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.
Music of Utah has long been influenced culturally by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The local music scene thrives. However, the musical history of Utah, and much of its current distinctiveness, is also owed to secular artists.
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.
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.
Saints Unified Voices (SUV) is a Grammy Award-winning American gospel music choir based in the Las Vegas Valley of Southern Nevada. The Saints Unified Voices Foundation, the governing organization of the choir, is directed by a board of directors, which includes Gladys Knight.
Daniel E. Gawthrop is an American composer, primarily of choral music. His output also includes a substantial body of works for the organ as well as orchestral and instrumental works. He has been the recipient of over one hundred commissions to write original music. His works have been published by Warner Brothers, Theodore Presser, Sacred Music Press, and others.
Music has had a long history in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from the days in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and the settlement of the West, to the present day. In the early days of the Church, stripped-down Latter-Day Saint folk music, which could be sung without accompaniment due to the lack of instruments in Utah, was popular. In the 19th century, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was created and began touring, while musicians began writing devotional and praise music with a Latter-Day Saint influence, paralleling the success of Christian Contemporary Music. Several organizations have existed and do exist to promote these artists, such as Deseret Book and the now-defunct Faith-centered Music Association. Starting in the late 20th century and to the present day, Latter-Day Saints have been increasingly involved in modern popular music in America and elsewhere in the World.
Janice Kapp Perry is an American composer, songwriter, and author. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she has written over 3,000 songs, some of which appear in the church's official hymnal, Children's Songbook. Some of her most well-known songs include "I Love to See the Temple" and "A Child's Prayer".
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.
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. President and tonal director Jack Bethards describes it as an "American classic organ" and "probably one of the most perfect organs ever built."
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 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.
Richard P. Condie was the conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City, Utah from 1957 to 1974.
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. 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.
The Christmas discography of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, a 360-member all-volunteer choir consists of at least six studio albums, at least eleven live albums, and many compilation albums. The choir is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to support the organization.
Spirit of the Season was recorded during the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's 2006 Christmas concert "The Spirit of the Season," with special guest Sissel, joined by the Mormon Tabernacle orchestra and bells, conducted by Music Director Craig Jessop. The album was released in 2007 along with a concert DVD and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Classical chart within five weeks of its release and remained there for nine weeks. The album was also nominated for two Grammy Awards, Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Engineered Album - Classical. The recorded concert was also broadcast on PBS stations in December 2007 to more than 4 million Americans.
John Taylor McClure was an American recording engineer and record producer, who worked in the fields of classical music, jazz, and popular music.
Bishop Hezekiah Walker is a popular American gospel music artist and pastor of prominent Brooklyn New York megachurch, Love Fellowship Tabernacle. Walker has released several albums on Benson Records and Verity Records as Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir.
