The work of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square rarely takes a breather—and this year will not be an exception!

Each new year begins with the start of Choir School, the 16-week training in vocal technique, sight-reading skills, and music theory that this year 49 incoming Choir members will complete. Choir School, along with participation in the Temple Square Chorale, is the last step in the process for preparing new members for the Choir.

For Easter, the Choir and Orchestra will perform Handel’s Messiah live on Thursday and Friday, March 22 and 23, 2018, in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. The concert will also be streamed live worldwide over the internet on Friday, March 23, beginning at 7:30 p.m. mountain time. Free tickets for the performances will be distributed prior to the concert. Watch Choir Notes for guest soloists and ticket details.

In April, the Orchestra at Temple Square and the Temple Square Chorale—the training choir for new Mormon Tabernacle Choir members—will perform the Brahms Requiem in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21, 2018. 

May 2018 will bring the much-anticipated release of the Choir and Orchestra’s newest CD, Tree of Life: Sacred Music of Mack Wilberg, which will be comprised entirely of previously unrecorded sacred music by Mack Wilberg. Featured selections on this CD will be The Prodigal and A Cloud of Witnesses, longer works composed in recent years by Wilberg to texts by longtime collaborator David Warner. As the Choir’s music director, Wilberg is known for his choral arrangements and compositions, which have been performed and recorded by musical organizations throughout the world.

In June of 2018, the Choir and Orchestra will go on their Classic Coast Tour with concerts in Costa Mesa, California, on Tuesday, June 19; in Mountain View, California, on Monday, June 25; in Rohnert Park, California, on Wednesday, June 27; in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday, June 30; and ending in Seattle, Washington, on Monday, July 2. Tickets for three of the venues are currently available.

(Since many visitors will come to Salt Lake City during these dates, please check the “Events on Temple Square during Tour” for information on events planned during the Choir and Orchestra’s absence.)

In July, Music & the Spoken Word, which has been broadcast over radio each week since 1929, will begin the 90th year of broadcasting—a record unsurpassed by any other program. The broadcast can be heard on radio, viewed on  television or streamed over the internet and from the Choir website from anywhere in the world.

The annual Pioneer Day concerts will be presented on Friday and Saturday, July 20 and 21, 2018. Watch Choir Notes, the weekly newsletter of the Choir, for guest artist announcements and ticket details.

The year will also include the fall Orchestra at Temple Square concert (October 26-27), the spring and winter Bells on Temple Square concerts (June 8 and November 16–17), and the annual Christmas concerts with the Choir, Orchestra, Bells, dancers, and guest artists (December 13–15).

Subscribe to the weekly Choir Notes newsletter to stay up-to-date on all the activities of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir organization!