Tabernacle Choir At Temple Square
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The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American
choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
, acting as part of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
(LDS Church). It has performed in the
Salt Lake Tabernacle The Salt Lake Tabernacle, also known as the Mormon Tabernacle, is located on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, in the U.S. state of Utah. The Tabernacle was built from 1863 to 1875 to house meetings for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...
for over 100 years. The Tabernacle houses an organ, consisting of 11,623 pipes, which usually accompanies the choir. The choir was founded on August 22, 1847, twenty-nine days after the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. Prospective singers must be LDS Church members who are eligible for a
temple recommend In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord. Temples are considered by church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually ...
, between 25 and 55 years of age at the start of choir service, and live within of
Temple Square Temple Square is a complex, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. The usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities that are immediately ...
. The choir is one of the most famous in the world. It first performed for a
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
in 1911, and has performed at the inaugurations of presidents
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
(1965),
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
(1969), Ronald Reagan (1981), George H. W. Bush (1989),
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
(2001), and
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
(2017). The choir's weekly devotional program, '' Music & the Spoken Word'', is one of the longest-running radio programs in the world, and has aired every week since July 15, 1929.


History

The Tabernacle was completed in October 1867 and the choir held its first concert there on July 4, 1873. The choir started out fairly small and rather undisciplined. On April 6, 1869,
George Careless George Edward Percy Careless (September 24, 1839 – March 5, 1932) was a prominent Latter-day Saint composer and conductor. Careless was born in London, England. As a child he studied at the Royal Academy in London. He performed at Exeter Hall ...
was appointed as the choir's conductor and the Tabernacle Choir began to improve musically. Under Careless, the first large choir was assembled by adding smaller choral groups to the main Salt Lake Choir. This larger choir, just over 300, sang at the church's October 6-8, 1873 general conference. It was at this point that the choir began to match the size of the spacious Tabernacle. On September 1, 1910, the choir sang the song "Let the Mountains shout for Joy" as their first ever recording. Three hundred of the 600 members showed up for the recording. Since July 15, 1929, the choir has performed a weekly
radio broadcast Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...
, ''Music & the Spoken Word'', which is one of the longer-running continuous radio network broadcasts in the world. Later directors brought more solid vocal training and worked to raise the standards of the choir. The choir also began improving as an ensemble and increased its repertoire from around one hundred songs to nearly a thousand. On July 15, 1929, the choir performed its first radio broadcast of ''Music & the Spoken Word''. By 1950, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square performed numerous concerts each year and had released its first long-playing recording. During the 1950s, the choir made its first tour of Europe and earned a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
for its recording of the "
Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...
". At the end of the choir's 4,165th live broadcast on July 12, 2009, the show's host, Lloyd D. Newell, announced another milestone that the show had hit: the completion of its 80th year in existence. The show has been televised since the early 1960s and is now broadcast worldwide through approximately 1,500
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
and
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
stations. On October 5, 2018, the choir retired the name "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir" and adopted the name "The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square" in order to align with the direction of LDS Church leadership regarding the use of terms "
Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...
" and "LDS" in referencing church members. The new name retains the reference to the historic Salt Lake Tabernacle, which has been the choir's home for over 150 years, and its location on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Several award-winning popular artists have reflected on the beauty of the choir's music publicly including
Bryn Terfel Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', '' Leporello'' and '' ...
,
Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...
(of
Gladys Knight and the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...
), Sting (of
The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...
),
James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
,
Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...
(of
The Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes ( keyboard ...
), and
The Osmonds The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group ...
.


Milestones

Since its establishment, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square has performed and recorded extensively, both in the United States (where U.S. President Ronald Reagan called it "America's Choir") and around the world. The following are some of its key points: * Visited 28 countries outside the United States. * Performed at 13 World's Fairs and Expositions. * Released more than 130 musical compilations and several films and videotapes. * Reached more than 100 million YouTube views on its channel (in October 2017). * "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" became the choir's first video to surpass 10 million YouTube views (in July 2020). The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square has performed for ten presidents of the United States beginning with
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
. The choir has also performed at the inaugurations of United States presidents Lyndon B. Johnson (1965), Richard M. Nixon (1969), Ronald Reagan (1981), George H. W. Bush (1989), George W. Bush (2001), and Donald Trump (2017). Other notable events the choir has performed at include the following: * Performed over 20 times at the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
in
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
, including at the Opening Ceremony, where they sang the
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
and the
Olympic Hymn The Olympic Hymn ( el, Ολυμπιακός Ύμνος, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of ...
under the direction of John Williams. * The American Bicentennial in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
(July 4, 1976) * The Constitution's bicentennial celebration at
Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
(1987) It has also participated in several significant events, including: * National broadcasts honoring the passing of U.S. Presidents: **
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
(April 12, 1945) **
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
(November 24, 1963)


