100 years ago
President Joseph F. Smith, second counselor in the First Presidency, delivered a ringing and colorful endorsement of the Tabernacle Choir and encouraged member support of the group's Saturday-evening fund-raising concert, during an address reported in the May 5, 1894, issue of The Deseret Weekly.
"Perhaps many of the Latter-day Saints are not aware of the fact that it is through the proceeds of these concerts that Brother Evan Stephens and the Choir are able to meet their legitimate and necessary expenses - and the expenses of so large a choir are by no means inconsiderable. . . .
"It is through practice and indefatigable labor that they have attained the proficiency which they have reached, by which, as you are aware, they went to the World's Fair last summer, and if justice had been done them they would undoubtedly have carried away the first prize as the best singers in competition with all those contestants from the United States and from foreign countries. Without being an authority on the subject, my decision was rendered on the spot that the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir carried off the first prize at the Fair, but they were awarded the second.
"Having said this much, I invite this whole congregation to be present this evening, no matter what it costs. It will not cost you a great deal, and you will get your money's worth, if you love music. If you don't love music, you ought to come here and get a little of the love of it stirred up within you."
Quote from the past
"Honesty and integrity as perfected virtues in parents are more likely to become the heritage and rich endowments of their children." - Elder Delbert L. Stapley, in an address given April 6, 1971, in the Tabernacle on Temple Square.
