SANTIAGO, Chile – Members of the Church as well as university students in central Chile learned first-hand the truth of the scripture in D&C 25:12 (“the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me”) as they attended performances by a trio of vocalists from Brigham Young University in early July.
The visit and performances coincided with the 50 th anniversary of the Church in Chile.
Dr. J. Arden Hopkin, a baritone and professor of music at BYU, was joined by fourth-year vocal students Emily Duke, soprano, and Juan Hector Pereira, tenor, in concerts and master classes at Catholic University and the University of Chile. They also presented fireside concerts in Santiago and Vina del Mar, where audiences packed the stake centers’ chapels and cultural halls.
Additionally, on the first day after their arrival in Chile, the BYU trio was featured at the Fourth of July flag-raising ceremony at the United States Embassy in Santiago. They sang ” America the Beautiful” and ” America” for about 300 U.S. citizens gathered under sunny skies.
The visit to Chile followed a week’s tour with concerts and master classes in Lima, Peru, where Hopkin served 40 years ago as an LDS missionary in the Andes Mission. He said it was during his mission that he began an enduring love of South American culture and music. The trio’s programs included folk songs representing various countries in Latin America.
The tenor, Juan Pereira, was born in Santiago but has lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, since the age of 2. He served in the Seattle, Wash., mission, speaking Spanish. His parents accompanied him on the tour to Chile. His father, Alex, served as narrator during the spiritual portion of their fireside program in which the singers bore their personal testimonies before performing a solo of a hymn meaningful to them. Juan said the highlight of the tour was being able to meet many extended-family members who were hearing him sing for the first time.
Soprano Emily Duke recently returned after serving a mission to the Dominican Republic, where she also learned to appreciate Spanish folk songs. She said the best part of the tour – her first as a soloist – was getting to know the people of Peru and Chile.
Wherever they sang, they first warmed up the audience with Chilean folk songs, inviting them to join in on “Si vas para Chile,” which they did with enthusiasm. Hopkin’s solo rendition of “Yo vendo ojos de negros” was a hit at firesides. He said their programs were designed with the folkloric music first to “open up” the listeners so the spiritual selections could then “hit them more deeply in their hearts.”
He recalled that a program in Lima that had the potential for disaster – nothing was ready when the singers arrived for the performance – actually turned out to be a spiritual high. “The spirit was so strong” as they sang American spirituals, he said, noting that the English songs they chose were all spiritually based.
Although the academically-connected activities with universities are useful, said Hopkin, it is always the firesides that stand out in any tour. Despite problems with fatigue, physical settings, and eating food they weren’t used to, the singers “relied on the Spirit, and it lifted us up,” said Hopkin.
Indeed, the spirit that accompanied their performances spread to their Chilean audiences, who were heard to describe it afterward with such complimentary words such as “hermoso,” “super-lindo,” and “Fue una banqueta” (“It was a banquet”).
