Madson Memories: Busy Night

On December 14th, Tyson was playing in the Top of Utah tournament. Kristen and Dave were also moving, and Greg and I had received an invitation to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert. Tyson's team played two games the night before, then Greg took him over to Logan on Saturday and stayed for the first two games but then had to leave to meet me for the concert. Kaden and I went and helped Kris and Dave move. Then they kept Kaden while I went in to Salt Lake to meet Greg. Tyson's team won the championship and then went and celebrated at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Game 1: 81-8
Game 2: 71-16
Game 3: 102-37
Game 4: 62-16
Game 5: 78-25

Since we were not going to be home until late, Tyson's teammate Landon Brenchley invited him over to spend the night at his house. Rylan Jones also stayed over. Here is a picture of the three of them the next morning before heading to church.

Greg was asked by Doug Webb, a public relations person for the LDS church who lives in Preston a couple of months before the concert to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert and a dinner beforehand. We decided we would go. I was very surprised by it all. They had different areas of the conference center set up for dinner for different parts of Utah. Our area was norther Utah and parts of Idaho. Doug Webb hosted a table of 8. We sat with he and his wife, a judge and his wife, and a county commissioner and his wife. A prayer was given by a chaplain from Hill Air Force Base. We started out listening to a member of the seventy speak. Then the two star performers for the evening came in and spoke to us.

Recognized as one of the world’s most versatile singers and one of music’s most endearing personalities, Deborah Voigt is known as a leading dramatic soprano revered for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss and has portrayed some of the great heroines in Italian opera. She is equally at home with the music of Broadway and America. She recently starred as Brünnhilde in the PBS series Great Performances from the Met in Wagner’s Ring cycle. Ms. Voigt was the gold medal winner in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition and won first prize at Philadelphia’s Luciano Pavarotti Vocal Competition.

Celebrated British actor John Rhys-Davies is probably best known to film audiences for his roles as the dwarf Gimli inThe Lord of the Rings trilogy and the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films. His television credits include Shogun and War and Remembrance. Raised in England, Africa, and Wales, he credits his early exposure to classical literature for his decision to pursue acting and writing.

After a beautiful dinner, they gave each couple a gift. It was a CD of last year's performance. They then escorted us through a security area and to our reserved seats for the concert. It was an amazing performance. At times we laughed and at other times felt the Spirit so strong. It was an amazing evening.