Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach

As you may know, music plays a significant role in my life. The more I sing the more I agree with Friedrich Nietzsche who said, “Without music life would be a mistake.” Fortunately, this season brought several opportunities to sing!

25 November - The Messiah Sing-In at Abravanel Hall ushered in the joy of the season. I can't seem to go through a Christmas season without going to at least one Messiah sing-along. Christmas has not yet really begun until I sing Handel’s masterpiece.


1 December – The Saturday session of Stake Conference brought yet another opportunity to sing for a general authority. Cecil O. Samuelson presided over the meeting where we sang “I Will Stand as a Witness of Christ.”


15 December - Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, and Bells on Temple Square with special guests, The King's Singers at the beautiful LDS Conference Center proved to be a delight! Wow! What a remarkable performance that was! I now have a new appreciation of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”


18 December - Christmas Carol Service at The Cathedral of the Madeleine confirmed my love affair with the acoustics of Catholic cathedrals! The last verse of “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen” illustrates well what I felt from the evening:

“Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas all others doth deface:
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.”


23 December – Sunday School at my Grandpa’s ward yielded us a chance to sing several Christmas carols at the tail-end of our shortened lesson. With undaunted courage we tackled “O Holy Night”, “Patapan”, and others not found in our LDS hymn book. What a treat!

As Confucius says, “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”