Tours

From its first national tour in 1893, under the direction of
Evan Stephens Evan Stephens (28 June 1854 – 27 October 1930) was a Latter-day Saint composer and hymn writer. He was also the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for 26 years (1890–1916). Early life and family Stephens was born at Pencader, Carmart ...
, to the Chicago World's Fair, the choir has performed in locations around the world, including: *
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
(1926) Hollywood Bowl. *
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
(1934)
Century of Progress Exposition A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...
. *
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
(1935)
California Pacific International Exposition The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park, San Diego's large c ...
. *
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
(August 19 – September 17, 1955)
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, Prince Albert Hall in
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, Scheveningen,
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, Bern,
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. Also sang at the dedication of the Bern Switzerland Temple on 11 September 1955 on this tour. *
Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
(1968, 1972) *
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
(1973, 1998) *
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
(June 5–21, 1982)
Bergen International Festival Bergen International Festival ( no, Festspillene i Bergen) is an annual international music and cultural festival in Bergen, Norway. Biography The Bergen International festival is the largest festival in the Nordic countries in its genre and ha ...
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, Aalborg,
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. *
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, Strasbourg,
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(December 26, 1992 – January 6, 1993)
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. * Japan/
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(September 8–13, 1979) Festival Hall in
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, Fumon-kan Hall in
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. * Japan/
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(1982) *
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(May 24–30, 1981) "Week of Music of the Americas" and
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. * South Pacific (June 14 – July 5, 1988) Laie,
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, Sydney. * Eastern United States (2003)
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. *
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and Eastern United States (June 20–27, 2011)
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Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
. * Eastern United States (June 24 – July 7, 2015) Bethel Woods, Bethesda,
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. *U.S. West Coast (June 19 – July 2, 2018) Costa Meta,
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Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
, Mountain View,
Rohnert Park Rohnert Park is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco. The population at the 2020 United States Census was 44,390. It is an early planned city and is the sister city of Hashimoto in ...
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Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
.


Christmas concerts

The choir performs an annual Christmas concert in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City during the month of December. Typically, the concert consists of three performances: a Thursday dress rehearsal, followed by Friday and Saturday concerts. The combined audience for each concert series is approximately 63,000. Tickets to the concert are free, and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. A live album (CD/DVD) is typically released, along with the concert being aired on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
and
BYUtv BYU TV (stylized as BYUtv) is a television channel, founded in 2000, which is owned and operated as a part of Brigham Young University (BYU). The channel, available through cable and satellite distributors in the United States, produces a number ...
, during December of the following year. Guest artists participate and sing with the choir most years. A guest narrator is also invited most years to read the Christmas story from the
Book of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...
. Past guest artists have included: * 2000: R&B singer
Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...
and actress
Roma Downey Roma Burnett (née Downey) is an actress, producer, and author from Derry, Northern Ireland. She produced the mini-series ''The Bible'' for the History Channel and also appeared in it as Mary, mother of Jesus. For nine seasons she played Moni ...
* 2001: Actress
Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...
* 2002: News anchor
Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...
* 2003: Mezzo-soprano
Frederica von Stade Frederica von Stade OAL (born June 1, 1945) is a semi-retired American opera singer. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has performed in operas, musicals, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the world, including La Scala, th ...
and baritone
Bryn Terfel Sir Bryn Terfel Jones, (; born 9 November 1965) (known professionally as Bryn Terfel) is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', '' Leporello'' and '' ...
* 2004: Broadway actress
Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...
and actor
Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Jim Phelps in the CBS television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 ...
* 2005: Soprano
Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for ...
and actress
Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...
* 2006: Soprano
Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø (; born 24 June 1969), also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and op ...
* 2007: A cappella group the
King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1 ...
*
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
: Broadway singer Brian Stokes Mitchell and actor
Edward Herrmann Edward Kirk Herrmann (July 21, 1943 – December 31, 2014) was an American actor, director, and writer. He was perhaps best known for his portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the miniseries ''Eleanor and Franklin'' (1976) and 1982 film ...
* 2009: Jazz singer
Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...
and historian
David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States ...
* 2010: Pop singer David Archuleta and actor
Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...
* 2011: Operatic baritone Nathan Gunn and actress
Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...
*
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
: Tenor Alfie Boe and news anchor
Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...
The event also featured Col. Gail "Hal" Halvorsen. *
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
: Soprano
Deborah Voigt Deborah Voigt (born August 4, 1960) is an American dramatic soprano who has sung roles in operas by Wagner and Richard Strauss. Biography and career Early life and education Debbie Joy Voigt was born into a religious Southern Baptist family ...
and actor
John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untouch ...
*
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
: Broadway actor
Santino Fontana Santino Fontana (born March 21, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He has received a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lortel Award, Obie Award, and Clarence Derwent Award in a mix of straight plays and musica ...
and The Sesame Street Muppets * 2015: Broadway actress
Laura Osnes Laura Ann Osnes (born November 19, 1985) is an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has played starring roles in '' Grease'' as Sandy, ''South Pacific'' as Nellie Forbush, '' Anything Goes'' as Hope Harcourt, ...
, actor Martin Jarvis, and four
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
soloists. *
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
: Tenor
Rolando Villazón Rolando Villazón Mauleón (born 22 February 1972) is a Mexican operatic tenor, stage director, author, radio and television personality and artistic director. He now lives in France, and in 2007 became a French citizen. Villazón has published ...
*
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
: Actress
Sutton Foster Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Di ...
and actor
Hugh Bonneville Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams (born 10 November 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey''. His performance on the show earned him a no ...
*
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
: Actress and coloratura soprano
Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...
*
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
: Broadway actress
Kelli O'Hara Kelli Christine O'Hara (born April 16, 1976) is an American actress and singer, most known for her work on the Broadway and opera stages. A seven-time Tony Award nominee, O'Hara won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her pe ...
and actor Richard Thomas * 2020: No concert (owing to
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
) *
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
: Broadway actress and soprano
Megan Hilty Megan Kathleen Hilty (born March 29, 1981) is an American actress and singer. She rose to prominence for her roles in Broadway musicals, including her performance as Glinda the Good Witch in '' Wicked'', Doralee Rhodes in '' 9 to 5: The Musical' ...
and actor
Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on ''Boomtown'' (2002–20 ...
* 2022: Broadway actress Lea Salonga and actor Sir David Suchet


