MOTAB Tour

Marcus has the unique opportunity to be the Woodside Stake Director of Public Affairs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Yes, definitely a mouthful.  But so is the group that he meets with as part of this calling: NYMMPAC - The New York Metro Multi-stake Public Affairs Council.  It tends to be a very busy and involved calling, and it does have some very exciting moments.  Marcus has been a part of the preparations for the Carnegie Hall concerts during the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's East Coast Tour.  There have been many, many meetings and at least weekly conference calls planning out how to use this event to create some great relationships with local leaders all across the New York Metro area.  VIPs were selected and invited to a reception and the concert, and Marcus was asked to attend the concert on Thursday night as one of the hosts.  And by a lucky break, there was also a ticket for me!  We were both really looking forward to the evening.

Carnegie Hall, finally without all the scaffolding

The reception was on the Weill Terrace, which was on the 9th Floor.  There was a big, open reception room and a nice terrace with a beautiful view.

The Weill Terrace

Looking down from the terrace at the street

Looking across the terrace

Before the event started, we were able to grab a picture outside

Check out the view!

Not only did we get to attend the reception out on the terrace, but we had amazing tickets.  They were in the first tier where the seats are basically private boxes.  It was incredible.  I could easily see all the cellists, and Marcus enjoyed his view of the percussionists.  The VIPs Marcus invited who were able to accept were with us in our fancy box: Marcus' good friend Commander Barker from the Navy and a local Queens police captain and his wife.  Also, Heidi, our Stake Relief Society President, and her husband were with us.  We had a really nice time.

Our view of the stage

Looking up from our box to the rest of the hall

The Orchestra at Temple Square warming up

There are probably 300 bodies on the stage!  Including a friend from college named Kevin, the genius conductor Mack Wilberg, and a few more familiar faces.  It was extra exciting knowing a few people on the stage.

Commander Barker and Marcus

Heidi and her husband

OTS and Motab
Man, the church likes acronyms :)

A standing ovation from a very full hall

It was a beautiful concert.  You can watch a few clips from it on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Blog.  One of our favorite parts was the guest soloist, Alex Boye.  If you haven't heard him perform, look him up!  He's amazing!  Basically he adds an African twist to modern pop songs.  It's so unique, and he does it extremely well.

Apparently the choir has a tradition of inviting a guest conductor to lead an encore selection.  Santino Fontana conducted the final piece of the concert.  He was part of the Motab Christmas concert, was the voice of Hans in Frozen, and starred as Prince Topher in Cinderella on Broadway when Marcus and I saw it!

Santino Fontana

It really was an incredible evening.  Obviously we knew the concert was going to be amazing, but having such great seats really enhanced the experience.  Plus it was really interesting and exciting to be part of the public affairs outreach and be hosts for the evening.