Mormon Tabernacle Choir Tour 2013 Day 1: Ohio

Greetings from Shaumburg, Illinois! Having now survived a breakdown of my new laptop, a collapse of my new cell phone, and a major social-media-withdrawal-induced-panic attack of my mind, I am now eagerly climbing back into the blogosphere saddle to finally give you my Tour Updates! Here is the first of many to come:

Day 1: Wednesday June 12, 2013

My best friend and choir tour room-mate Debby and I arrived at the SLC Airport at 5:00 am for check-in with a 6:00 am departure. [Big shout-out to Mr. MoSop for sacrificing his sleep to drive us there!!] We were assigned to the “Red Flight”, the earliest of three large chartered airplanes flying to Columbus, Ohio. When we arrived at the airport, the sliding doors greeted us with official Choir logos (that was cool). If you look closely in the top photo of this collage you might spy our famous broadcast announcer, Lloyd Newell.

Arriving in Columbus, Ohio we were treated like special VIPs. Our airplanes taxied to a secluded spot where we could disembark safely directly onto the runway and board our chartered buses patiently waiting all in a row! A crew of airline baggage folks rapidly unloaded our bags from the plane and stowed them efficiently under our assigned buses for us. (very cool).

The buses whisked us away to Nationwide Arena (home of the Columbus Blue Jackets) where we would be performing that night. There we would enjoy a very nice lunch and then wait until our Sound Check rehearsal. After the sound check, we would actually be fed again (no one is allowed to starve on tour), and then we would get to perform our very First Tour Concert!

During the approximately 2 hour waiting time between lunch and sound check I decided to get in some exercise. After all, Mr. MoSop and I are officially training to complete our first Half Marathon in just a few short weeks, so it was time to get moving! I became well acquainted with Nationwide Arena as I jogged around all 3 levels and up and down the stairs. I discovered a ridiculously steep escalator that went up 3 stories in one straight shot (sorry, I didn’t think to take a picture of it – just trust me = steep!!). So, of course I decided to see how many times I could run up and down that.  For the record, I could “sprint” it 3 times, jog it 3 times, briskly walk it 3 times and drag my heaving carcass up 1 more time for good measure. The good news was that I got a LOT of great exercise in. It helped wake me up and feel energized. The bad news is that I fear I had lost all hints of minty freshness by the time we hit our sound check (sorry, Sopranos!) I also felt REALLY sore the next morning! Note to self: next time, take it easy on the stairs thing.

We wore our blue dresses and our big smiles for the Concert in Columbus! The audience here had SO MUCH ENERGY! I could feel it as soon as got on stage and I know we all felt their love and excitement. I knew the evening was going to be special. This  concert was truly the perfect launch for our tour. During intermission, I was looking out into the audience enjoying the chance to see the faces behind all the clapping hands. I saw several LDS missionaries seated throughout the crowd- both young lady “sister missionaries” and young men “Elders”. It warmed my heart. I thought of of my own daughter Sister A, serving in Tennessee. What a privilege it is to be serving as a “musical missionary” while she is serving as a full-time missionary for our church! I have a tender and happy heart knowing that she is experiencing the same kind of joy that I am as we share our love for God, family and country through the words and songs of our heart. I really enjoy all of the songs that I get to sing with the Choir in different ways. However, I am particularly moved every time I sing the stirring pioneer anthem “Come, Come Ye Saints“. And, nothing can compare to being able to stand and sing the “The Battle Hymn of The Republic” with 350+ other voices with the organization that made that song so famous. It always gives me goosebumps! And, that’s just one more reason I love going on tour; getting to perform these great songs and feeling the spirit of them soaking into my bones multiple times in one week. It’s both an energizing boost and a healing balm to my soul. I always hope when I am performing those songs that each person in the audience is feeling this music as much as they are hearing it.

The people of Columbus and surrounding area are obviously really awesome people. I am sorry we were not able to spend more time in their city and get to know them better! Unfortunately, our tight tour schedule and all the logistics involved required that we board our buses immediately after the concert and head directly to Indianapolis.

Thank you, Ohioans for giving us such a warm (and “Presidential”) welcome! – MoSop

Related articles

• I’m Going On Tour With The MoTab (mormonsoprano.com)
• Mormon Soprano Instagram Blogs MoTab Tour (mormonsoprano.com)
• Mormon Tabernacle Choir heads to Midwest for summer tour (ksl.com)
• My Musical Missionary Story, Part 2 (mormonsoprano.com)
• My Musical Missionary Story, Part 1 (mormonsoprano.com)