Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir (and others)

My wife and I had dinner last night with, among others, Laura Hales and Brian Hales in The Roof Restaurant, overlooking Temple Square.  And then, afterwards, we attended the annual Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert with Laura and Brian in the Conference Center.  (Brian was a member of the Choir for fourteen years.)

The featured headliners were Laura Osnes and Martin Jarvis, along with Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Ben Bliss, and Tyler Simpson from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Part of the program was devoted to Händel’s Messiah.  When, as custom dictates, the audience arose for the “Hallelujah Chorus,” I had a strong and satisfying sense of being part of a musical and even Christian tradition that is now approaching three hundred years of age.