On Sunday, September 11th, the Mapleton Chorale and the Chamber Singers from Maple Mountain High School accompanied by an amazing volunteer, 51 member orchestra performed the "Memorial" piece that we did in New York.... here in Utah on the MMHS stage... for our friends and families to enjoy. It was the tenth anniversary of 9-11. Several choirs from around the nation were also scheduled to perform this piece that night including the composer of the piece, Rene Clausen, who led a group in a performance at the Lincoln Center in New York. Now that would have been awesome to be a part of.
But I can't imagine that even Rene did a better performance than we did. Cory directed us wonderfully.
The orchestra was as good or better than the one in New York and our soloist was so much better than New York's. I was just thrilled to be a part of it all!! The music is so moving and powerful!
No doubt that he was very inspired in writing it.
We had two concerts of nearly sold-out crowd in both - the auditorium seats 1200 people! We had many that were disappointed that they couldn't be there. I felt that was such a compliment to us, but mostly it was a confirmation to me of the love people have for our country and that we are all still trying to heal and make sense of what happened on that terrible day ten years ago. At the beginning of the program, they showed a slide show, without music, depicting the events of that day and the after math. Cory was worried about how the audience would respond to no music playing with the slide show but felt that it needed to be a silent few moments for them to ponder and reflect. You could have heard a pin drop during the slide show. Then following that, the Chorale walked quietly in and down the four aisles of the auditorium and sang "Psalm 23". Still that awesome reverence remained as we sang that touching and powerful piece. Then we slowly turned and marched out..... no applause, no noise... just continued reverence and respect and thoughtful contemplation. We were amazed and deeply satisfied by the audience's response. At the finish of the powerful "Memorial" piece, again for several seconds there was silence... then one fell swoop of standing and applause.... and tears... from our eyes and theirs.
An emotional and unforgettable event.
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