The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square
are pleased to announce their latest recording entitled
Praise to the Man: Songs Honoring the Prophet Joseph.
This recording is perhaps the most uniquely “Mormon” recording
released by the Choir and Orchestra as well as a testament to
the faith and legacy of Joseph Smith and the early Latter-day
Saints. Filled with new arrangements of beloved LDS hymns,
this recording evokes the feelings of those early saints—feelings
of hope, faith and joy.
The recording begins with a stirring arrangement of “The
Morning Breaks” by Music Director, Mack Wilberg. For many
Latter-day Saints, the visit of God the Father and His Son
to Joseph Smith marks the beginning of what they term “the
Restoration”—a time when God’s truths and principles were
again restored to the earth after a long hiatus. “The
Morning Breaks” speaks to this time of new beginnings
when “the dawning of a brighter day, majestic, rises
o’er the world.”
The recording also highlights a number of favorite
Latter-day Saint hymns including a joyous arrangement
of “Now We’ll Sing with One Accord” by Tabernacle Organist,
Richard Elliott, a powerful setting of “Praise to the Man”
and a tender arrangement of “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer,”
both by Music Director, Mack Wilberg. In addition, several
other prominent Latter-day Saint composers contributed to
this project including Sam Cardon and Nathan Hofheins.
Two selections from The Children’s Songbook are also
included.
“This project has been a labor of love for all involved,”
said Wilberg. “For the members of the Choir and Orchestra,
this recording has given them a chance to express their
testimonies of something that is very dear to them—the
life and mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith—and it’s
been a wonderful experience from start to finish.”
New Music Video
Rejoice and Be Merry: Nativity Play
This video is also available in high definition at the BYU Broadcasting
Website (click here).
2009 Tour Announced!
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is proud to announce its 2009 U. S. Central States tour,
taking place between June 18 and June 29, 2009. The tour will consist of seven concerts,
with performances in Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha,
Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Norman, Oklahoma; and Denver, Colorado. Sixty-five
members of the Orchestra at Temple Square will accompany the 360-voice choir on tour.
"Every week we have thousands of visitors from all over the world who come to experience
the choir in person,” says Mack Wilberg, music director of the Choir. “Touring gives us
the chance to share this experience with new audiences across the world. It’s a great
privilege and a highlight for Choir and Orchestra members to perform for audiences in
live concerts."
Among the tour highlights will be a performance with the Cincinnati Pops at the Riverbend
Music Center just outside of Cincinnati, with Erich Kunzel and Mack Wilberg sharing
conducting duties. The Choir will join the Pops as part of the 25th anniversary celebration
of the Riverbend Music Center, giving a very rare repeat performance after rave reviews
by the audience at Riverbend just two years ago.
Music from the tour will feature highlights from the Choir and Orchestra’s 2009 Spring
Release—Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing—as well as popular selections from the Choir’s
extensive re-pertoire including choral masterworks, hymns, spirituals and folk songs.
Since its first tour outside of Utah in 1893, the Choir has toured extensively across
the United States and abroad. It has performed throughout Europe and in music capitals
from Israel and Rus-sia to Japan and Australia. Tickets for the 2009 concerts will be
on sale at all concert venues by 1 December 2008.
Click here for information on the concert in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Click here for information on the concert in St. Louis, Missouri.
Click here for information on the concert in Des Moines, Iowa.
Click here for information on the concert in Omaha, Nebraska.
Click here for information on the concert in Kansas City, Missouri.
Click here for information on the concert in Norman, Oklahoma.
Click here for information on the concert in Denver, Colorado.
2008 Christmas Guest Performers Announced
Singer Brian Stokes Mitchell and actor Edward Herrmann will be the featured guest artists for Ring,
Christmas Bells, this year's Christmas concerts by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at
Temple Square. Mack Wilberg will conduct the concerts, which will also feature 120 bell-ringers
from the community, including members of Bells on Temple Square. Richard Elliott, Clay Christiansen
and Andrew Unsworth will accompany at the organ.
The concerts will be presented in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, 11 December,
at 8 p.m. (preview performance); and Friday, 12 December, and Saturday, 13 December, both at 7:30 p.m.
The weekly half-hour CBS radio broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday, 14 December,
at 9:30 a.m. in the Conference Center will also feature both guest performers, followed by a
mini-concert with additional music from the concert.
