Sing farewell: Bittersweet moment
President Thomas S. Monson joined Mormon Tabernacle Choir members, staff and friends Sunday, April 26, 2009, to say thanks and farewell to one the largest single groups of choir members to retire at one time. Twenty-three choir members — seven men and 16 women — said goodbye to their fellow singers Sunday because they have reached the age or years of service that choir policy dictates they must retire from active membership in what President Ronald Reagan called "America's Choir."
Tabernacle Choir members, all of whom are volunteers but join the choir by invitation following an extensive audition and training period, can serve only between the ages of 25 and 60 and for no more than 20 years. At age 60, or 20 years of service, they must retire, always a bittersweet moment for those who have given so much of their own time and expense to sing with the choir through rehearsals, broadcasts, concerts, recordings and tours.
Sunday's group of 23 retirees (actually 24, but one, Lou Ann Crisler, left earlier in the year to accompany her husband in England) represents 393 years of service to the choir. Half, 12 of the group, served the maximum of 20-plus years under the batons of Jerold Ottley, Craig Jessop and today's musical director Mack Wilberg. Three of the retirees have served for fewer than 10 years, with the others going back 10 to 20 years each. The average for the group is 16 years.
One retiree, Laurel Rohlfing, first joined the choir in 1967 at age 19, before today's membership requirements were in place, and sang under the direction of Richard P. Condie as well as directors Ottley, Jessop and Wilberg. She took a 27-year leave of absence to serve on the Primary general board and write for The Friend magazine before returning to finish her 20 years of singing. During her years with the choir she participated in both the 2,000th and 4,000th anniversary broadcasts of "Music and the Spoken Word," which will celebrate 80 years of broadcasting this coming July. Her sister. Kathy Newton, also sings in the choir.
President Monson thanked the singers and their families for their years of service. "Congratulations for your faithful service to the choir and the Church," he said. "You are missionaries every time you sing." He said he enjoys being the choir's priesthood adviser.
President Monson joined Choir President Mac Christensen and Musical Director Mack Wilberg in shaking hands with each retiree and presenting each one a framed etched marble plaque of the Tabernacle organ and choir with a brass plate of the retiree's name and years of service.
Director Wilberg read written comments from each retiring member of their memories and thoughts of choir membership. Choir tours to Russia, Scandinavia and Jerusalem were often mentioned, along with the 2002 Winter Olympics and the Nauvoo Temple dedication. Many look forward to getting back to other interests, from quilting to painting to golfing, now that they'll have more free time in their lives. But Madeline Stover, who has been with the choir only six and a half years, quoted Oliver Cowdery in saying, "These are days never to be forgotten."
President Monson reminded everyone that choir service is a great opportunity to serve others and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sister Rohlfing concluded her comments by thanking all choir members, past and present, and encouraging those who continue to make up the 360-voice contingent of singers to "keep changing the world one song at a time."
During the lull between the end of the regular broadcast and when the retirement recognition program began, as the stage and seats were being rearranged, President Monson walked about the choir loft talking with choir members, staff and technicians. He was asked by choir photographer Debra Gehris if he would stand by Linda Margetts, the organist who played Sunday. Asked if he wanted to sit on the organ bench, he stared at the five manuals (keyboards) of 61 keys each, plus the 32 organ pedals in awe of the complexity of the instrument. Sister Margetts invited him to play something if he wanted and began adjusting organ stops and settings for him.
Much to the delight of the choir, the friends and families of the retiring choir members who were in the audience waiting for the retirement program, and several general public members lingering in the Tabernacle, President Monson played "To A Birthday Party" from the John Thompson piano instruction book Teaching Little Fingers to Play.
He told Sister Margetts that his mother was a piano teacher and, while he didn't continue his piano lessons, that was one of the songs he learned. He also played another children's melody using the black notes only as the chimes and other organ effects were adjusted for him. Asked if he wanted to play the trumpet (organ sound), he said, "Oh, I like the trumpet," and he did a little experimenting with different notes.
At one point Sister Margetts said she could set the fourth manual to play the harp. President Monson stopped, gave her a quizzical look and said, "I'm not ready to play the harp! Someone up there might get ideas."
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