Music committee selects anthem soloists
Sherri Boekweg
Mary Farnsworth
Voice Mail
Kim Pratt
Provo singer Madilyn Paige has joined vocal trio GENTRI to create a video tribute to Operation Underground Railroad in the hopes of bringing awareness to the organization's mission to rescue children from sex trafficking.
Mary Kaye Knaphus
Shayla Osborn Beck
Nathan Osmond
Brian Stucki
The National Anthem is sung before each performance of the Mormon Miracle Pageant by soloists selected from many recordings sent into the music committee, headed by Barbara Barton.
The committee reviews each audition recording and selects nine talented soloists.
Sherri Boekweg will open the pageant by singing at the dress rehearsal Wednesday, June 15; Marylee Farnsworth, Thursday, June 16; Voice Male, Friday, June 17; and Kim Pratt, Saturday, June 20.
Madilyn Paige, Tuesday, June 21; Mary Kaye Knaphus, Wednesday, June 22; Shayla Osborn Beck, Thursday, June 23; Nathan Osmond, Friday, June 24 and Brian Stucki will sing the final night of the pageant, Saturday, June 25.
Sherri Boekweg
Sherri Boekweg was raised in a musical family, and she loves singing and writing music. She enjoys sharing music with others and especially enjoys performing with her daughters. She has had many opportunities to perform as a soloist for community events including, “The Messiah” at Snow College, Easter Musical Offering in Mt. Pleasant, as well as the Mormon Miracle Pageant. She also enjoys musical theater and has performed the roles of Marian in “Music Man” and Grace in “Annie”. Her favorite roles are those of wife, mother, and being grandma to her two adorable grandchildren. She and her husband, David, are the parents of four daughters and live in Mt. Pleasant.
Marylee Farnsworth
Marylee Farnsworth is a Utah native. She discovered her passion for music at a young age starting with piano and singing. She found that music was a great tool for healing and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy from Utah State University. As an active member of the LDS Church, Marylee has used her musical skills in many callings. Marylee resides with her husband and three beautiful children in Saratoga Springs, where she has a music studio teaching piano, voice, and guitar.
Voice Male
Known as “Utah’s Favorite A Cappella group”, Voice Male has entertained audiences for over 20 years with their “a cappella
awesomeness.” Voice Male is comprised of six unique individuals who somehow found each other over 18 years ago.
John Luthy came up with the Voice Male concept while singing with some of the guys in the Logan LDS Institute Choir. Initially it took nine of them to cover all the parts, but a couple of years later they decided they no longer needed the nose flute player, the cowbell ringer, and the guy who claps, so they trimmed themselves down to just six.
Actually, some members had to move on and be grown-ups, so they decided to give it a go with just six. Over the years, they have had some pretty cool opportunities to sing in exotic locations (Sanpete County) and for some pretty great people (their moms).
Considering this is not their day job, they are lucky to pull together and accomplish anything at this point. They all graduated into careers ranging from Computer Networking (Nerd) to Real Estate to Law.
When they are not working or singing, they are enjoying time with their supportive wives and children. The latest tally: 23 children who like to call each other Voice Male Cousins. As families grow, hair thins, and hips break, they hope to keep chuggin’ along. As long as you’ll keep listening, they’ll keep singing.
Kim Pratt
Kim Pratt has been singing solos since she was six years old. When Disney’s The Little Mermaid was released in 1989, Kim could already imitate Ariel perfectly.
In high school, Kim sang in multiple choirs, including A Capella, Show and Chamber Choir, and the All-State choir in Utah, and various choirs and ensembles in Texas. One tour included a performance in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. She also studied voice with soprano Norma Ashton.
Since high school, Kim has continued to share her vocal talents, singing in Florida, Texas, Utah, California, Washington, and Idaho.
Kim is also a fine pianist who, after only a few months of piano lesson, taught herself. She has accompanied high school choirs and played in various church callings, including choirs, congregational singing, and being the pianist in every primary she’s been in for more than 10 years. She has taught both voice and piano lessons.
Kim’s greatest joy is being the mother of two adorable children. She is a financial services professional, who loves being in the great outdoors and loves running.
Madilyn Paige
Madilyn Paige is a singer-songwriter who has performed for audiences throughout the United States and Canada. She was a Top-20 finalist on Season 6 of The Voice, and was also a contestant on the farewell season of American Idol.
Madilyn won the “Next Big You Tuber” award at the 2015 CVX Live event, and is continuing to grow her YouTube channel. In addition to performing, she also travels and speaks to youth groups about the importance of having self-esteem, which is the message of her single “Irreplaceable.”
Madilyn put her EP out in 2015, and continues to write music that will uplift and inspire people. You can follow Madilyn at madilynpaige.com and on her social media channels.
Mary Kaye Knaphus
A multiple award winning entertainer, Mary Kaye tours extensively throughout the United States and Canada with her unique brand of western music. She is a native born Texan and as a young woman ventured off to Utah where she “married her a cowboy.” Their family has deep western roots that go back six generations. Mary Kaye now resides in the small western town of Escalante, a 140- year old ranching community in southern Utah, where her large family is involved in horse training, cowboying, and all things western. She has been married to her husband, Brad, for 30 years, they have 10 children.