Dubbed "the Last Leading Man" by the New York Times, Brian Stokes Mitchell lived up to his
reputation
as one of the foremost Tony Award-winning Broadway stars as he performed with the Choir in the recent
Tanner Gift of Music concert to standing ovations. Stokes' performances as a solo vocalist have been
praised by critics nationwide, with sold-out evenings at the Hollywood Bowl, Disney Hall, Tanglewood,
Ravinia and Symphony Hall. His musical versatility and thrilling voice have kept him in demand by some
of the country's finest conductors and orchestras.
Edward Herrmann has enjoyed a versatile and prolific acting career, winning both Tony and Emmy awards
for his stage and TV work as well as appearing in countless movies on the big screen. He is also known
for his voice as narrator for The History Channel, for his portrayals of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and
for roles in various PBS specials. To viewers worldwide, he has become the embodiment of intelligence
and integrity.
"We are absolutely delighted to have these two great talents with us this Christmas," said Mack
Wilberg,
music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. "Our audiences fell in love with Stokes' rich baritone
and marvelous stage presence when he was here in September. Combining his talents with an actor of the
caliber of Edward Herrmann, for whom we have some special narrations planned, will make this year's
program one audiences will thoroughly enjoy."
Random Ticket-Selection Process
Free tickets for these concerts and the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast are required.
Because
of very high demand for tickets to this event in past years, tickets are distributed through a random
selection process. Click here for information about obtaining
tickets.
Holiday Album Rejoice and Be Merry! Now Available
Following the success of their #1 Billboard and Grammy-nominated album Spirit of the
Season, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is proud to announce Rejoice and Be Merry!, the
next musical masterpiece in a series of highly acclaimed and commercially successful holiday
albums. Rejoice and Be Merry! featuring special guests The King's Singers, is presented
with the originality and sophistication that have made these albums a holiday treasure for
families everywhere.
If you watch KBYU TV in Utah or BYU Television (carried on all Dish Network and Direct TV
satellite
services), you may have seen something that has the look and the feel of an MTV music video but
featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Your eyes aren’t
deceiving you. The music video is a joint venture between BYU Broadcasting and the Choir.
“When we heard Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of ‘Called to Serve’ we thought there was a way to
give it a wider audience that would benefit both the Choir and BYU Broadcasting,” said Jim Bell,
Senior Producer at BYU-TV. The idea for the music video was born.
Like most projects with the Choir and Orchestra, several things were actually done at once
to get the footage needed for the video. One Sunday in January following Music and the Spoken
Word,
the men of the Choir and all of the Orchestra spent 45 minutes doing a number of takes of the
song.
The men were spread out evenly through the Tabernacle for the best visual effect. A number of
separate cameras were filming at the same time. The footage was used not only for the BYU music
video but also for a video appearance of the Choir at the May 2008 Women’s Confer-ence at BYU as
well as a promotional piece used at Deseret Book’s Time Out for Women series throughout the
spring
and fall.
Matt Eastin, a film maker who works on projects with BYU Broadcasting, took the Tabernacle footage
and added other footage of real missionaries around the world. He spent a day shooting the
activities
of a companionship of elders and another one of sisters in the Utah Provo mission as they worked
with
contacts and investigators. The result is a highly moving, slightly different slice on missionary
work
and this fervent song which has inspired missionaries of all types. The video can be viewed
online by
clicking on the image below. You can also access a high definition version on the BYU broadcasting
website by clicking here.
If you like the video, you’ll be sure to want to get the CD. It’s music for every kind of
missionary.
Click here for more information.
Mack Wilberg Requiem Released
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square are excited to announce the release of
their latest album: Mack Wilberg Requiem and Other Choral Works.
Beyond his distinction as Associate Conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Mack Wilberg has
carved out a career both as one of the most successful choral arrangers in the world today and as
a composer of powerfully engaging original works.
This latest composition brings a fresh and contemporary approach to the time-honored tradition of
the Requiem. Featuring world-renowned soloists Bryn Terfel and Frederica Von Stade, it is a
fitting introduction to a moving new piece that is sure to grow in stature in the coming years.
The recording also includes several additional Wilberg original compositions.
Historical Roster:
Click here for a
comprehensive list of all who have served in the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple
Square.
Check this site often for information about all
the activities of the Choir,
the Chorale and the Orchestra. You'll find
details about performances, rehearsals,
recordings, auditions and tours and much more.
Sign up on our mailing
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distribution dates for concert tickets and
performance information.
Click here
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go to the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir Performing Arts Family Internet Resources Site (an internal administrative
website for members of the Choir, Orchestra, and Bells on Temple Square only).
2009 Tour Announced!
