The Tabernacle Choir Blog

Watch the Unique Piping Up! First Anniversary Stream on June 30

Plan now to watch the unique first-year anniversary concert of the new series Piping Up! Organ Concerts on Temple Square featuring each of the Tabernacle and Temple Square organists: Richard Elliott, Andrew Unsworth, Brian Mathias, Linda Margetts, and Joseph Peeples. Audiences will enjoy performances on three Temple Square Organs that each have different qualities and characteristics: The Tabernacle organ, the Assembly Hall organ, and—for the first time in the concert series—the Joseph Smith Memorial Building organ. 

This special anniversary concert stream includes a unique opportunity for behind-the-scenes tours of the Assembly Hall organ practice rooms as well as the Tabernacle organ pipe chambers—both located in areas not available to the general public. Plus an explanation of organ pedals and pedaling technique by Richard Elliott. The concert will also include the announcement and performance of the audience choice selection by Temple Square organist Joseph Peeples which was determined through an earlier social media poll. The concert finale music selection will include all five organists—through the magic of modern technology—performing together Tabernacle organist Richard Elliott’s arrangement of Bach’s final movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No.3. The Brandenburg Concertos are considered some of the finest, most innovative orchestra works of the entire baroque era. 

  • WHEN:
    Wednesday, June 30 at 12:00 Noon (Mountain Time)

Audiences will enjoy the organists’ comments and answers to questions often asked of Tabernacle and Temple Square organists:

  • Why was the decision made to use “Fanfare” by Jacques Lemmens as the opening theme for Piping Up!?

  • Why is piano practicing a regular part of the organists practice routine? 

  • Some musicians are now scanning their music and reading it digitally from an electronic tablet. How does that work? How do you turn the page?

  • What kind of effort and preparation goes into developing organ pedaling technique? 

  • What special technique do the organists use for pedals when playing four-hand organ accompaniments for the Choir?

History of the Piping Up! Concerts
Just months after the world pandemic suspended live daily organ performances on Temple Square—a beloved tradition going back to 1908—the talented Tabernacle and Temple Square organists proposed the start of the new Piping Up! concerts which began streaming on June 17, 2020. At that time, no one knew how long the live performances would be paused. To date, nearly 3,000,000 YouTube and Facebook view indicate that people around the world have been able to enjoy Piping Up! concert streams from Temple Square. 

Using the technology available today, concerts are recorded and streamed from organ locations on Temple Square without a live audience to keep everyone safe. Now they’ve become the newest Temple Square tradition streaming each Wednesday at 12:00 Noon (mountain time). Dr. Luke Howard, a singing member of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and associate professor of Music History at BYU, narrates each broadcast with fascinating information about the music and composers to enhance the concert for those who join us.

PIPING UP! CONCERT SERIES INFORMATION YOU’LL WANT TO KNOW!

 - Programs are available online for each weekly Wednesday concert on the Piping Up! event page at tabchoir.org/pipingup.

 - Piping Up! concerts available on demand
The weekly Wednesday organ streams, like those since the concerts’ inception in June 2020, will be available for viewing on-demand following the stream. Previous concerts are found on the Choir's Piping Up! Videos page, YouTube channel and Facebook page with the name of the performing organist and their concert music repertoire listed.

 - Request organ repertoire for a future concert performance
Hearkening back to a Temple Square tradition from years ago, Piping Up! fans can now request repertoire for consideration for performance in a future concert. If you would like to submit a request, please click here to enter the title and composer of the organ piece. Periodic future Piping Up! concerts will include music requested from patrons.