Tabernacle Choir finishes tour at Red Rocks

Other concerts were in Kansas City, Mo., and Norman, Okla.

David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma and former Oklahoma governor and senator, conducted the encore number at the concert on the university's campus.

"It was a great honor and, at the same time, a terrifying experience to conduct the choir," Boren said. "My wife and I have been following the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for years. I'm a great music lover. I was in a band and orchestra at Yale."

Before the concert, Boren arranged for a university tie to be presented to choir announcer Lloyd Newell. When Newell appeared on stage saying he was wearing an OU tie and that the women in the choir were wearing the university's crimson color, the audience cheered and applauded. During the day, good-natured comments were made about the rivalry between OU and BYU. The two schools face each other in football this September.

The choir and orchestra members, along with staff and guests — with more than 560 people on the tour — arrived at their hotel in Golden, Colo., around 1 a.m. Monday after traveling 12 hours from Oklahoma City on Sunday.

They began Sunday morning with a sacrament meeting after breakfast. Along the way, Latter-day Saints in Hays, Kan., served them dinner in the student union building on the campus of Fort Hays State College.

The concert at Red Rocks marked the end of the tour, during which the choir and orchestra traveled more than 3,400 miles.

E-MAIL: gerry@desnews.com