On Tour with The Tabernacle Choir: The Colonial Williamsburg Flash Mob

In 2011, I traveled through the eastern United States and Canada as a member of what was then called the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The organization adopted the name The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in 2018, but the memories of that tour remain tied to the name we used at the time—and to one unusually joyful performance in Colonial Williamsburg.

Originally published June 24, 2011. Substantially revised and expanded July 2026.

Music Beyond the Concert Hall

Touring with a large choir requires discipline. Every person must arrive at the right place, at the right time, with the right music, clothing, identification, and understanding of the schedule. Travel days can be long, and concert days require energy even after buses, airports, rehearsals, and unfamiliar surroundings.

That structure makes the moments of surprise even more enjoyable. Most Choir performances take place in formal settings where the audience arrives expecting a concert. A flash mob reverses that relationship. Music appears in the middle of an ordinary day and temporarily changes the character of the space.

A Choir First in Colonial Williamsburg

During the tour, we participated in a flash mob in Colonial Williamsburg. Singers blended into the surroundings before the performance began. Then the music gathered force as more voices joined, turning a public place into a concert venue one person at a time.

The setting made the experience especially memorable. Colonial Williamsburg is already a place where history feels close enough to touch. Adding live choral music created another layer of shared memory: visitors who had expected a day of sightseeing suddenly found themselves inside a performance.

What Touring Teaches a Singer

• Consistency matters. The audience in one city deserves the same preparation and commitment as the audience in the next.
• Every singer supports the whole. A large ensemble depends on individuals listening, blending, and resisting the temptation to draw attention to themselves.
• Music crosses unfamiliar boundaries. Audiences may differ in location, background, and expectations, but a shared musical moment can bring people together quickly.
• Flexibility is part of professionalism. Touring introduces changing acoustics, schedules, temperatures, and practical complications.
• Service can be joyful. Serious preparation and playful performance are not opposites. The preparation makes the joy possible.

The Audience Changes the Performance

A concert audience usually knows when to sit, listen, and applaud. A surprised public audience reacts more visibly. People turn toward the sound, search for its source, recognize what is happening, and invite others to pay attention. Watching that recognition move through a crowd is part of the performance.

Those reactions reminded me that music is not complete when the notes are correct. It becomes meaningful in the meeting between performer and listener. Sometimes that meeting happens beneath carefully controlled stage lighting. Sometimes it happens outdoors among visitors who did not know they were about to become an audience.

A Memory from the Road

Large tours eventually become a collection of smaller memories: a rehearsal room, a bus conversation, an unfamiliar city seen through a window, a moment when the sound locks into place, or a crowd that begins smiling before the final chord.

The Colonial Williamsburg flash mob remains one of those memories for me because it captured something the Choir seeks to do in every setting: offer music as a gift and create a moment of shared hope.

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Visit Music and Poetry for more of my sacred music, hymn projects, and recordings. For another firsthand Choir reflection, read Keepsake Christmas Stories: Twenty Years with The Tabernacle Choir.