Mary Kaye recently released her forth solo studio western album, Ride A Wide Circle, to glowing reviews. Premiere western music critic Rick Huff declared it, “The best western album to be released in a decade.” It debuted at #1 on the Western Music Charts and the title track has been selected to receive a Wrangler Award from The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
In 2013 Mary Kaye was recognized as Female Performer and Songwriter of the Year by the Western Music Association, also as Best Solo Musician by True West Magazine, and received a Spur Award from the Western Writer’s of America for her Butch Cassidy tune, “Any Name Will Do.” Additionally, she won the 2012 Song of the Year award from the Western Music Association with cowboy poet Les Buffham for their song, ”No Wilder Place;” a 2011 Will Rogers Award from The Academy of Western Artists’ for Best Western Female Performer, and was honored as the 2010 Female Vocalist of the Year by the Western Music Association.
Shayla Osborn Beck
Theater actress Shayla Osborn Beck studied musical dance theater at Brigham Young University, where she performed as a Young Ambassador, touring China, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
After BYU, Shayla moved to New York City where she was cast as Ado Annie in the national tour of Oklahoma. She has also starred as Doralee Rhodes (Dolly Parton) in 9 to 5 at both the Merry-Go-Round and North Shore Regional Theatres. She has also played roles such as Eve in Children of Eden, Christine Colgate in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Frenchy in Grease, and Fantine in Les Miserables. Shayla also performed in six summer productions at Tuacahn Amphitheatre.
Most recently, Shayla toured in both the 1st and 2nd National Tours of the Broadway musical WICKED, performing in more than 700 shows as the understudy for Elphaba and Nessarose, and as a member of the ensemble.
Shayla remains active in the arts as a voice teacher and vocal coach. She resides in Salt Lake City with her husband, Mark, and son Truman.
Nathan Osmond
Nathan Osmond is making a name for himself in the Country Music world with four consecutive #1 hit singles on various Country charts. He’s shared the stage with such names as Carrie Underwood, Chris Young, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Easton Corbin and more.
He was recently nominated as ”New Artist of the Year,” “Male Vocalist of the Year”and ”Country Breakthrough Artist of the Year” by the New Music Awards in Los Angeles. His music videos are seen on CMT & GAC and his new single “Welcome To The Party” is bound to be the hit song for parties around the world in 2016. He has plans to release a NEW album titled “Homeward Bound Heroes” this year featuring duets with Country Music legends Collin Raye and Linda Davis. The project will benefit the Wounded In Action Family Foundation.Nathan is their national spokesperson.
Nathan is the second oldest of eight boys. He is the son of Suzanne Osmond and pop icon Alan Osmond, of the performing group, The Osmonds.
Nathan starred for two years in the North American tour of the hit broadway musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and was even cast in the lead role of the North American tour of “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown.” He produced and starred in what was voted the #1 Family Show in Waikiki in 2011, “Pacific Swing Hawaii.” He played Gordon B. Hinckley’s mission companion in the TC Christensen film, “Gordon B. Hinckley – A Giant Among Men.” He also starred in “Joseph” and “Annie Get Your Gun” at Tuacahn Center For The Arts in Ivins. He’s proud to say he was a contestant on The Price Is Right with Bob Barker!
On top of his musical talents, Osmond was also selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans of 2013 by the United States Junior Chamber (The JAYCEES) for his musical achievements and humanitarian efforts. He just won Music Video of the Year at the Filmed In Utah Awards, the first-ever Utah Music Award in the Country category and the first-ever John C. Maxwell Leadership Award 2014 and 2015 in the category of Arts and Entertainment.
The Utah County Veterans Services Organization just awarded him with the “Entertainer of the Year” Award last year for all the work he does to help support the troops. He is a gifted public speaker and travels the globe helping both individuals and corporations to step into their greatness.
He is married to Sarah Eileen Osmond and they are the proud parents of four little boys, Zachary, Corbin, Samuel and Beckham.
Brian Stucki
Hailed as “superb” by the Boston Globe, tenor Brian Stucki continues to distinguish himself as an interpreter of opera, oratorio, and song. The Salt Lake Tribune recently praised his performance of Nadir in The Pearl Fishers as “an ideal match of singer to role.” Recently he debuted with the San Francisco Symphony in Handel’s Messiah and Houston Symphony in Schumann’s rarely heard Pilgrimage of the Rose. Last season he sang the tenor solos for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s historic Easter weekend performances of Handel’s complete Messiah, and returned to Arizona Opera in the title role of Roméo et Juliette.
Highlights of previous engagements include Roderick Usher in Philip Glass’s Fall of the House of Usher with the Polish National Opera, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte with New Israeli Opera, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Compañia Nacional de Opera at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Nadir in The Pearl Fishers with Seattle Opera and Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Opera Fuoco in Paris.
An accomplished oratorio soloist, he has performed in Haydn’s Creation with Boston Baroque and Utah Symphony, Mozart’s Mass in C, Requiem, and Mass in C minor with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Handel’s Messiah with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston’s Symphony Hall.
He made his Avery Fisher Hall debut as Achicham in Hiller’s The Destruction of Jerusalem, his Carnegie Hall debut in Spohr’s Die letzten Dinge with the American Symphony Orchestra and performed Holst’s Psalm 89 withthe Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Deer Valley.
Stucki holds a master of music degree from Indiana University and a bachelor of music from Brigham Young University. Also an accomplished cellist, he has released a recording of Rachmaninoff works on the Tantara label.
He resides in Spring City with his wife and three children. He recently joined with two fellow tenors to form a new ensemble, Ultimi.