The 2nd Semi-annual Blog Post

OK, so as all of the wonderful comments have pointed out, perhaps I haven't kept up on this like I should. It's not for lack of news, just laziness. Good ole fashioned laziness.

Two weeks ago, we did two nights of "The Price of Freedom" in concert at Mountian View High School in Mesa. The last time we'd done that one was over 3 years ago and it was well overdue. Everything turned out really great. The cast was fantastic and the audience was blown away. It's hard as a conductor for these concerts, because if the audience loves it, they're really quiet. So you start to wonder, "Are they bored? Asleep? Have they left the building?" But when we finished on Friday night, by the time I turned around to take a bow to the "sleeping crowd," they were on their feet and they brought us out for a second bow. Saturday was the same. As usual, I wish we could have had at least 2 more nights.

So now, I've been talking to McKane Davis (my close friend and fellow 259-er) who wrote the show with me, and we're working toward refining the show to be filmed for broadcast on PBS and public television in general. In June BYU-TV will begin airing our Abravanel "Joseph Smith the Prophet" performance, and depending on the reaction to that, I think "The Price of Freedom" would be an obvious follow-up.

In two weeks, we'll be performing "Joseph Smith the Prophet" at the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We'll have an enormous choir of almost 300 voices, a full orchestra (if I can somehow track down the elusive oboe position) and some of my favorite soloists, as well as some first-timers and it should be an amazing experience. I mean, it's the Tabernacle. And it's already sold out, which just makes it that much more exciting. If you're reading this, you'll be in town and don't have tickets, not to fret, the Temple Square people usually let in a lot of standby people, so I would try your luck for sure.

So there you go. The latest news. If things continue like they have, I should be posting again sometime in 2009. Till then...