Tabernacle choir aglow at yule

SALT LAKE CITY -- There's just one thing that could ruin David Gehris' Christmas season: Being singled out on stage as a member of the renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

If he is, Gehris will know he messed up, big time.

In front of a live audience of 21,000 in the ornate LDS concert hall. In front of millions more listening in 2 dozen countries. Worse, in front of the assembled faithful here in the seat of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"You never want to be singled out," said Gehris, who has sung bass with the choir for 20 years.

Better to leave the soloing to the guest singer and avoid a flash of disapproval from the director.

For the all-volunteer, all-Mormon choir, the reward in performing the famous Christmas concerts this week comes in being a small, self- sacrificing part of 360 voices that are only famous in harmony. When they hit it right -- and their Emmy and Grammy awards and platinum records suggest they often do -- they say the experience isn't next to godliness, it is godliness itself.

Singing, choir members say, is their spiritual mission to the church.

No other performances are as important, joyous -- or potentially stressful -- than the four Christmas concerts, which began Thursday. Four concerts that filled up 84,000 available seats in less than one hour.

"It's a tremendous honor that requires tremendous commitment and sacrifice," said Craig Jessop, choir director since 1999.

In a typical year, more than 300 singers, many with years of formal training, will try out for a coveted choir spot. Only 10 percent will make the cut, after a grueling selection process that takes up to 15 months. About 30 percent of choir members failed their first auditions.

Once they're in, even routine practice sessions can be daunting to newcomers.

Rehearsals are held in the church's cavernous conference center, one of the world's largest religious concert halls. To the choir's front is the 110-member Orchestra at Temple Square, its instrumental counterpart. Behind is a massive 7,708-pipe organ, its deep tones resonating from the pipes of the organ built by the Schoenstein & Co. in San Francisco. On either side are towering Christmas trees and decorations, stretching nearly 100 feet to the ceiling.

"Anyone who comes in here is intimidated. If they say they're not, they're not being truthful," said Gehris, whose wife, Debra, also joined the choir 20 years ago.

Even professional guest artists pause and gape when they take the stage for the first time.

"My favorite part is when we bring these guest artists into this room and they look out at 21,000 seats and say, 'You're going to fit how many people in here?!"' said Barry Anderson, who handles logistics for the choir. "And we just say, 'Oh, yeah. We'll fill it up, all four shows.' "

Rehearsals and performances -- held on about 140 days a year -- mean a typical member can easily spend 15 hours a week in choir- related activities. Come late November, the commitment becomes virtually a second job, up to six days a week. Tours, often overseas, can mean setting aside two to three weeks' vacation every other year.

Most members work day jobs, and a random sampling turns up public school teachers, doctors, secretaries, postal workers and salesmen. A common faith keeps them coming back, with the average member singing about 13 years with the choir.

"If they can't keep the commitment, they don't last very long," said Robb Cundick, a choir member for 16 years, who chronicles the choir's concerts and travels.

Members must be Mormons in good standing with the church, between 25 and 55 and nominated by their local bishop before they can try out. They are asked to assess their relationship with God, their family, within their professions and as volunteers. They also must live within 100 miles of Salt Lake's Temple Square, and many commute at least an hour each way.

The sacrifice, they say, is a small price to be part of a tradition dating to 1847, when Brigham Young brought a band of Mormon pioneers to the shores of the Great Salt Lake to escape religious persecution. Its first formal performance came just 29 days after the Mormons arrived.

Jessop estimates that two-thirds of current-day choir members can trace their roots to the Mormon pioneers.

This year, passes for the Christmas concerts, which are free, went faster than tickets to a recent Rolling Stones concert just down the street. Fans lined up overnight to be the first in line, and the choir's Web site locked up soon after orders started being accepted. Within an hour, every seat for each concert was taken.

Acclaimed soprano Renee Fleming will perform with the choir, with British actress Claire Bloom narrating the program. In recent years, the choir has appeared with other mainstream figures, including Sting, Walter Cronkite and Angela Lansbury.

On Christmas morning, the choir will give one of its weekly Sunday concerts, and that, said Gehris, is the big payoff. Just as the world and their fellow Mormons will be watching them, choir members will be looking out into the concert hall, looking for signs that their singing is making a spiritual connection for Christmas.

"You're standing up there in this huge hall and you can look out and see the faces. And when you see them light up, or see someone wipe a tear away, you know you've given them something special," Gehris said. " . . . That's my way of giving a Christmas gift to all of them."

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir by the numbers

What: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Who: 360 LDS singers, all volunteers.

When: Choir was formed by Brigham Young in 1847 to boost the spirits of the settlers he led to the Great Salt Lake that year.

Where: The Conference Center at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

What: Each of the choir's Christmas concerts will fill the Conference Center's 21,000 seats. Live and tape-delayed broadcasts will air on more than 2,000 stations in about 2 dozen countries.

11,623: Pipes in the Tabernacle organ.

75: Performances per year.

10: Presidents who have heard the choir in person.

5: Gold records (500,000 in sales).

2: Platinum records (1 million in sales).

1: Grammy Award, for its 1959 recording of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" with the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra.

1: Emmy Award, for its 1987 "Christmas Sampler," a special with Shirley Verrett. -- Associated Press

On the Net: www.mormontabernaclechoir.org

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