J. Spencer Kinard is an American radio and television personality He was a reporter for KSL television when he was invited to replace Richard L. Evans as voice of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Kinard had previously worked for CBS in New York. He spent 18 years as the voice of the choir. [1]
Kinard attended the University of Utah, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1966. He went to work for CBS News in New York, where he also completed a CBS News fellowship at Columbia University. [2] He returned to Utah in 1971 to work for then-CBS affiliate KSL-TV in Salt Lake City. After covering the funeral of Richard L. Evans that November, he became determined to break the story of who would replace Evans as voice of the choir. In the meantime, Alan Jensen (who had substituted for Evans from time to time) announced for the choir. [3]
In January 1972, Kinard was invited to audition for the position of announcer. He was introduced to the choir the next week and officially took over the helm at the Tabernacle Choir's Music and the Spoken Word broadcast in February 1972, where he continued for 18 years. [1] [3] In the meantime he remained at KSL, where he gradually gained more responsibilities and eventually became news director.
On November 1, 1990, the Deseret News reported that Kinard had resigned as vice president of news and public affairs for KSL:
Kinard has been the subject of rumors about his relationship with KSL anchorwoman Jennifer Howe. Allegations within the Channel 5 newsroom that Kinard advanced Howe's career at the expense of other KSL employees led to widespread dissatisfaction among the staff for the past few months. Both Kinard and Howe deny those allegations. Howe is still on the KSL payroll, but she has not been on the air since Oct. 18. She is visiting her parents in Dallas. After a weeklong series of meetings, Kinard was placed on a medical leave from the station on Oct. 19. He reportedly was suffering from overwork and stress. [4]
The next day, the Deseret News followed up with an article entitled "Kinard - At His Request - Is Released From Choir Post".
Kinard went on to become deputy director of the Utah Travel Council, where he worked for nearly twelve years until his 2006 retirement. [2] Kinard is a member of the board of trustees of the University of Utah. [5] He has been chairman of the national Radio-Television News Directors Association and was president of the University of Utah Alumni Association (2005–08). [2]
TheTabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir, acting as 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.
KSL-TV is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is sister to KSL radio. The three stations share studios at the Broadcast House building in Salt Lake City's Triad Center; KSL-TV's transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City. The station has a large network of broadcast translators that extend its over-the-air coverage throughout Utah, as well as portions of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle, is located on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, in the U.S. state of Utah. The Tabernacle was built from 1863 to 1875 to house meetings for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the location of the church's semi-annual general conference until the meeting was moved to the new and larger LDS Conference Center in 2000. Now a historic building on Temple Square, the Salt Lake Tabernacle is still used for overflow crowds during general conference. It is renowned for its remarkable acoustics and iconic pipe organ. The Tabernacle Choir has performed there for over 100 years.
Richard Louis Evans was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1953–71); the president of Rotary International (1966–67); and the writer, producer, and announcer of Music and the Spoken Word (1929–71).
KSL Newsradio is a pair of radio stations serving the Salt Lake City, Utah region, consisting of the original AM station, KSL, licensed to Salt Lake City on 1160 kHz, and FM station KSL-FM, licensed to Midvale on 102.7 MHz. Owned by Bonneville International, a broadcasting subsidiary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the stations share studios with sister television station KSL-TV in the Broadcast House building at the Triad Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
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 Tabernacle Choir (Choir)—often accompanied by the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ and the Orchestra at Temple Square. The program also includes spiritual messages and passages related to a specific episode's theme, presented by Derrick Porter.
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, Ottley 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.
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.
Annette Richardson Dinwoodey was an American radio singer and centenarian. She sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1971 to 1973. She was a contralto.
Edward Beatie "Ted" Kimball, was a professional radio host in the Salt Lake City region. He was the first announcer of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast "Music and the Spoken Word".
Anthony Canute Lund was the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City, Utah from 1916 until 1935. Lund was also a professor of music at Brigham Young University.
The choirs at Brigham Young University (BYU) consist of four auditioned groups: BYU Singers, BYU Concert Choir, BYU Men's Chorus, and BYU Women's Chorus. Each choir is highly accomplished and performs from an extensive repertoire. Together, the choirs have recorded and released over 30 albums. The choirs perform frequently throughout the academic year, both as individual ensembles as well as a combined group.
Trent Walker is an American sound engineer who was nominated for the 2008 Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Classical category. Along with Bruce Leek and Fred Vogler, Walker received the nomination for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas album Spirit of the Season.
Edward Partridge Kimball was an American organist of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a Latter-day Saint hymn writer.
Lyndon Whitney Clayton III has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 2001. He became a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy in 2008 and was its senior president from 2015 until 2020.
Joseph John Daynes was the first organist at the Salt Lake Tabernacle and for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Daynes was born in Norwich, England, to John Daynes and Eliza Miller. The Daynes family later joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then immigrated to Utah Territory in 1862.
Alex Boyé is a British-American singer, dancer, and actor. He was named the "2017 Rising Artist of the Year" in a contest sponsored by Pepsi and Hard Rock Cafe.
Robert Milton Cundick Sr. was a Latter-day Saint composer. Cundick's interest in music started at a young age, and he studied under Mormon Tabernacle organist Alexander Schreiner and later under Leroy J. Robertson. He also served for many years as an organist at the Salt Lake Tabernacle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This included accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and playing organ solos on the weekly broadcast, Music & the Spoken Word. Cundick served in World War II and enrolled at the University of Utah where he received his BFA, MFA, and PhD. He joined the music faculty at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1957 but his work there was interrupted due to various callings by LDS Church leaders. After his retirement, Cundick continued to contribute to music in the LDS Church. In his personal life, he married his organ student Charlotte Clark while he was a student at the University of Utah. He died in 2016 at the age of 89.
Earl J. Glade was the 25th mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah.
General Conference is a gathering of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held biannually every April and October at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. During each conference, church members gather in a series of two-hour sessions to listen to the faith's leaders. It consists of five general sessions. From April 2018 to April 2021, the priesthood session was held during the April conference, with a General Women's Session held during October's conference. The Saturday evening session was changed to a general session in October 2021. The conference also generally includes training sessions for general and area leaders. Although each general conference originates from Salt Lake City, the conference is considered an international event for the church. The sessions are broadcast worldwide in over 90 languages, primarily through local and international media outlets, and over the Internet.