TAGUIG, Philippines — When Cezar “Bong” Consing was 10 years old, he heard The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Consing, the president and CEO of Ayala Corp., one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines, always wanted to hear the choir in person.
On Friday, Feb. 23, during The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s first concert on the “himig ng pag-asa,” or “melody of hope,” tour stop in the Philippines, he got to hear the choir in person and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” as one of the encore songs. He shared his experience with the group of notable families, business leaders and other officials during the concert at the Shangri-La: The Fort hotel in Taguig, metro Manila, Philippines.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen, who have been ministering in the Philippines for the past week, attended the concert.
Elder Andersen noted the talents of the people in the audience and said, “I acknowledge the wonderful people here who have taken the talents that God has given them and expanded them to bless many, many lives.”
Citing the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, he noted, “Building talents and expanding talents only makes sense to our Heavenly Father and are used, not principally for personal gain, but to bless the lives of others.”
Elder Andersen pointed to the talents of the volunteer choir and orchestra members and how they rehearse and work to expand their talents.
“Through their singing and playing, they bring peace and joy, they bring motivation, they bring comfort,” Elder Andersen said.
Choir President Michael O. Leavitt invited all of those there to listen not only with their ears, but also with their hearts. “This is music that is not only expressed with our minds, but this is music that you feel.”
He continued that he hopes those in the audience will feel “a new sense of hope, a new sense of peace and healing. … This is our prayer that you will feel a spark of the divine that’s sent to all of us and that creates the meaning by which we cannot just be good friends, but brothers and sisters.”
Songs of hope
The men of the choir and orchestra traded their white shirts and ties for traditional long-sleeved Filipino barongs embroidered with the choir’s logo, three stars for the country’s three largest islands and three rays of the Philippine sun. The women wore ponchos over their dresses that were embroidered with the sampaguita, the country’s national flower.
“Each song is a song of hope,” said Lloyd Newell, the announcer of the choir’s “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast. He noted how the work those in the audience do in their families and organizations can be considered a work of hope. The choir and orchestra members are “dedicated to bringing hope through uplifting music.”
The choir sang more than a dozen songs, under the direction of director Mack Wilberg and associate director Ryan Murphy, filling the room with music. It started with hymns of praise “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” “In Hymns of Praise” and “Awake and Arise, All Ye Children of Light.” The choir performed two international songs, “¡Ah, el novio no quere dinero!” a Sepharic wedding song, and the Nigerian carol “Betelehemu,” and three songs from the American songbook, “Music Everywhere,” “Pilgrim Song” and “Cindy.”
Newell noted several members of the choir and orchestra have connections to the Philippines, including tenor Leo Marcelo, who is a Filipino native.
The choir and orchestra concluded with the thoughtful “Meditation” and the rousing hymns “Let Us All Press On” and “The Spirit of God.”
They performed three encores, “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the well-known Filipino folk song “Bahay Kubo” in Tagalog, and “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.” Audience members responded with applause and a standing ovation.
Jojo Lacanilao, a city administrator, said the program was “fantastic.”
“It was a blessing to hear the Tabernacle Choir again,” he said. He added that the choir’s version of “Bahay Kubo” was the best he had heard.
“Seeing them here in the Philippines, wearing our traditional clothes, it’s wonderful,” he said.
Nina Mangio, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce, said she had heard a lot about the choir before attending Friday.
“It was as if I was listening to angels’ voices,” Mangio said of how she felt during the concert. “Their voices are so united. … They are very good. It really made us very happy.”
Elder Steven R. Bangerter, General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s Philippines Area, said in the five years he’s been in the country, he didn’t imagine that the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra “would make the trip all the way around the world to be here to share a message of joy and hope through music.”
He noted that there are more than 850,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the Philippine islands.
Area mission leaders also attended the concert.
There are 323 members of the 360-voice volunteer choir on tour and 68 members of the orchestra, along with choir leaders and staff. These “musical missionaries” are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days and choir members have a monthslong audition process. The choir’s origins date back to 1847 when pioneer members of the Church formed a choir to sing at a conference of the Church weeks after arriving in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley.
‘Hope’ tour
The choir and orchestra will be in the Philippines through Thursday, Feb. 29, performing at a sacred music concert on Sunday, Feb. 25, in the Quadricentennial Pavilion of The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas and two concerts in the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 27, and Wednesday, Feb. 28. The concert on Feb. 28 will be livestreamed on the choir’s YouTube channel, and local Church leaders are encouraging people to gather to watch it.
Guest performers for the SM Mall of Asia Arena are Broadway singer-actress and “Disney Legend” Lea Salonga, singer-songwriter Ysabelle Cuevas and TV personalities Suzi Entrata-Abrera and Paolo Abrera.
The Philippines is the second stop on the multicity, multiyear “Hope” tour. In June 2023, the choir and orchestra’s first stop was in Mexico last year. Choir officials announced on Wednesday, Feb. 21, that the fall tour Sept. 5-12 will be to Florida and Georgia in the southeastern United States.
