Springfield Musician Wins “Direct the Mormon Choir” Contest

Springfield Musician Wins “Direct the Mormon Choir” Contest

by Bill Eargle

Justin Lewis of Springfield, Virginia, and a member of the Springfield Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, won the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's “Conduct the Choir Video Facebook Contest" that was held last year.  On Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013, he collected his prize by directing the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City performing Beethoven’s “Hallelujah Chorus” immediately after the choir’s weekly "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast.

 Lewis, now 30, has apparently wanted to conduct since an early age.  There are videos in Justin’s family from when he was about two years old at outdoor concerts and he would pick up a stick and pretend it was a flute or a conductor’s baton.

 Since then, he’s learned to play the cello — including working on a doctoral degree in cello performance at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. — and has a master’s degree in orchestral conducting at Penn State University.  He’s also the associate conductor of the United State Air Force Heritage of America Band.

 “It was a dream,” Lewis said of conducting the choir.  “My first thought was that ‘this isn’t real.’ There was a moment there where I thought to myself, 'is this really happening?'”

 “That wall of powerful sound is so lush and so fun to listen to,” Lewis said.

 “I’m impressed with how responsive they all are.  Everything that I would have them do, they would immediately make an adjustment based on a movement of the hand or a different place that I’m pointing my hand.”

 Lewis studied the musical score and listened to other performances of the song, including one by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  He wanted to make sure he had the tempo for the 360 choir voices and 110 orchestra members just right.

 “If you take it too fast, it’s hard to get words out quickly,” Lewis said. “But at the same time, if you take it too slow, it can be a little boring.”

 He also took into consideration the music speeding up at the end and the way music carries through the Tabernacle.

 “I might have driven the strings a little nuts because they have a lot of really fast notes, but they did a really good job,” he said. “I’m really happy with the tempo that we finally got.”

 Justin’s wife Jennifer, who is an accomplished musical performer in her own right, and their two boys, flew in from their home in Springfield for the Valentine’s Day rehearsal and Sunday’s performance.  And Justin’s mother was also able to come, and it was the choir that helped with her joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the late 1970s.  It is obviously an experience that they will all cherish forever. 

 If you would like to view Justin’s performance in conducting the choir and orchestra it can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJrn2LqNe_M.