The Choir Miracle

Now and then you get to witness a miracle.

I live in a small rural ward.  We aren’t a singing bunch.  Still, we have a few regulars and in years past I’ve had fun singing with them in a Christmas choir.

This year, nothing was announced.  So around Thanksgiving I said, ‘Bishop, is anybody doing a choir this year?’  “Sure,’ he says, ‘would you mind putting one together.  IN FACT, do the whole Christmas program for that Sunday.’

I have never run a choir before nor had any sort of vocal training.  Also, time was pretty short.

That night we had a family council for suggestions.  We put together a plan.  We would keep it simple.  Two hymns, one piece we sang last year, and only one new song, but it would be a simple one where all the flash was in the accompaniment.  For special musical numbers I would just ask for volunteers.

We would also conclude the entire program with the congregation singing Silent Night.  Women first verse, men second verse, all the third verse.  That took very little preparation.  Two Sundays ago I got the priesthood together for 10 minutes, had them all sing their opening note until they sounded in harmony, and then sang their verse twice.  Ditto with the sisters.

Then there was the choir.  A bunch of people showed up.  More than I was expecting.  We had five 45 min – 1 hour practices, plus a run through just before church yesterday.  I was aiming for being ok.  We looked like we were on pace to achieve it, though in our run through yesterday morning we still had to work on big chunks of the tenor part for one song.  About half of the choir don’t know music and could only follow other singers or repeated piano  playing their part alone.  That was an obstacle.

The other major obstacle was me.  I have never conducted before.  My voice warm-ups made people giggle.  I was just imitating badly what I half remembered previous choir directors doing.  I forgot the opening prayer sometimes until half way through.  During practices, I left people standing for long stretches of time because I forgot to have them sit, or vice versa.  I kept forgetting the order of the songs.  I brought people in too early.  I brought them in too late.  I forgot stuff I had told them from one practice to another.  I lost pages from my music during the run through.  During the run through I ended one song a verse too early.  I repeatedly lost the conducting pattern and just waved my hand in a sort of a beat until I could figure out where we were.  My good qualities were that I stayed genial and brought a lot of personality to our practices.

I was expecting or hoping for things to go OK.  There would be bloopers, the important thing would be to press on through them.  I prayed, without any particular fervor or conviction, for a boost from heaven.   It was perfunctory.  Choirs always pray that prayer.

The first number was Angels We  Have Heard on High.  As I gave the opening stroke of my hand, the sound that came out was like nothing I had ever heard.  It was clear.  It was piercing.  It was angelic.  The choir looked as stunned and excited as I was.  I have never heard a group in person sing that song so well.  Afterwards a friend came up to me and said,  ‘you must have been pretty shocked to all of a sudden find yourself conducting that!’  And he was right.

It went on like that.  By the time the two special musical numbers came around, I was in no fit state to maintain my composure.  Bishop finished the speaking part of the program–also with poor composure–and then we sang Silent Night.  The same transformation in the choir happened in the congregation when they sang.

I don’t know why it  happened.  I suppose that sometimes when you are celebrating God, He decides to remind you that He is there.

In tribute, below are the choir numbers and special musical numbers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8-4bJTwBABA