But it's fun, too. "All the women bring in cookies."

And then there's the orchestra. "With the choir, you have the same eight parts each time. But the orchestra changes song by song. Plus, this week there's a huge trombone convention in town that some of our members are involved in, so we have to schedule around that."

Barry Anderson, administrative manager of the Orchestra at Temple Square, is the person who puts the orchestra puzzle together for each recording session.

"We have some 110-120 musicians on the roster. Like the choir, they audition and are set apart as music missionaries." But because it is a volunteer organization, "we have people from many walks of life. We have professional musicians, music teachers, other professionals, moms. But the sound they create, when they all come together, is very high caliber, very close to professional. It's amazing how it all comes together and meshes."

But not all members are needed every time. Plus, because this album features a lot of folk music, new musicians are brought in: a banjo player, the bagpipers, more harpists, piano players, penny whistle players.

What happens, Anderson says, "is that as the repertoire is selected, they bring it to me. My job is to do an instrumentation list. With the choir, if a couple of altos can't be there, the rest just sing a bit louder. But with the orchestra, if the clarinets aren't there, the bassoons can't just play louder."

So, he says, he has to find out when everyone one can and can't be there, and then put together a schedule. "Every night we have a different roster. We schedule around everything else in their lives."

But, he adds, the orchestra, which came on board in 1999, "adds so much emotion. The choir sounds wonderful. You add the orchestra and it enhances everything."

Mac Christensen, president of the choir, agrees. "We are blessed to have such harmony in this organization. It's very different from the business world, where you get a lot of strong-minded people pulling in different directions. We have strong-minded, talented people, but they are all here for the right reason. It's such a pleasure to be here."

In the past, he says, there were communication problems between the two entities. "But Barry has done just a good job. We are now one group, blended together."

This is more than a one-person job, he says. "The thing that probably blows my mind more than anything is how many people it takes to make it a success. We have a facility with sound second to none. The orchestra and choir come in and give everything they have. They go over it and over it to get it right. It's unbelievable. When it all comes together, it's a little miracle."

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com