Back from Utah

Well, dear readers, We are back from our trip to Utah, and what a fantastic week it has been. We were treated royally and visited many places that will remain imprinted on the memory for years to come, amongst them being the Carl Bloch Exhibition at the BYU Museum and the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City where we went twice, firstly for the choir rehearsal the night after we arrived and secondly on the Sunday morning when we were in the audience for the recording of Music and the Spoken Word. I had the privilege of singing with the choir during their rehearsal, albeit that, due to a grotty head-cold, I was in the 'sick-bay' section! The Sunday morning broadcast at which we were guests was the latest broadcast in what is the longest running continuous broadcast in the world, and is in its 82nd year.


The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is 360 strong, and the singing is truly wonderful. As a memento of my visit I was presented with the latest CDs of the choir which I shall certainly treasure. All in all, from the hosting to the guesting, from people we met in the course of the shopping trips and visits to places of interest to the students with whom I had the privilege of spending time, it was a trip that features as one of the most memorable weeks of my life. On Tuesday evening, the final night before flying out on the Wednesday, I gave a talk about my work as a hymn-writer and this was followed by the BYU Welsh Choir singing a selection of my hymns under the direction of Jessica Anderson who sang my hymn, He's Always With Me, as a solo. What a memorable way to finish our short tour!


Later today I shall be sorting through the many photographs which we took and will share a selection of them with you tomorrow. The photograph at the top of this post is of the painting of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane which featured at the Carl Bloch Exhibition. Many of the paintings spoke directly to me, and with the image of this one in my mind I went back to where we were staying and wrote a new hymn inspired by the work.