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.
Music of Utah has long been influenced culturally by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The local music scene thrives. The musical history of Utah, and much of its current distinctiveness, is owed to artists from a variety of beliefs.
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.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle, also 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, and 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. Tabernacle Choir has performed there for over 100 years.
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.
The Chorale at Temple Square (Chorale), formerly known as the Temple Square Chorale, is one of the musical organizations on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. The main purpose is to train its members musically for the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (Choir), which is a more rigorous musical institution.
Craig D. Jessop is an American academic, musician and singer best known for his tenure as the music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (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.
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.
David Asael Smith was a member of the presiding bishopric of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1907 and 1938 and was the first president of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle organ is a pipe organ located in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. Along with the nearby Conference Center organ, it is typically used to accompany the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and is also featured in daily noon recitals. It is one of the largest organs in the world. Jack Bethards, president and tonal director of Schoenstein & Co., describes it as an "American classic organ" and "probably one of the most perfect organs ever built."
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 United States. The group was disbanded during the 1999 reorganization of the 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.
Igor Gruppman is a Ukrainian violinist and conductor. He is the Principal Conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, a position he has held since 2003. In May 2009, Igor Gruppman was appointed by Valery Gergiev to the position of music director of the newly formed Mariinsky Stradivary Orchestra. He currently also is Concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic 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.
Charles John Thomas was the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, now the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, for part of the 1860s, and was involved in several other musical endeavors in early Utah.
The Schoenstein Organ at the Conference Center is a pipe organ built by Schoenstein & Co., San Francisco, California located in the Conference Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. The organ was completed in 2003. It is composed of 160 speaking stops spread over five manuals and pedals. Along with the nearby Salt Lake Tabernacle organ, it is typically used to accompany the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. Schoenstein & Co.'s president and tonal director, Jack Bethards, describes it as "an American Romantic organ" that is "probably more English than anything else."
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.
The O.C. Tanner Gift of Music is a series of free concerts presented in Salt Lake City by the Utah Symphony and the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, 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.
Reginald J. H. Beales was an American violinist and music teacher. He began learning the violin at the age of eight and accompanied silent movies by the age of 14. He studied the violin under Michael Baxte in New York City. He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was a violin instructor at the McCune School of Music and an orchestra conductor at the American Theater. He managed the Federal Music Project in Utah in 1935 where he formed the Utah State Sinfonietta. After losing funding for the orchestra after the Great Depression, Beales and others organized the Utah State Symphony Orchestra Association. Beales retired from teaching and performing in 1987. Beales was honored by the University of Utah and Utah governor Calvin L. Rampton for his musical contributions. By the time of his death, he was described as "one of Utah's most distinguished musicians" in the Deseret News. His musical scores are in the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University. In his personal life, Beales married Mesia Jenson in 1923. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