Pioneer Day concerts

The choir holds a yearly summer concert in mid-late July as part of Utah's
Pioneer Day Pioneer Day is an official holiday celebrated on July 24 in the American state of Utah, with some celebrations taking place in regions of surrounding states originally settled by Mormon pioneers. It commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and ...
celebrations. Unlike the Christmas concerts, there are only two shows: one on Friday and the other on the following Saturday. The tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. A guest artist is typically invited every year. Past guest artists have included: * 2011: Brian Stokes Mitchell and
Linda Eder Linda Eder (; born February 3, 1961) is an American singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in the musical '' Jekyll & Hyde'', originating the role of Lucy Harris, for which she was nominated for the Drama Desk Award. Eder has performe ...
* 2012: Katherine Jenkins * 2013:
Nathan Pacheco Nathan Armand Pacheco is an American tenor singer and songwriter of Brazilian origin. He was a featured vocalist during the 2009 tour for "Yanni Voices", produced by Walt Disney Records and is currently signed to the Disney Pearl Series sub-label. ...
and
Lindsey Stirling Lindsey Stirling (born September 21, 1986) is an American violinist, songwriter, and dancer. She presents choreographed violin performances, in live and music videos found on her official YouTube channel, which she created in 2007. Stirling pe ...
* 2014:
Santino Fontana Santino Fontana (born March 21, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He has received a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lortel Award, Obie Award, and Clarence Derwent Award in a mix of straight plays and musica ...
and Sylvia McNair * 2015:
Laura Osnes Laura Ann Osnes (born November 19, 1985) is an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has played starring roles in '' Grease'' as Sandy, ''South Pacific'' as Nellie Forbush, '' Anything Goes'' as Hope Harcourt, ...
* 2016:
King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1 ...
* 2017: Alex Boyé * 2018:
Matthew Morrison Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show '' Glee'' (2009–2015). He has starred in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadw ...
and
Laura Michelle Kelly Laura Michelle Kelly (born 4 March 1981) is an English actress and singer, best known for originating the roles of Mary Poppins in ''Mary Poppins'' in the West End, for which she received the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and S ...
* 2019:
Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø (; born 24 June 1969), also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and op ...
* 2020: No concert (owing to
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
) * 2021: No concert (owing to
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
) * 2022: Shea Owens


Leadership

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square has about 15 staff members including a president, directors, organists, a ''Music and the Spoken Word'' announcer, and two business-related staff members.


