Plano Texas Stake Invites All to Join the Messiah Sing-Along with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

On Friday, March 23, 2018, throughout the world various community, music, and church groups, as well as individuals in their own homes, will be using the internet to join their voices with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on Temple Square in singing Messiah. It will be an unprecedented world gathering bringing together Christians around the world in a celebration of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ as well as fans of Handel’s beloved oratorio for a live performance by this world-famous Choir and Orchestra and renowned guest soloists.

Individuals and groups are invited to host their own Messiah Sing-Along. For 17 days after the concert, there will be an on-demand stream convenient for your Messiah event. The on-demand concert will be available on the internet from Friday, March 23 at the end of the live stream (approximately 11:00 p.m. MDT) until Monday, April 9 at 11:59 p.m. MDT. Downloadable musical scores are available at http://ks.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/c/cc/IMSLP162690-SIBLEY1802.17529.6eef-39087018850539score.pdf.

The Plano Texas Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 2700 Roundrock Trail in Plano, is hosting a Messiah Sing-along, free and open to the public, on March 24, 2018, beginning at 5:30 pm.

If you can’t make it to the Plano event,  you can watch in the comfort of your own home or organize your own group at other locations to join the choir for this event. The best part about the Messiah Sing-Along is that it is as easy and inexpensive as watching YouTube. All you need is an internet connection, speakers strong enough so that people can hear while they are singing, and a monitor.

Schedule your own event at a time convenient to you. The Messiah concert is available via:

• Live Stream: A live stream of the concert via the internet on March 23, 2018 begins with a pre-concert feed at 7:00 p.m. and the full concert at 7:30 p.m. MDT.
• On Demand: For 17 days after the concert, there will be an on-demand stream convenient for your Messiah event. The on-demand concert will be available on the internet from Friday, March 23 at the end of the live stream (approximately 11:00 p.m. MDT) until Monday, April 9 at 11:59 p.m. MDT.
• Church Satellite Broadcast The pre-concert feed and full live concert will be broadcast over the Church satellite system beginning Friday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m. MDT and repeated according to the airing schedule through Saturday, March 24 and again on at selected times on Thursday and Friday, March 29 and 30 to permit additional Messiah Sing-Alongs on Good Friday, March 30. The schedule is designed to facilitate Messiah Sing-Aalong events in LDS buildings at times convenient to local areas. The satellite feed can also be picked up by theatres or other locations with satellite reception. Please go to org/satellitefor the full schedule and a link to test the satellite feed, particularly at non-LDS church facilities.

Tuning in details:

• The live stream will begin at 7:00 p.m. MDT with a 30-minute pre-concert feed. This will feature background information about Messiah, including excerpts of interviews with conductor Mack Wilberg and noted musicologist Luke Howard. The pre-concert feed is to entertain people as they gather at the event location, so they are ready for the beginning of the concert.
• The pre-concert feed will pause 3-5 minutes before the concert starts to enable those at local events to have a brief welcome and greet participants. There will also be a 5-minute pause between Part 1 and Part 2 and again between Part 2 and Part 3.
• The actual concert will begin about 7:30 p.m. MDT. Don’t worry if you are late getting started. You can begin the internet stream again from the beginning and not miss a note! (Those watching on the satellite feed will join the concert already in progress.)
• If you are viewing the internet stream in an LDS Church meetinghouse, don’t worry if you can’t connect to YouTube. Click on the motab.org/messiahpage and an alternate viewer will seamlessly connect you to the worldwide stream.

Here are some suggested ways to make a Messiah Sing-Along successful:

• Make sure you have a stable high-speed internet connection at your Sing-Along location.
• Get the best audio quality possible by connecting to a home theater or public address system.
• Use a television or projector to plug into the computer you are using to stream the concert. (Don’t forget a VGA or HDMI cable.)
• Pro Tip: If you have a game console or set top box that can access YouTube, you can use it to stream the video in place of a computer (just search YouTube for “Mormon Tabernacle Choir 2018 Messiah Sing”).
• Print out Messiah concert programs from the downloadable PDFfor attendees to read. The program will include the Messiah libretto (lyrics), but not the music. The concert program will also be posted on the website in French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.
• Participants typically arrive at a Messiah Sing-Along with their own music score. Here is a link to a public domain score(216 pages) that is downloadable. (Please be aware that public domain/copyright laws vary from country to country, so this copy may not be free of known copyright restrictions in all jurisdictions.) If you want to purchase your own choral score, here is a link to purchase the frequently used  Schirmer Messiah score on Amazon.com.
• Additional Messiah resources in English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese can be found at motab.org/messiah.

For more information, go to https://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/messiah/messiah-sing.html