By STEVE JENSE
Behind the lights, cameras and action of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a BYU graduate who has a job many people never think about.
Ed Payne is the producer of the Sunday morning program, “Music and the Spoken Word,” and the semi-annual general conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Payne, who received a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and a master’s degree in communications from BYU in 1980, said he never wanted to work for a TV station. His dream was to work for something more long-term. Producing the Tabernacle Choir broadcasts has helped fulfill that dream.
“What better job could you have than to help produce an important message that is delivered to millions around the world?” Payne said.
Though his job may appear to be church-related, Payne is not employed by the LDS Church. Payne produces the conference and Tabernacle Choir programs for Salt Lake City-based Bonneville Communications.
Payne’s list of accomplishments includes more than just the choir’s Sunday performances. He has produced all of Utah’s Olympic bid presentations since 1984; all of the choir’s recent video specials; the choir’s broadcast and TV coverage of their 1993 tour of Eastern Europe; and the choir’s singing for George Bush’s 1989 presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. Payne was even able to interview then-President Ronald Reagan for the broadcast.
Payne said the fact that he isn’t seen on the screen is part of the beauty of it all.
“My job is to make sure what you see on TV comes off flawlessly,” he said.
Payne said TV observers do not realize what goes on behind the scenes to make 8-10 hours of live general conference programming come off error-free. Until they take a tour, that is.
“After the tour people say, `I had no idea any of this goes on,’ and I say `Good, because if you did notice what goes on, it wouldn’t be as good as it is,'” Payne said.
“It takes everybody working together,” he said. “The reason it comes off so well is that everyone has a vested interest in what we do.”
Not everyone outside of Utah has an interest in the Tabernacle Choir, however.
While touring with the choir on the East Coast, for instance, Payne said his job as producer for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcasts did not raise many eyebrows.
“People are a lot more impressed if they’re from Utah or somehow associated with the choir,” he said.
But simply being associated with the Tabernacle Choir is all the recognition he could hope for, Payne said.
“To go every Sunday morning and listen to the choir in person makes it all worth it,” he said.
Payne will never forget when his birthday fell on a Sunday. While Payne was moving around doing his usual job, the choir unexpectedly began singing “Happy Birthday.”
“I don’t know what can top that,” he said, “to stand there and have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing you `Happy Birthday.’
