded. To soften the blow, he also stated with a twinkle in
his eye that “something better” was coming along.
That “something
better” was created later that year. It was to be a new orchestra,
drawn from the finest LDS musicians on Utah’s Wasatch Front
(and some from farther away). This new orchestra wouldn’t
have the age limits imposed on the Mormon Youth Symphony (age 30
or lower), and would be a sister organization to the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir. It would be called the Orchestra at Temple Square.
Recruitment
began in earnest in the summer of 1999. It wasn’t easy starting
a full-blown orchestra from scratch. The choir’s associate
conductor Dr. Barlow Bradford used all of his skill and considerable
enthusiasm to extend audition invitations to instrumentalists from
around the Wasatch Front, whose skills and character were known
to the community. It took a while for them to find me, a lawyer
buried n the middle of Utah County and not at all a part of the
local music scene. After some doubt and spiritual prodding, I auditioned
and became a charter member of the orchestra in October of 1999.
Being a member
of the orchestra is one of the Church’s most unusual, and
most satisfying, callings. The Orchestra, like the Choir, is composed
of temple-worthy Latter-day Saints who are called as general service
missionaries for the Church. The orchestra is our primary calling,
just as the choir is for choir members. Unlike the choir, the orchestra
has no mandatory minimum retirement age, nor is there a specific
term maximum for one’s calling (unlike the choir’s 20-year
maximum). Auditions are required, as they are for the choir, but
unlike the choir there is no “training school” for the
orchestra. One day you may be at the audition, and the next week
you may be on TV for Music and the Spoken Word. Performance expectations
are high. On more than one occasion the orchestra has been handed
the music for a broadcast 90 minutes before the red “on air”
light goes on.
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to enlarge
The Church has
invested a tremendous amount of time and money in the OTS with a
long-term view to its role as both a complement to the choir and
a stand-alone ensemble. In the original apostolic blessing given
to the orchestra by President James E. Faust, the orchestra was
blessed to be regarded as one of the fine orchestras of the world
and to take its message of the spirit through music to all the world.
Its purpose and mission is thus the same as the choir’s: to
spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through music.
The orchestra
membership is wide and varied. Many local music professors from
BYU or other local universities are members, as are a host of local
secondary school music teachers. There are also a number of full-time
professional musicians who dedicate their spare time to the OTS.
Students fill many of the orchestra slots, some being drawn from
some of the fine local programs that prepare students for professional
music careers, while others come from professional programs (one
member is getting his Ph.D, in biomolecular engineering). And, of
course, like the choir there are other occupations represented,
including social workers, accountants, etc. The OTS, like the choir,
is an all-volunteer ensemble.
Leading the
orchestra in these efforts is Dr. Bradford. Before Dr. Bradford
joined the choir staff he had already established himself as an
accomplished orchestra conductor, and thus he perfectly complements
Drs. Craig Jessop and Mack Wilberg in ensuring consistent quality
in the orchestra’s important role.
The OTS is
often recognized for its role in accompanying the choir in many
broadcast events, including the weekly Music and the Spoken Word
and First Presidency Devotionals. These primarily feature arrangements
of LDS hymns and other sacred works that complement the spirit of
what is being presented and do not draw overmuch attention to themselves.
click to enlarge
Often, however,
the OTS, like the choir, will tackle challenging classical pieces
in stand-alone concerts, where the music itself it designed to be
the primary source for carrying the Spirit. The OTS has collaborated
with the choir in The Planets by Holst, Polovtsian
Dances by Borodin, and Robert Cundick’s The Redeemer.
Other works to the OTS’ credit include Prokofiev’s Symphony
No. 5, Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration,
Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, and Beethoven’s
Symphony No. 7, all to local critical acclaim. Soon the
choir and the OTS will join forces in presenting Mahler’s
Symphony No. 3, the longest symphony in the classical repertoire,
and then shortly after will present Johannes Brahms’ Eine
Deutsches Requiem for Easter.
Perhaps most
recognized is the orchestra’s recordings with the choir. Two
CDs under the Telarc label have already been released, with an album
under the new Church-owned Resound! label coming out some time before
Easter. These most visible efforts are complemented by other projects,
including the soundtrack to Testaments (the film currently
being shown in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building adjacent to Temple
Square), the soundtrack to the video at the Nauvoo visitors’
center, and the soundtrack to Light of the World (the gala
celebration shown at the Conference Center during the 2002 Olympic
Games).
Recording with
450 people on stage can be a true challenge. The most recent project
for the Resound! label was focused on music about the Savior and
his ministry. The project took 12 hours, including an all-day session
on a Saturday. Each piece required multiple takes, usually starting
with a “shake-down” take to get the willies out. Often
Dr. Jessop would say some words to get the choir and orchestra in
the right mood for the piece being recorded. Before one take he
suggested we picture ourselves in The Shire (the quaint and blissful
home of the Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings). After that
take, which was particularly bad, someone suggested that perhaps
we Hobbits had gotten lost in a daisy-filled meadow somewhere.
Humor like
that is required in a marathon recording session. Backstage in the
Tabernacle the recording engineers, along with Drs. Bradford and
Wilberg, listen intently to the recording as it unfolds. If there
is a mistake, a page rustle or a watch beeping (or, worse yet, a
cell phone going off–yes, it happens), they phone it in to
Dr. Jessop, who has a phone at the podium. Every time that phone
would ring we would jump. Bad news or good? Sometimes facts beyond
our control ruin a good take. The Tabernacle is not sound proof,
and at the end of one very soft piece it sounded like the entire
Salt Lake City fire department went racing down South Temple Street.
Even in these days of digital magic, there was no way to filter
out that mess, so we did the take again (and it was even better).
Perhaps most
remarkable about recording an album like the one we just finished
is both the spiritual highs and lows it generates. We had been warned
repeatedly about the importance of our project, and that Satan would
do his best to disrupt us in our efforts. All of us felt the challenges,
but also the elation of overcoming them with the help of the Spirit.
Sort of like being carried through a very nasty marathon on a great
runner’s back.
A new album
will be recorded in May on a patriotic theme, so we get to do it
all over again. These projects bring together some of the Church’s
greatest singers and instrumentalists in a wonderful collaboration.
As the OTS grows and matures, we hope to emulate our “big
brother,” the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, in being a tremendous
missionary tool worldwide. Meantime, we will continue to enjoy our
frequent “family home evenings” with our singing brethren
and sisters, and look forward to working with them for years to
come.
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© 2003 Meridian
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