The Song of the Heart - Brett Stewart and Brandon Stewart
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- A few years ago, we were invited by some good friends to see a Christmas concert their kids were participating in. We were happy to be invited, and of course, wanted to support our friends and their kids! So we headed to Salt Lake City expecting a fun evening.
But when we walked into Abravanel Hall, we knew something was going on that we didn’t understand. The place was buzzing - it was packed full of people, with a tangible excitement in the air. We took our seats, and when the lights went down, nearly 1000 musicians flooded the stage and filled the balconies around us. When the music began, we were hit with a wall of sound unlike anything we’d ever heard. The quality of instrumentation, singing, and arrangement was truly incredible - by the time the concert was over, it felt like every person in attendance had been profoundly moved.
That was our first introduction to Millennial Choirs and Orchestras, known as MCO, founded in 2007 by Brett and Brandon Stewart - and now home to over 4,000 musicians in five different chapters.
Brett and Brandon are brothers, both with incredible musical resumes. Brett received a doctorate degree in choral conducting with cognate studies in composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a master’s degree in choral conducting from California State University, Long Beach, and a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from BYU. All in all, he’s been teaching music for nearly three decades, and is an accomplished conductor, composer, pianist, and vocalist.
Brandon received a bachelor’s degree from BYU before going on to receive a Master’s Degree from Juilliard, and being invited to complete a doctorate program and teach at Juilliard - before choosing to instead join his brother Brett and found MCO. In addition to his talents as a conductor, composer, and vocalist, Brandon has been second-prize winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition and the first prize winner of the MTNA national collegiate piano competition.
Brett and Brandon tell the founding story in the episode itself, but here we’ll just say that these two have felt guided each step of this journey over the last fifteen years, including in some difficult moments that have turned into remarkable blessings for the choir and for audiences around the world.
We’re releasing this episode this week because over the next few weeks, MCO will be conducting its Christmas Concert series, with concerts in Utah, Arizona, California, Texas, and Idaho. You can still find tickets to the concerts and we can promise that you won’t be disappointed. To get those tickets, head to millennial.org.
You can also find a book about the MCO story, called Divine Orchestration, written by our friend Greg Trimble and available on Amazon.
I am in my fifth year with Idaho MCO, so I have sung a lot of their arrangements / compositions. They are truly geniuses, and have attracted other conductors that have the same energy and enthusiasm. The music is demanding, but oh so rewarding. Hoping for greater exposure for MCO, and continued growth.
I was not happy about being dragged to my kids “community” choir concert in 2015, during my busiest time of year. I grumpily sat in my chair upset about the money we’d spent on tuition and the choir clothing for my kids. Then it started…. My anger was almost instantly replaced with awe. For almost two hours I couldn’t get enough. I love music, but I’d never had a more mind-blowing experience. There is no way to adequately describe the way the wall of sound washes over you. I will never miss another concert, so long as I can help it.
I grew up in the same stake as Brett and Brandon in Huntington Beach, as well as Brent Wells (who also conducted MCO Idaho for a time). I sang in the youth choirs that Brett conducted as a teenager and have always considered him a good friend. He led an octet that sang at my mission farewell in 1996. We all knew something special was happening back then. The talent these two have is something that can't fully be understood until it is experienced in-person. These guys can penetrate the hardest of hearts with the softest music. Truly inspired.
Hoy por ésas cosas de la vida encontré a Brett en RUclips. Tengo los mejores recuerdos de él cuando fue misionero aquí en Argentina. Comenzó en una humilde Rama de la iglesia donde teníamos un piano. Era notorio su don por la música. Gracias a Dios por hombres así. Si tienes contacto con él, avisenle que lo recordamos con amor. Saludos desde Tucumán-Argentina 🇦🇷
I was in a stake choir in Springville Utah years ago that Brett conducted. It was one of the best choir experiences I've ever had! I'm so happy to see that he and his brother are using their talents in such a beautiful way.
