[MUSIC - "Z"]
You are watching Mormon Channel Studio. My name's Yahosh Bonner, and you've just heard an original improvisational piece by Jake Lambson. Thanks for coming, Jake. Thank you. How long have you been playing? My mom put me into lessons when I was 3 years old, so almost 28 years. That was amazing. So that's something that you sat down, and depending on how you feel and what you felt like going, that's what came out. That's typically how I choose to do it. I don't have the attention span to actually sit down and write something and figure it out. So I like to just play whatever happens, because I feel like that's going to be the most sincere. That's amazing. So what inspires you? What moves you to do what you do on the piano? Well, I think it varies throughout different times of my life. However, recently my wife and I found out that we're going to be having our first baby. Oh, wow. Congratulations. I try to tap into the high calling of fatherhood as a source for inspiration. Absolutely, absolutely. So this piece that you just did, what was going through your mind? What feelings did you feel as this came? Well, they asked for a title of the piece, and I went with "Z," which is the nickname for my wife. And so I was mostly just thinking about her and what we've experienced together and what we have together in our future. That's awesome, that's awesome. So could you tell us just a little bit about your musical history and how you came to start performing and doing what you do? Sure. So I started when I was three. My mom says that I just always was pounding different notes out on the piano, so she put me into lessons. And as I was growing up, I'd go to the stake dances and stuff like that with my friends, and I'd always find myself disappearing into the Relief Society room to play on the piano instead of hanging out with everybody. And so it was always my source, I guess, for solitude. As I grew older, I had the opportunity to study with David Glen Hatch down in Provo and went on several international tours and got a little bit of exposure that way, focusing on classical works. And I think that's also been a source for inspiration. So, recently though, it's been a while since I've dedicated a lot of time. My grandmother recently passed away, and-- Sorry to hear that. --I came across something I've written down that she called me a few years ago, and she said, "Jacob, is everything OK?" I said, "Yes," and she said, "You have your entire family worried sick." I said, "What's going on?" She said, "What are you doing with your music?" And so it's something that I definitely want to spend more time focusing on throughout the rest of my life. Absolutely. You're going to bless so many lives. You're going to play another song for us? Uh-huh. Could you tell us what song you're going to play and what that song means to you? This one is an arrangement of the hymn "If You Could Hie to Kolob," and I first began arranging it in the MTC, on my mission. And if anybody goes and listens to any of my other recordings or anything like that, you can tell that this one's always been different. And I felt, for the longest time, I wasn't alone in the composition of the arrangement. And so my mission means a lot to me, and so this one takes me back there. Great. Where did you serve? I served in the Ohio Cleveland Mission. OK, great. Well, thank you. We look forward to hearing it. Take it away. Thank you.
[MUSIC - "IF YOU COULD HIE TO KOLOB"]