FamilySearch, a non-profit family history organization, has announced that a special concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square will be the opening event at RootsTech 2017, the annual global genealogy conference This unique performance entitled “Music–It Runs in the Family" will be held Thursday, February 9, 2017, at 8:00 p.m. in the Conference Center on historic Temple Square. RootsTech attendees will receive tickets with their registration, but the public is also invited. Free tickets for this one-night-only performance are required and are available now at lds.org/events.

“Music–It Runs in the Family” will be an evening filled with Rodgers and Hammerstein music and stories narrated by Oscar Hammerstein III (“Andy”), grandson of Oscar Hammerstein II. Special guest artist Dallyn Vail Bayles will also perform.

Featuring music from State Fair, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Oklahoma, and The Sound of Music, this special musical event will entertain the entire family. This presentation will tell the amazing history through story and video of the Hammersteins, one of Broadway’s most creative and productive families, and how this timeless music unites generations.

“The beloved songs of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II will warm the hearts and lift the spirits of both old and new generations,” said Choir president Ron Jarrett. “We are thrilled to be part of this program narrated by Andy Hammerstein with insights into the life and work of his grandfather.  It will also be a treat to welcome back one of our favorite guest artists, Dallyn Vail Bayles.”

Andy Hammerstein will also be featured Sunday morning, February 12, 2017, on the Choir’s weekly Music & the Spoken Word broadcast from the Salt Lake Tabernacle as guest presenter of the Spoken Word. Dallyn Vail Bayles will also perform on that day. No tickets will be required for this broadcast.

RootsTech has become the largest genealogy and family history conference held in the world. Many attendees and vendors come from all over the globe. During the February 2016 RootsTech conference, family history enthusiasts from all 50 states and nearly 40 countries attended the RootsTech events in the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. Conference registration for 2017 is available on their website.