The scriptural passage “Love thy neighbor”¹ has long been a key message of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. Highlighting that admonition, the Choir and with its companion ensemble Orchestra at Temple Square will present “Love Thy Neighbor: A Special Tabernacle Choir Event” on Friday and Saturday, July 15-16, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. in the Conference Center.

The program will be conducted by music director Mack Wilberg and associate music director Ryan Murphy. Shea Owens, internationally renowned baritone and new director of the opera program at Brigham Young University, will be the featured soloist.

The program is designed to bring comfort and hope to all during today’s troubled times and to inspire kindness and a Christ-like outreach to others. Two thousand years ago, the biblical command was given in response to a questioner seeking to identify which is the greatest commandment. The Gospel of Matthew records Jesus's answer: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

PROGRAM

Mack Wilberg, music director, and Ryan Murphy, associate music director, will conduct the special musical event featuring such tender favorites as “Fill the World with Love” from Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and “Hold On” from The Secret Garden. A specially prepared narrative elaborating the theme of love, friendship, and goodness will weave through musical numbers including “Love One Another,” “Where Love Is,” and “Thankful.”

This will be the first major musical event open to the general public since March 2020 when the pandemic limited the Choir’s live performances in Temple Square venues. This summer event is timed to connect with other traditional July commemorations celebrating the arrival of the pioneers in the Salt Lake valley in 1847. In tribute to those who crossed the heartland of America, the Choir will sing “They, the Builders of the Nation,” and one of the Choir’s signature anthems “Come, Come, Ye Saints.”

TICKETS

Tickets are free of charge and are available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org/events. Request your tickets for Friday, July 15 here; and tickets for Saturday, July 16 here. Each patron may request four tickets; admission is open to anyone eight years of age or older.

Check the map here for access and parking locations

WHERE TO WATCH

The program will also be streamed on Saturday, July 16 at 8:00 p.m. (mountain) on the choir’s YouTube channel (YouTube.com/TheTabernacleChoir), on the Choir’s website (TheTabernacleChoir.org) and on the Church website (Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org). BYUtv will air “Love Thy Neighbor” on Sunday, July 24. at 3:30 p.m. (mountain) and the prgram will be available on BYUtv.org, the BYUtv app, and the KSL-TV app. 

1. Matthew 22: 37-39