This past June, as part of the 30th anniversary of the Temple Square Performance series, the alumni from the Mormon Youth Symphony Chorus were invited back for a reunion concert.
The Mormon Youth Symphony Chorus began in 1968-69 with its first director, Jay E. Welch, who was the assistant Tabernacle Choir director at the time, and Lamar Williams, formerly of the Missionary Department.
Williams thought it would be a good idea to have a group of young musicians and vocalists to make some recordings — and Welch supported his idea.
The chorus started with 200 voices and a 95-piece symphony of youth 18 to 30 years old, that was to "serve as the musical basis of weekly radio and television programs circulated by the Missionary Department to some 455 stations throughout the nation and foreign countries." It became an official musical organization of the church from 1969 until 1999.
Brenda Homer, Jenny Pedersen and Elizabeth Pierce, all former members of the choir, came together to help organize the reunion concert this year.
"The first priority of the choir and the first priority of this concert was to share a testimony of Christ through music," Homer said.
Though choir members have experienced countless missionary experiences, there were a few recent stories that stuck out.
"(Our director) felt, and always has, that there is value in playing some of the other pieces of music that are used more in other Christian societies with the spirit of missionary work," Homer said.
One evening, as the choir was rehearsing the song "Amazing Grace," two women from Australia wandered into the tabernacle and wanted to know who the choir was. The women said that they had been touched by the music and were moved to tears.
"We never thought we would hear something like this coming from this building, we really feel something. What is it that we are feeling?" they had said. "(The choir members) were genuinely dedicated to serving the Lord through music. When they came back, it was amazing to us how that spirit was still there…and how much they still wanted to serve," Pierce said.
For more Temple Square Performances, check lds.org.
e-mail: hloftus@desnews.com