I was looking at my emails and happened onto this interview. i have all your albums which I have listened to so many times. When you played Be Still My Souls I was overwhelmed, as that is my favorite piece. Brett and Brandon that song was written for me. It speaks to the center of my soul. I am grateful that I listen to you entire interview. Thank you for listening to the spirit and for blessing the lives pf countless others. Cant wait to hear your concert in Salt Lake on December 5.
My wife and I joined MCO only 2 years ago. The second we looked at the challenging yet divine music, met the conducting and management teams, sang with beautiful diverse people from all over the country, we knew, without any doubt, that we would give everything we had to help this organization thrive! I am convinced the Stewart Brothers were not only inspired in this life to create beautiful music for God's children but in our life before we came here.
Faith matters podcast, thank you. Brett and Brandon are personal mentors of mine. Really! Brandon was my piano teacher and it was his suggestion that I go into Vocal Performance that has shaped and changed my life. I was privileged to live in the same ward as he and his 3 kids, whom I babysat after coming home from rehearsal in the Youth Chorus so that his wife Heather could participate while their youngest son was a baby, in the Grand Chorus, or adult choir. I have done this choir since 4 years after it started and it will forever be a part of mine and my children’s lives. My husband and I plan to live in AZ where Brandon conducts the AZ MCO section. This choir is what saved me and my testimony as a youth and I attribute my testimony being based primarily through music being born here doing this choir! I can pinpoint exact spiritual experiences that shaped my life all during my growing up years right back to MCO. I am eternally grateful to Brett and Brandon for how they have shaped me and helped me to have faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ and His gospel. I know that this is something that will truly shape and and continue to change the world and I plan on always being a part of it. Man, I love this choir! Thank you so much for this podcast! THE WORLD WILL KNOW THIS CHOIR!!!!
I loved watching and listening to this podcast. I'm so blessed to have been with MCO in AZ for the past 12 1/2 years. I feel so privileged to sing with amazing singers, a wonderful orchestra, and our amazing conductors. I'm so grateful for the inspiring musical arrangements they write and how they help us sing our very best. They know how to get the best out of us. Carol Cooper
Bought my tickets!!!! 🎉
I've been in the Idaho locale since it opened. I love it and practices every week make it so fun. Brett and Brandon are the best, they really make it so fun, and they have such a good energy, I'm so glad that they started MCO.
I found out about MCO when it came to Austin last year. I'd never heard of it, but I was ecstatic for the opportunity to be in a choir. I was in Ensign Symphony and Chorus when I lived in Seattle, and there was a void when I moved to Austin in 2017 and no longer had a choir in my life. I found out about MCO in 2021 and jumped on it. Now that I'm in my second year with the choir, it's one of the best things to happen to me. What these brothers have put together is nothing short of heavenly.
This is the first time I've got to listen to your podcast thru RUclips. I found this particular one very inspirational. If you can get all of the conductors of millennial choirs and orchestras for a follow-up interview. That would be a very great treat. Millennial choirs and orchestras have helped me through some very difficult times. Your podcast is a real inspiration. Respectfully. Michael A Benedict/Mic Blue 💙 a very loyal fan to MCO I SENT THEM SOME PICTURES THAT I COLORED A WHILE BACK FROM ERIC DOWDLE DOODLES CREATIVE COLORING FOR ALL AGES UTAH. AS A THANK-YOU FOR THEIR CONTINUED INSPIRATION TO THE ARTS. AS IS YOUR PROGRAM
I’m so grateful to be a part of this organization here in Arizona! For the last 13 years of my life it has enriched my soul, and I will always strive to be a part of it in any way I can!!
I have been an aficionado of the brothers and their efforts since their first Orange County concerts. The presentations are always top quality, always stunningly beautiful! Many friends and a few relatives have and are performing with the choirs and orchestra making attending them even more engaging. I tell everyone I know to get to an MCO concert!!
You are angels of hunger to learn and grow and I am soaking it all in eagerly! I feel a very strong desire to fulfill my call like these brothers through dance and music! What a divinely orchestrated empowering emotional experience that just was. My heart is exploding