Handel’s Messiah is one of the most beloved and widely performed choral works in the world. The oratorio, composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, tells the story of Jesus Christ’s birth, life, death, and Resurrection through music and lyrics drawn from the Bible. Its popularity has endured for over two centuries, and it continues to be performed by choirs and orchestras around the globe.
One of the most celebrated performances of Handel’s Messiah is by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since its founding, the Choir has become an icon of American choral music and has performed for countless dignitaries, presidents, and audiences worldwide.
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square is one of the most recognized choirs in the world. Known for its stunning performances and breathtaking arrangements, the Choir has been delighting audiences for over 150 years. As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior in the coming Easter season, we invite you to stream The Tabernacle Choir’s He Is Risen: A Special Easter Celebration, which was first performed in 2019 and streamed again in 2021.
He Is Risen: A Special Easter Celebration is a concert that celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a powerful and moving piece that speaks to the hearts of Christians around the world. The Choir’s rendition of the songs and the music as a whole are simply stunning. The arrangements are complex yet beautifully executed, with every voice in the Choir working in harmony.
The Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, Bells at Temple Square, and the Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble will stream He Is Risen: A Special Easter Celebration. The stream will be available around the world wherever the Internet is available. It will be streamed in English as well as an additional 23 languages where translations are subtitled or overdubbed.
As Christians around the world prepare for the Easter season, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square invites everyone to enjoy the many music and video Easter resources of the Choir and its sponsoring organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On October 5, 2018, the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir announced its name change to “The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square” to better align with the Choir’s sponsoring organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The new name for the Choir preserved the heritage of the Choir’s home in the Tabernacle and its location on Temple Square. Though the Choir announced a new name, the Choir’s mission remained unchanged: to provide music that has the power to uplift, inspire, and bring listeners closer to the divine.
From the earliest days, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have used singing as a means of drawing closer to the Lord. In 1847, just three weeks after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, a small pioneer choir was organized to sing for the first conference of the Church in their new settlement. In 1849, John Parry was called to formally organize a choir for Church conferences. This choir first made its home at Temple Square in an outdoor bowery and then in a small adobe tabernacle that replaced it in 1852. On October 6, 1867, the first conference meetings in the larger new Tabernacle—now still standing on Temple Square—were held, and the “Tabernacle Choir” name was in regular use. Since then, the Tabernacle has been home to the Choir, which is known worldwide for its one-of-a-kind signature sound shaped in part by the venue from which it emanates.
When Ryan Murphy walked out on stage in 2009 to conduct his first concert of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square as its new associate director, it was the beginning of a brilliant new musical career. He remembers being apprehensive and wide-eyed. The orchestra was in place, the choir loft filled with singers, and the audience waiting in anticipation for a rich, musical evening.
That scene will be replayed on Friday and Saturday, March 17–18, 2023, in the Tabernacleas Murphy conducts the annual Chorale and Orchestra at Temple Square Spring Concert. The Chorale at Temple Square will showcase 49 singers who have been working through The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square audition process. They join 100 current Tabernacle Choir members, including the new one-year members and other Choir members who love the opportunity to fine-tune their skills. Successful completion of the Chorale concert, with Tuesday rehearsals and Thursday Choir School classes since the first of the year, is the final step to being admitted as a soprano, alto, tenor, or bass member of The Tabernacle Choir.
There is nothing like listening to The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in person—even if you’ve listened to the Choir’s recordings, music streams, and broadcasts for years. Being enveloped in the Choir’s uplifting and joyful music live is an exhilarating experience. Music has the power to comfort, encourage, and bring each of us closer to the divine.
The Choir and Orchestra’s weekly Sunday live performances of Music & the Spoken Word broadcast are open to the public for free;no tickets are required. Music & the Spoken Word,first broadcast in 1929,is currently the world’s longest continuous nationwide network program.
Scott Barrick was not in the Choir loft singing on Music & the Spoken Word every Sunday, nor was he in the great music halls on Choir tours around the world. Instead, he worked diligently for 21 years to shape the image, face, name, and reach of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square around the world.
As general manager of the Choir, Barrick’s imprint was and is everywhere. He established the Choir’s own record label and produced 112 products, many of which climbed to the top of the Billboard® charts. He launched a Choir YouTube channel; changed the official name of the Choir and the logo; helped the Choir become the number one Christmas program on PBS; established a presence on Spotify, Pandora, and other digital music channels; and coordinated the Choir’s Olympic 2002 appearance and the ticketing for hundreds of other Choir events for two decades.
The Choir School and Chorale at Temple Square experience began this January for 49 new talented participants. Individuals who were successful in passing the first three levels of the Choir’s 2022 audition process were invited to participate in these last steps of this audition process. At the conclusion of their successful Choir School and Chorale at Temple Square experience, participants will be invited to sing as members of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
The audition process began during the summer months of 2022 with a written application and voice recording submission, a music skills assessment test, an in-person vocal audition, and an interview with a member of the Choir presidency. Those who passed each level were invited to join this year’s 16-week training school, which is like a graduate course in choral singing but is sometimes thought of as a choral “boot camp.” The choir training also includes singing with the Chorale at Temple Square.
For 40 years, since 1983, two renowned musical icons—The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and the Utah Symphony—have presented the O.C. Tanner Gift of Music in two evenings of celebrated concerts. This year the program will feature Felix Mendelssohn’s monumental oratorio Elijahon Friday and Saturday, February 17 and 18, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
Tabernacle doors will open at 6:30 p.m. the evening of the concerts. Tickets are required but are free to the public and are limited to those eight years of age and older. Tickets will be available beginning at 10:00 a.m. Friday, January 20 at www.TabChoir.org/2023tannergift or by calling 801-570-0080 or toll-free 1-866-537-8457.
