The Bells at Temple Square, formerly known as the Bells on Temple Square, handbell choir is an official music organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was formed in 2005 under the direction of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (Choir).[1] The group is a double handbell choir, performing with 27 to 35 ringers on 2 sets of Malmark handbells (one 7-octave set and one 6½ octave set) and 2 sets of Malmark handchimes (6 octaves each). The 12 octave 2 bells are Malmark aluminums. Each part is usually doubled (played by two ringers on separate sets), except octave 2.
The Bells at Temple Square frequently accompanies the Choir in concerts and on the weekly Music and the Spoken Word radio and television broadcast. Additionally, the group performs its own semi-annual concerts, typically in November and June. As of 2020, the group is led by conductor LeAnna Willmore and associate conductor Geoff Anderson.
The 2006 Christmas concert of the Bells on Temple Square, held in the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, attracted an audience of over 15,000 people, and is believed to be one of the largest crowds ever to attend a handbell performance.[citation needed]
The Bells on Temple Square was selected to perform the closing concert at the 2017 National Seminar for the Handbell Musicians of America, held in Anaheim, CA.
On May 8, 2020, it was announced that the Bells on Temple Square would now be known as the Bells at Temple Square, in accordance with the Choir's new visual identity.[2]
Willmore taught choir in the Utah area for forty years. She earned a bachelor's degree from Weber State University and a Master of Music degree from the University of Utah. She has served in many leadership positions for the state and national music educators association. Having won many national and state awards as a music educator, she is a frequent guest conductor and adjudicator. She was Assistant Conductor of the Bells on Temple Square from 2005 - 2011.
Anderson was named associate conductor of the Bells on Temple Square in May 2017. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Southern Utah University and Boston University, respectively. Anderson has experience in instrumental and vocal performance and as music director for many musical productions. He has also directed state honor choirs and choirs that have participated in the LDS Church's general conferences. Anderson is currently the director of choirs at Fremont High School, with responsibility for vocal ensembles, handbell choir, and advanced placement and concurrent enrollment music courses. Anderson is an active member of Handbell Musicians of America and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). He is currently serving as the Utah Music Educators Association (UMEA) All-State Chair. He and his wife, Marita, are the parents of three daughters.
Larry R. Smith, Assistant Conductor, 2011 – 2017
Smith served as assistant conductor of the Bells on Temple Square from 2011 to 2017. Smith has performed, accompanied, and conducted choirs throughout the world. He was a member of the Utah Ambassadors of Music staff, and conducted and accompanied music in London, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and St. Mark's in Venice, Italy. He has taught choral music in high schools for over 20 years, and currently works as the choir director at Bountiful High School. He conducts seven choirs consisting of over 400 students. Smith earned bachelor's and master's degree in music from the University of Utah. He also spent a semester studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He and his wife, Leslie, have three children.
Thomas M. Waldron, Conductor 2005 - 2011
Waldron was asked to form the Bells On Temple Square in 2005, and served as its conductor until 2011. He was also a member of the Choir for many years. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree at Utah State University and a Master of Music degree in Conducting Performance at Brigham Young University. For many years he was director of music at Brighton High School where he organized and conducted a renowned bell choir. He and his wife, Diane, have 7 children.
TheTabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir that is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for over 100 years. The Tabernacle houses an organ, consisting of 11,623 pipes, which usually accompanies the choir.
Temple Square is a 10-acre (4.0 ha) complex, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah. The usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities that are immediately adjacent to Temple Square. Contained within Temple Square are the Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake Tabernacle, Salt Lake Assembly Hall, the Seagull Monument, and two visitors' centers. The square was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1964, recognizing the Mormon achievement in the settlement of Utah.
A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged clapper inside the bell strike. An individual handbell can be used simply as a signal to catch people's attention or summon them together, but handbells are also often heard in tuned sets.
The Orchestra at Temple Square (Orchestra) is a 110-member orchestra located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Orchestra was created in 1999 under the direction of Gordon B. Hinckley, then the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as part of an initiative to continually strengthen and expand the capabilities of the church's music organizations.
Music & the Spoken Word is a religious radio and television series. Broadcast weekly from the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah, the program primarily features performances of music by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square—often accompanied by the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ and the Orchestra at Temple Square, accompanied by spiritual messages and passages related to a specific episode's theme.
Mack J. Wilberg is an American composer, arranger, conductor, and choral clinician who has been the music director of the Tabernacle Choir (Choir) since 2008.
Craig D. Jessop is an American academic, musician and singer best known for his tenure as the music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1999 to 2008.
Jerold Don Ottley was an American music director and choral conductor. He served as the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Choir) from 1974 to 1999. During his tenure, he established the Choir's annual Christmas concert and appointed its first female organist. Prior to that, he was assistant chair of the University of Utah's Music Department.
Brady Allred is an American conductor of choral and orchestral music who currently serves as the artistic director and conductor of the Salt Lake Choral Artists, a regional choir organization with five choirs with a total of approximately 350 singers. He is the father of Loren Allred of The Greatest Showman fame.
Merrill Boyd Jenson is an American composer and arranger who has composed film scores for over thirty films including Emma Smith: My Story, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration, The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd, Legacy, Harry's War, and Windwalker. Many of the films Jenson composed music for were directed by Academy Award-winning director Kieth Merrill. Jenson has also composed several concert productions including a symphony that premiered at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he has composed music for many television commercials including the acclaimed Homefront ads, music for three outdoor pageants, and several albums. Jenson lives in Provo, Utah with his wife Betsy Lee Jenson.
Evan Stephens was a Latter-day Saint composer and hymn writer. He was also the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for 26 years (1890–1916).
The Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus (MYSC) was an official musical organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1969 to 1999, composed of young musicians aged 18 to 33. In its 30-year history, MYSC was credited with many television specials, numerous recordings, concerts, and several major tours throughout the U.S. The group was disbanded during the 1999 reorganization of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and resulting creation of the Orchestra at Temple Square. The choral arm of the group provided music for the church's annual and semi-annual general conferences, usually during the Saturday morning sessions.
Jay Evard Welch was an American musician who was a music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, a longtime University of Utah professor, and founder of the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus, Jay Welch Chorale and the Salt Lake Repertory Orchestra.
Crawford Marion Gates was an American musician, composer, and conductor known for his contributions to the body of music for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Andrew E. Unsworth has been an organist for the Salt Lake Tabernacle since 2007. This includes being an organist for the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, which is the principal resident musical organization there.
Ryan T. Murphy has been the associate music director of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square since 2009, working with music director Mack Wilberg. Murphy's previous positions have included directing choirs at the New England Conservatory of Music and the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. He has also been music director at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre and Center for the Arts and the Sundance Institute in Provo.
Richard Elliott is the principal organist of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
The O.C. Tanner Gift of Music is a series of free concerts presented in Salt Lake City by the Utah Symphony and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, with soloists, conductors and other choirs as guests. The concerts have been hosted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square since 1983. The thirtieth anniversary gala concerts were held September 6 and 7, 2013.
Justin (Wayne) Lewis is an American conductor, cellist and educator who became a conductor in the United States Air Force Band program in 2012. He is currently the flight commander of the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia and the United States Air Force Heartland of America Band at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. Lewis also serves as conductor-in-residence of the Virginia Choral Society, and as a faculty member at the Pennsylvania Suzuki Institute.
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