The Salt Lake
Mormon Tabernacle Choir, 320 voices strong, is the official choir of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is named for its
permanent home in the historic Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. One of the world's most renowned choral ensembles, the
choir maintains an intense rehearsal and performance schedule, singing
at least twice weekly in the tabernacle and touring frequently to the
major music centers of the world. The choir is featured on a weekly
radio/TV program, "Music and the Spoken Word," carried by approximately
500 stations worldwide and heard live on Sunday mornings by many of
the several million people who visit Temple Square annually. In addition
to its regular open rehearsals and broadcasts, the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir sings for the semiannual LDS general conferences and various other
church and civic functions.
A widely recognized
institution of American culture, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has performed
at four presidential inaugurals--Bush (1989), Reagan (1981), Nixon (1969),
and Johnson (1965)--as well as many other significant national occasions,
including the bicentennial celebration of the American Constitution
at Constitution Hall in Philadelphia (1987); the American Bicentenary
in Washington, D.C. (4 July 1976); the "Tribute to the Stars" gala preceding
the summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles (1984); nationwide radio memorial
services for John F. Kennedy (24 November 1963) and Franklin D. Roosevelt
(12 April 1945); and the first worldwide television satellite broadcast,
from Mt. Rushmore (1962). The choir was featured in the first "Cinerama"
movie (1952) and in the first public demonstration of stereophonic sound
at Carnegie Hall in New York (1940).