For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song

For He hath done excellent things

“Can anyone doubt that good music is godly or that there can be something of the essence of heaven in great art?” —Gordon B. Hinckley

I knew from a very small age that I wanted to be a singer. I saw a stage at my preschool and immediately knew what it was, what it was for, and that I belonged on it. Music, and in particular singing, has been my most cherished connection with Jesus Christ. I have a neurological condition called synesthesia- when I hear music I see colors, patterns, shapes, landscapes, heavenly skies filled with sunsets and billowy clouds and vivid images of people I know. The Spirit often communicates with me through these images- I experience the world and all of its beauty as sound and images in my mind’s eye.

As a child I sang in the choir that my parents directed in our local Catholic parish from age 6 until I was 10 when they stopped attending church. I never lost my connection with Jesus Christ from my foundation of worshipping Him through song. At the age of 16 I spent the summer away from home for the very first time at The Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts as part of their Young Artist’s Vocal Program. While there, our choral ensemble sang many pieces of sacred music that praised Jesus Christ. I met young ladies from California who were evangelical Christians who explained to me that when Jesus Christ was dying on the cross, He was thinking of me specifically. When I returned home that summer I’m i got my driver’s license and I started driving myself back to the Catholic Church my parents had left 6 years earlier every Sunday. I never once lost my connection to Christ because He kept reaching for me through my love of music and the people I met along the way.

I fell in love with the music of classical composers from Bach to Mozart to Debussy and Satie that my mother played on our piano and that I was exposed to in the summer program, as every night they would bus us to Tanglewood to sit on the lawn and hear performances from world class artists from around the world. I later made the French impressionistic style of singing poetry my focus as I received my degree in Vocal Performance from the Boston Conservatory. And yet, my favorite pieces to perform years later were still the sacred- I performed Bach’s “Quia Respexit” from the Magnificat and “Laudate Dominium” from Mozart’s Vespers- a Latin mass sung in praise of Jesus Christ for my Senior Recital. I etched these words on my heart and still do to this day- the words of Mary as she said “Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord” and “Praise the Lord all you nations, for His mercy is conferred upon us now and forever.” It was at the conservatory that I met my husband, a picture of Jesus holding a lamb on his desk; and my best friend Kari from Bothell, Washington who was a self proclaimed born again Christian. She invited me to the conservatory Bible study group called “The Tent” and we had endless walks and conversations about Jesus Christ. Her friendship renewed my testimony of and faith in Jesus Christ.

Performing music brought me closer to Christ because He became my partner in each piece of music. Firstly, because He created my body and the instrument that I use to create my art. Secondly, because He is lending me my breath- the most essential component of music to a singer. Thirdly, from age 5 until this day I would always bow my head and say a small prayer to ask for help with my performance, and once again bow my head and pray immediately after in thanks or in seeking comfort and refuge from the Lord if my performance or audition didn’t go as well as I had hoped. President J. Reuben Clark Jr said “We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer.” My Catholic Grandmother often quoted St. Augustine when she would say “He who sings prays twice.”

In Alma 30:44 we read; “all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth⁠, and all things that are upon the face of it.” and D & C 93:36 states “The glory of God is intelligence.”

The Lord created the earth, all things that appeal to our senses such as sound and music, and all of the people in it. Through scared knowledge and intelligence, which is the glory of God, the people here on earth created instruments and developed a system of organizing sound through music theory using mathematics such as the circle of fifths, harmonics, chromatics, intervals and modes- notes on the treble or the bass clef, and key and time signatures- organizing them into unique creations and combinations of sound that move the spirit. A universal language. A language accessible to all who are willing to learn and participate in the creation, as well as a universal method of communication that can convey emotion where words and language fail. President David O. McKay said, “Music is truly the universal language, and when it is excellently expressed how deeply it moves our souls.”

There is a quote from. President Spencer W. Kimball that reminds me of an experience I had as a conservatory student. He said, “We are in a position, as musicians, to touch the souls of those who listen.” The chair of the Division of Music at the Boston Conservatory, Dr. Karl Paulnack once told us during a back to school invocation- “Just across the River at Harvard University- medical students are learning how to open and heal the body using surgical instruments. Here, we are learning how to open and heal the soul using our instruments.” That really resonated with me and I know that it is true.

I believe that all of the beauty in the world reflects the glory of God- beautiful music can help us to capture the majesty and glory of our Savior Jesus Christ- we can bear testimony and tell His story as we sing, we can learn the language of God as scripture passages are set to music, making it easier for us to write them on our hearts. The creation of music and the collaboration of voices and instruments glorify Him. The Spirit can testify to us through the echoing overtones of voices in a large conference hall, or through the 12 note trill of a wood thrush at dusk, or even through the silence found as an orchestra rests before the next movement. President Spencer W. Kimball taught “Some of the greatest sermons that have ever been preached were preached by the singing of a song.”

2 Nephi 22: 2, 5

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust⁠, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song⁠” “Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth.”

Through singing unto the Lord I have received a witness that He is the Christ, I have felt His redeeming Love and have gotten glimpses of His glory through the beauty of music.

So… stay tuned. The above photo is from my music video with The Divine Music Project and it is being released THIS WEEK! I will share a link to it as soon as it drops! I feel that I was born to sing this song and to do this project and I cannot WAIT to share it with you!!

Read 2 Nephi 22; Alma 30:44; Doctrine & Covenants 93:36

Recall How has music strengthened your testimony of Jesus Christ?

Reflect Even if you do not consider yourself to be a musical person, how can you include sacred music more in your life?

Reclaim Put on a beautiful piece of music that helps you to feel the Spirit and feel the joy of Jesus Christ!

This post was taken from a talk that I was asked to give on Sunday, April 27, 2025 in my ward.