The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is renowned worldwide for its beautfiful music. They are part of a music-loving church, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chesterfield decided to share this love and enthusiasm with members of their local community by organising a BIG choir experience.
- The Big Choir event hosted by the Chesterfield congregation
- One of the entrants in the Big Choir event in Chesterfield
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
The aim was to give people the chance to experience the thrill of singing in a big choir for just one night. Local choirs were invited to participate and on the night nine signing groups from the area met at Newbold Community School in Chesterfield to perform a piece of their own followed by a rousing joint rendition of the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’.
Around 170 singers raised their voices and lifted the spirits of the delighted audience. Andris Ugullis, music director of Chesterfield Male Voice Choir said, “We were all excited to be involved in this interesting event. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves singing to such an enthusiastic audience.”
The Springwell Academy, composted of seven Chesterfield school choirs and directed by Brian Evans, was also very appreciate of the event. “The choir members enjoyed performing to a supportive audience in a non-threatening, non-competitive, fun environment – just what young singers thrive on.” Brian commented, “A big thank you to all the church members who helped make this event happen. We would like this to be a regular event.”
Prelude music for the event was provided on the big screen with a recording of Katherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This served as a fitting introduction to the free music resources available online on the Church’s website, www.lds.org./music. Designed to encourage the learning, development and understanding of musical skills, resources include copyright-free music, part learning and tuition in conducting and keyboard skills. These resources are available to all, totally free of charge, and could serve as a valuable resource to homes, schools, churches and other groups.
Though the BIG Choir Experience was designed to be a one-off event, who what the future may bring? Certainly those who attended and participated are keen to see a repeat performance where beautiful music can be enjoyed by local, home-grown choirs!