With patriotic splendor, the Mormon Youth Chorus and Symphony carried out the final performance tour of its 30-year history May 11-13, playing for audiences aboard a military aircraft carrier, at a U.S. Marine Corps base and in a St. George, Utah, amphitheater.
Traveling on seven buses, the 338-member entourage gave three free concerts, beginning May 11 at the Tuacahn Amphitheater in St. George and followed May 12 on board the USS John C. Stennis docked in San Diego, Calif., and May 13 at the Marine base, Camp Pendleton, in Oceanside, Calif.
It was a bitter-sweet experience for the vocalists and instrumentalists, who knew that they will not be together much longer, at least in this form. Their final concert was scheduled for May 21-22 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, after which the Mormon Youth Chorus and Symphony was to disband to make way for a new and different organization with new leadership.
But any sadness they might have felt was more than mitigated by the joy of reflecting gospel light through their talents and actions, which, after all, has always been the group's reason for being.
Chorus member Jerry Gish told of a conversation he had with a bellhop at the San Diego Marriott at the Marina, where the group stayed for two nights.
"I basically gave him a short first [missionary] discussion," said Brother Gish, who served a mission in Atlanta, Ga.
"I let him know that, because this was a Marriott hotel, there would be a copy of the Book of Mormon in a drawer in every room," he said.
At Disneyland, where the musicians spent some time before returning home, several chorus members were among some people who became stranded for a few moments when one of the rides malfunctioned and halted, reported member Steven Knighton.
"Anybody know a song?" someone asked.
"We do; we're a choir," responded one of the chorus members. The vocalists then gave an impromptu rendition of "This Land Is Your Land." By the time the ride resumed and was finished, operators and other riders knew they had been regaled by the Mormon Symphony and Chorus from Salt Lake City.
Elder John M. Madsen of the Seventy spoke to the assembled group members at breakfast the morning following the Camp Pendleton performance. He told of a conversation he had the previous evening with a ranking commander who had attended the concert.
"He said, 'Marines aren't supposed to cry, but it was hard to listen to this music without crying,' Elder Madsen related, adding that the Spirit was poured out in abundance as the symphony and chorus presented their program of patriotic and sacred music and show tunes.
"Though only part of you have instruments, you were all instruments in the hands of the Lord," he said.
He spoke of the "transition period" in which the symphony and chorus are being discontinued and said the words of President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve, given on another occasion, apply in this instance: "In the Kingdom of God, every ending is a new beginning."
As the Church enters a new millennium in its history, music will undoubtedly play a major part, he added.
Here are brief reports on each of the three tour concerts of the Mormon Youth Chorus and Symphony.
ST. GEORGE, UTAH
Under a starry sky in a canyon of 1,500-foot, red-rock cliffs, the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus presented their program of patriotic and sacred music and show tunes at the Tuacahn Amphitheater.
Hosted by the 13 stakes in and around St. George, the concert was a gift to the Dixie community, a member-missionary effort in which Latter-day Saints were invited to bring their non-member friends and acquaintances.
G. Robert Ruff, president of the Mormon Youth Chorus and Symphony, said it was an ideal setting, with a gentle breeze blowing and a responsive audience that filled about 85 percent of the amphitheater.
SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
In the cavernous, aircraft hanger within the interior of the the USS Stennis, the symphony and chorus performed before some 600 people, including ship personnel, their families and invited guests.
Docked in San Diego Bay, the ship currently has a crew of about 3,000. (About 150 are LDS, according to LDS Chaplain Douglas Olauson.) When it is deployed, that number increases to 6,200, with the Air Wing attached.
Commissioned Dec. 9, 1995, it is one of the newer such craft in the fleet. It was named in honor of Sen. John Cornelius Stennis, who served 41 years in the U.S. Senate from Mississippi. Because of his devotion and commitment, he was referred to as "the father of America's modern Navy."
Prior to the concert, symphony and chorus members were treated to a tour of the ship, learning that it has an overall length of 1,092 feet, is capable of a speed greater than 30 knots and has an Air Wing of more than 80 tactical aircraft. (No aircraft were on board at the time of the concert, except for a non-functional one used for training purposes.)
The musicians were given dinner aboard the Stennis, going through the same chow line as the crew. The fare was remarkably varied and delectable, featuring chicken cacciatore, baked fish, mixed vegetables, mangos, melon, a salad bar and marble cake, among other items.
In introducing the symphony and chorus, Admiral Douglas Rawlstone, commander of the ship, noted that "we never let anybody come on the John C. Stennis unless attired in proper uniform." He then presented a cap to Elder Madsen emblazoned with the Stennis name.
Admiral Rawlstone gave a plaque to Robert C. Bowden, director of the symphony and chorus, recognizing his 25 years of service with the organization, and a separate plaque to the symphony and chorus themselves.
At the conclusion, he called director Bowden back out and said, "We know you started your career in the Navy as a seaman recruit; we're going to let you finish up as an admiral." He then gave him a cap with the "scrambled egg" lacing on the brim denoting admiral.
The program was highlighted by the final selection, "How Great Thou Art," in which some chorus members went into the audience, giving the rendition an intimate "surround-sound" effect.
"If you watched me closely, my feet were stomping and my heart was pounding and I was singing along with them," Admiral Rawlstone commented in an interview after the program. "They're a fabulous group, and it's wonderful to have them on the ship. I think Sen. Stennis, who was a great patriot, is looking down from above, and I'm sure it stirred his heart."
CAMP PENDLETON, CALIF.
"Anchors Away" and the "Marine Hymn" set the stage for the Mormon Youth Chorus and Symphony Armed Forces Day performance at the Base Theater in Camp Pendleton, the sprawling Marine Corps base at Oceanside, Calif., that is larger than Rhode Island.
The consummate programmer, director Robert C. Bowden assembled an assortment of crowd pleasers that included patriotic songs such as "God Bless America," "This Land Is Your Land" and "God Bless the USA," sacred selections such as "Amazing Grace" and "The Lord Is My Shepherd," and show tune medleys such as "Disney Overture," "By George" (a Gershwin tribute), and "Phantom of the Opera."
Of the three tour performances, this one perhaps was the most kinetic. The palpable energy between the audience and performers was at a high level just after the intermission, when the orchestra launched into "Semper Fidelis," the Sousa march with the Marine Corps motto as its title. By the time it performed "Stars and Stripes Forever," the audience was on its feet for prolonged ovations following that and each of the three subsequent numbers.
Charles Burt, base chaplain at Camp Pendleton, presented Brother Bowden and the Symphony and Chorus each with separate plaques as a token of appreciation and recognizing Brother Bowden's pending retirement.
"You have certainly made this night, for all of us, very special," Chaplain Burt said. "We will long remember this performance."
In response, Brother Bowden said: "I'm proud to say I have a boy who was in the Marines, and he served here at Pendleton. And I actually did, in 1953, my marksmanship with the M-1 here at Camp Pendleton." The remark brought robust cheers from the audience.
Prior to the performance the symphony and chorus members enjoyed a meal of hot dogs, hamburgers and potato salad outside the theater. In appreciation, chorus members serenaded their Marine servers with impromptu renditions of several hymns; the Marines kept demanding encores.
The appearances in the San Diego area by the Mormon Youth Chorus and Symphony were facilitated by Douglas Olauson, an LDS Navy chaplain based at Camp Pendleton. (The Navy provides chaplain service for the Marines and the Coast Guard.)
Chaplain Olauson is a 20-year veteran of the Navy, whose previous service includes a stint on the USS Nimitz, sister ship to the Stennis. As an aircraft carrier chaplain, he facilitated 56 services a week for various religious denominations, including LDS.
