Orientation/Choir School Day One

I was so excited to start our Choir School and Temple Square Chorale experience tonight with orientation. After Thanksgiving we were directed to pick up our security badge and parking passes. I went to the Church Administration building and had my picture taken for my id badge and was given my parking sticker and placard to park in the Church lots. Very exciting!

Tonight, they took our picture for the directory, we received official name tags and were given a binder for our Choir School notes. They introduced the staff and we got to tour the underground under the tabernacle. (We had seen some of the rooms already during the audition process.) The highlight of the tour for me was getting to see the sister's dressing room. There hanging in each choir members spot were the infamous choir dresses. As much as we joke about those dresses, I felt the spirit, very strongly, seeing them hanging there and meeting the woman who, up until 2 years ago, hand made each dress herself. We also walked through the musical library (housing over one million pieces of music) and received our music locker. There is a team of volunteers who work in the music library to make sure all 360+ members have the music they need for each weekly broadcast.

Tonight's topic in Choir School was Alignment. Seems like a basic topic but fundamental in surviving as a singer. You can expect your instrument to operate correctly if you're slouched over with poor posture. She gave us some stretches to strengthen the muscles most commonly fatigued once you begin using good posture. We also got to sing a little bit. Singing Angels We Have Heard On High she had everyone sing it slouched over then in the middle of the phrase stand upright with correct alignment. The difference was immediate and obvious.