The BYU Chamber Orchestra brought students and faculty together in a musical assembly devotional featuring a range of orchestral arrangements on April 8.
The orchestra consisted of students who will be representing BYU as they tour through Italy, Sylvania, Croatia, Hungary and Turkey throughout the month of May. The devotional represented a preview of the devotional the students will give several times on their tour.
The songs varied with classic composers such as Bach, Mozart and Handel among many others.
The director of the orchestra said they think of the “patron saint of BYU music assemblies,” Elder Adam S. Bennion of the Quorum of the Twelve, when performing at events such as the devotional. “In this church, we should have good music and more of it, good speaking and less of it,” he said.
The musical program will be narrated in various languages while on tour, but the devotional’s narration was given in English.
“We have all felt these compelling songs in our own hearts; songs of joy and sorrow, meditation and grieving, anguish, hope and relief,” a piece of narration between numbers reads.
The narrator described music from the program as as an unspoken prayer from the composers who wrote and musicians who play the music.
Jessica Kirkham, a freshman inspired by the devotional’s music, said she was impressed by the discipline of the students who played.
“People can be inspired by other’s passion and talent and discipline,” Kirkham said. “It’s not something everyone does, and that makes it easy to appreciate.”
Xander Hacking, a senior at BYU, said he noticed the students who were in the orchestra weren’t all wearing uniform clothing like many other orchestras.
“It just showed that it was a group of students coming together and that stood as an analogy for the rest of us students as we come together at the end of the semester,” Hacking said.
The Unforum will take place April 15 in the Marriott Center at 11:05 a.m to celebrate the conclusion of the 2013-2014 school year. It will feature performances by Divine Comedy, Vocal Point, and BYU Cougarettes among others. President Samuelson will be giving his final address as BYU president.
