Sandra Turley has literally performed on Broadway. Cast as Cosette in Les Miserables, Sandra was part of the original closing broadcast ensemble, and that experience set her on a course for the rest of her life. Sandra is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also inadvertently referred to as the Mormon Church), and uses her God-given talent to uplift and inspire others.
For the first time in the ten years the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been online, the official website has been updated. It now has a clean, modern look that offers far more information than the previous version.
Fans of the Choir can quickly find upcoming appearances at the top of the front page. This is followed by news highlighted in bright, colorful boxes—a history of the choir, a study on the impact of organ music, and information on choir auditions highlighted this section the day I visited the site.
Need a quick dose of Mormon Tabernacle Choir music? There are videos right on the website you can watch, including an entire televised special. Putting together a holiday wish list? The site offers a complete listing of products with links for sites that sell the music. You can listen to brief clips of each song on the albums. There is also a listing of places on which to find televised appearances.
A blog keeps fans up-to-date on new developments and offers fun insights into the unique choir and visitors can find out about other related programs, including the orchestra and the bell choir.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is popular with people around the world, regardless of faith. While some of their music is uniquely Mormon, others are of general religious origin and some are just fun or culturally popular tunes. Their concert tours consistently sell out and include a variety of musical styles that surprise many people. They also include impressive soloists, including the very popular Alex Boyé. (more…)
Rebecca Pedersen, age 21, is one of six winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, one of the most important opera contests in the country. She is a sophomore at Brigham Young University. Rebecca caught the opera world by surprise because she has only been singing for three years and is the second-youngest winner in the sixty years the contest has been running. This was her first opera competition.
She only intended to do the local Salt Lake City audition for the experience. She felt it would help her in the future when she was competing seriously. However, she won, so she then went on to the next level, held in Denver, Colorado and finished up with two rounds in New York, where she also had the opportunity to receive training with the Met’s professional coaches. There were 1800 contestants this year and only two women made it into the final ten candidates. (more…)
David Archuleta, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church”), is a young well known young pop singer-songwriter. He has been singing since the age of six but had to stop for awhile because of a vocal paralisis. He says that he’s almost recovered from that now. Eventually made it into the 2007-2008 American Idol competition, and went on to gain the runner up position.
In this video David Archuleta talks about his favorite Church hymn, his favorite primary song, his favorite songs to sing, as well as reflections on the opportunity he had to sing in a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He also talks about some of his favorite songs to listen to, and about what it has been like since he has become more well known. (more…)