Music & the Spoken Word
Next Broadcast: Sunday, May 25th at 9:30 a.m. (MT)
Sundays at 9:30 a.m. (MT)
Location: Conference Center, Temple Square
Location: Conference Center, Temple Square
Public audiences are invited to join the live performances of Music & the Spoken Word
each Sunday morning on Temple Square. Audiences can also stream Music & the Spoken Word
each week from anywhere in the world through the choirs YouTube channel or www.tabchoir.org
For more than nine decades, nearly the lifetime of radio, The Tabernacle Choir has presented a weekly program — Music & the Spoken Word — without interruption, giving voice to peace, hope, inspiration and the goodness of God. No other broadcast can claim such a heritage.
Details:
Exceptions in 2025:
Live Music & the Spoken Word broadcasts are held every Sunday, with the following exceptions:
August 17 and August 24 – The Choir will be on the next leg of its world tour in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On these dates, a previously recorded episode of Music & the Spoken Word will be available via broadcast.
Performance Locations:
Rehearsal and broadcasts take place in the Tabernacle, except for the months of June-August and December, as well as the two rehearsals for general conference. At these times, rehearsal and the broadcast is in the Conference Center. We are currently broadcasting from the Conference Center.
Parking and General Event Information:
How to Watch:
Attend a weekly Choir rehearsal
How it Began:
While many music programs come from a studio built for that purpose, Music & the Spoken Word goes out to the world from its home in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, which announcers have called “the crossroads of the West.” The building, completed in 1867, has become a recording studio with a stellar reputation for sound quality. In busy summer months, tourist attendance has required the program to be broadcast from the much larger Conference Center across the street. Both buildings are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Since the beginning, the Choir has opened the weekly program with what has become a hallmark, the 1835 hymn “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain.” Choir Music Director Mack Wilberg plans each week’s program.
What was once just a show coming across the kitchen radio made the jump to television in 1962, and cable and satellite broadcasts soon followed. Today, Music & the Spoken Word is viewed with increasing frequency on social media channels, such as YouTube, Facebook, and the choir website by people around the world, from the United States and Chile to the Philippines and England.
Music & the Spoken Word has been inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame and has entered the hearts of listeners everywhere.
The first airing on July 15, 1929, was makeshift at best. That summer day, a local radio crew ran a wire from their control room to an amplifier in the Tabernacle nearly a block away. The technicians put the station’s sole microphone on a ladder not only to capture the music of the Choir but also so an announcer could introduce each number. Nineteen-year-old Ted Kimball—son of the Tabernacle organist and the designated announcer—perched on the ladder for the duration of the program so that those listening could hear his words.
Eleven months later, 24-year-old Richard L. Evans became the first regular program narrator, and for the next 41 years (1930–1971) he was the voice of Music & the Spoken Word . He never missed a broadcast, even with his later assignment as an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His uplifting, three-minute sermonettes often addressed themes from the Choir’s music. Those listening knew his voice and appreciated his words of comfort, gratitude, happiness, duty, and love.
J. Spencer Kinard followed Evans as announcer from 1972–1990. Lloyd Newell took over the role in 1991 and continued in his post until June of 2024 when Derrick Porter was called by the First Presidency to become the new announcer.
For more than nine decades, nearly the lifetime of radio, The Tabernacle Choir has presented a weekly program — Music & the Spoken Word — without interruption, giving voice to peace, hope, inspiration and the goodness of God. No other broadcast can claim such a heritage.
Details:
- When: Every Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
- Doors open at 8:15 a.m. Please be seated by 9:15 a.m.
- Duration: The broadcast is 30 minutes in length and ends at 10:00 a.m.
- Where: Conference Center (May–August, December, and General Conference prep periods).
- Admission: FREE and open to the public. No ticket required for entry.
- Age Guideline: 8 and older to attend.
Exceptions in 2025:
Live Music & the Spoken Word broadcasts are held every Sunday, with the following exceptions:
August 17 and August 24 – The Choir will be on the next leg of its world tour in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On these dates, a previously recorded episode of Music & the Spoken Word will be available via broadcast.
Performance Locations:
Rehearsal and broadcasts take place in the Tabernacle, except for the months of June-August and December, as well as the two rehearsals for general conference. At these times, rehearsal and the broadcast is in the Conference Center. We are currently broadcasting from the Conference Center.
Parking and General Event Information:
- For parking and general event information Click Here
How to Watch:
- Click Here to watch and listen to Choir’s weekly broadcast of every Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. MST.
- Click Here to watch previous episodes.
Attend a weekly Choir rehearsal
- Click Here to learn more about weekly rehearsals.
How it Began:
While many music programs come from a studio built for that purpose, Music & the Spoken Word goes out to the world from its home in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, which announcers have called “the crossroads of the West.” The building, completed in 1867, has become a recording studio with a stellar reputation for sound quality. In busy summer months, tourist attendance has required the program to be broadcast from the much larger Conference Center across the street. Both buildings are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Since the beginning, the Choir has opened the weekly program with what has become a hallmark, the 1835 hymn “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain.” Choir Music Director Mack Wilberg plans each week’s program.
What was once just a show coming across the kitchen radio made the jump to television in 1962, and cable and satellite broadcasts soon followed. Today, Music & the Spoken Word is viewed with increasing frequency on social media channels, such as YouTube, Facebook, and the choir website by people around the world, from the United States and Chile to the Philippines and England.
Music & the Spoken Word has been inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame and has entered the hearts of listeners everywhere.
The first airing on July 15, 1929, was makeshift at best. That summer day, a local radio crew ran a wire from their control room to an amplifier in the Tabernacle nearly a block away. The technicians put the station’s sole microphone on a ladder not only to capture the music of the Choir but also so an announcer could introduce each number. Nineteen-year-old Ted Kimball—son of the Tabernacle organist and the designated announcer—perched on the ladder for the duration of the program so that those listening could hear his words.
Eleven months later, 24-year-old Richard L. Evans became the first regular program narrator, and for the next 41 years (1930–1971) he was the voice of Music & the Spoken Word . He never missed a broadcast, even with his later assignment as an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His uplifting, three-minute sermonettes often addressed themes from the Choir’s music. Those listening knew his voice and appreciated his words of comfort, gratitude, happiness, duty, and love.
J. Spencer Kinard followed Evans as announcer from 1972–1990. Lloyd Newell took over the role in 1991 and continued in his post until June of 2024 when Derrick Porter was called by the First Presidency to become the new announcer.