Music directors

Mack Wilberg Mack J. Wilberg (born February 20, 1955) is an American composer, arranger, conductor, and choral clinician who has been the music director of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (Choir) since 2008. Early life and education Wilberg was bo ...
is the current director, with associate director Ryan Murphy.


Organists

Richard Elliott, Andrew Unsworth, Linda Margetts, Brian Mathias, and Joseph Peeples are the current organists.


''Music and the Spoken Word'' announcers

Since its inception in 1929, the "spoken word" segment of the program has been voiced by four separate individuals. The original writer, producer, and announcer of the spoken portion of the broadcast was Edward (Ted) Kimball, who would stand at the top of a tall ladder and announce the name of each performance piece into the microphone suspended from the Tabernacle ceiling. Kimball remained at the post for only 11 months, when he was replaced by Richard L. Evans, who continued in that capacity until his death in 1971.
J. Spencer Kinard J. Spencer Kinard is an American radio and television personality He was a reporter for KSL television when he was invited to replace Richard L. Evans as voice of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Kinard had previously worked for CBS in New York. He s ...
took over as announcer in 1972 until he stepped down in 1990. Lloyd D. Newell has been the announcer since then.


Awards and inductions

The choir has a number of awards, including the National Medal of Arts (2003), a
Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus The Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus was awarded from 1959 to 1960. In 1961 the award was split into two awards for Best Performance by a Vocal Group and Best Performance by a Chorus. Years reflect the year in which ...
(1960), and four Emmy Awards (1987, 2013, 2014). The choir is also an inductee to the
American Classical Music Hall of Fame The American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum is a non-profit organization celebrating past and present individuals and institutions that have made significant contributions to classical music—"people who have contributed to American musi ...
(2015) and the National Association of Broadcasters Broadcasting Hall of Fame (2004). The 320-person choir is the largest act to chart on the
Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...
—their version of "
The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...
" reached No. 13 in 1959.


Other awards

1944 * Peabody Award — ''Music and the Spoken Word'' for Outstanding Entertainment in Music 1961 * Peabody Award — ''Music and the Spoken Word'' — "Let Freedom Ring" 1981 * Freedoms Foundation's George Washington Award — ''Music and the Spoken Word'' — Fourth of July Broadcast 1988 * Freedoms Foundation's George Washington Award 2003 * International Radio and Television Society Foundation's Special Recognition Award * Chorus America's Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence 2004 *
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
'
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...
— '' Handel's Messiah'' (1959) 2006 *
Mother Teresa Award Mother Teresa of Kolkata has been memorialized throughout the world in recognition of her work with the poor. During her lifetime this commemoration often took the form of awards and honorary degrees bestowed upon her. She has also been memorialized ...
2010 *
National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...
— ''Music and the Spoken Word''


Recordings

Since its first recording in 1910, the choir has earned five
gold album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
s (two in 1963: ''
The Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
'' and '' Handel's Messiah;'' one in 1979: ''
The Joy of Christmas ''The Joy of Christmas'' is a Christmas album featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, along with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Richard P. Condie directed the choir. Originally released by Columbia Masterworks in Octob ...
;'' and two in 1985: ''The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols'' and ''Joy to the World'') and two
platinum album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
s (in 1991, ''Hallmark Christmas: Carols of Christmas'' and in 1992, ''Hallmark Christmas: Celebrate Christmas!''). The choir has made over 200 recordings and continues to produce albums. For some live performances and albums, the choir has collaborated with large orchestras such as the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, the
Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symp ...
, and the
Orchestra at Temple Square The Orchestra at Temple Square (Orchestra) is a 110-member orchestra located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Orchestra was created in 1999 under the direction of Gordon B. Hinckley, then the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sain ...
. The choir's own record label was formed in 2003.


Chart-topping albums


Filmography

* ''
This Is Cinerama ''This Is Cinerama'' is a 1952 American documentary film directed by Mike Todd, Michael Todd, Jr., Walter A. Thompson and Fred Rickey and starring Lowell Thomas. It is designed to introduce the widescreen process Cinerama, which broadens the ...
'' (1952) * '' Mr. Krueger's Christmas'' (1980), starring James Stewart * ''Nora's Christmas Gift'' (1989) * ''Singing with Angels'' (2016)


References


Further reading

*


External links


Tabernacle Choir Official site


article by Kirk Johnson, ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' {{Authority control 1847 establishments in Utah American choirs Columbia Records artists Latter Day Saint musical groups Musical groups established in 1847 Musical groups from Salt Lake City Musical groups from Utah Performing arts in Utah Temple Square United States National Medal of Arts recipients