PASAY, Philippines — Music and dance welcomed members of The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square to the Philippines this week as they begin the second stop on their multicity, multiyear “Hope” tour.
“Mabuhay,” said Elder Yoon H. Choi, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Church’s Philippines Area presidency, sharing a traditional Filipino welcome to the choir and orchestra members.
He said the Filipino members are excited and looking forward to choir and orchestra performances in the country — the first time the groups have been to the Philippines.
This “is a historical event,” Elder Choi said of the “Himig ng Pag-asa” or “melody of hope” tour stop. “It’s really going to touch the hearts of many.”
Dancers, drummers and cheering young adults greeted the two flights of choir and orchestra members, leaders and staff as they arrived after the 15-hour flight late on Wednesday, Feb. 21, and in the early morning hours Thursday, Feb. 22.
After dinner later that evening, youth from 10 different stakes performed “Upon the Isles of the Sea,” with several traditional Filipino dances, including “Pandanggo Sa Ilaw” with holding and balancing lights, “Maglalatik” folk dance with coconut shells, “Sayaw Sa Bangko” with dancers balancing on benches, “Bagobo: 3 Flaggey Libon” danced with sticks and paddle-like boards, and “Tinikling” with its quick steps over moving bamboo poles.
They concluded with “Peace in Christ,” with all of the youth performers joining in at the end of the song. Many of the performers and the choir and orchestra members were emotional as the last notes were sung. The choir responded with applause and singing an impromptu “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”
“The love they are expressing is overwhelming,” said Cami Purtschert, who sings first alto in the choir.
Krista Paulson, also a first alto, said her daughter served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Tacloban area, adding that her daughter said they were very faithful people.
“You just feel it,” she said of the spirit she felt as they sang “Peace in Christ.”
Many of the young performers and choir members visited and took pictures together after the performances.
During his remarks, Elder Choi also noted the role the Tabernacle Choir’s music has played in his life. He and his wife, Sister Bon Kyung Koo Choi, would listen to the choir’s music on their dates.
When he proposed marriage to her, “we sang together for two hours, and I proposed. … She said ‘yes,’” he said as many of the choir and orchestra members clapped and cheered.
“We appreciate your talents and your eagerness, and especially your great love of God,” Elder Choi said.
Choir President Michael O. Leavitt thanked those from the Church Philippines Area who have been helping for many months to plan and prepare for the choir and orchestra’s tour.
Also on Thursday, choir members were fitted for the clothes they will be wearing during their concerts. The men will wear a barong embroidered with the choir’s logo, three stars for the country’s three largest islands and three rays of the Philippine sun. The women will wear a poncho over their dresses that is embroidered with the sampaguita, the country’s national flower.
‘Hope’ tour concerts in the Philippines
There are 323 members of the 360-voice volunteer choir on tour and 68 members of the orchestra, along with choir leaders and staff on tour. These “musical missionaries” are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days and choir members have a monthslong audition process.
They will be in the Philippines through Thursday, Feb. 29, performing at a sacred music concert on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 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.
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.
Registration in January for tickets for the SM Mall of Asia Arena concerts lasted a few hours as organizers received the maximum number of registrations. 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.
Salonga was the guest performer in the choir’s 2022 Christmas concert “Season of Light.” It aired on CNN Philippines on Dec. 24, at 8 p.m. with a viewership of more than 1.3 million. It was No. 4 among CNN Philippines programs aired on Dec. 24, according to information from Bonneville Distribution.
The Philippines is the second stop on the “Hope” tour. In June 2023, the choir and orchestra’s first stop was in Mexico, where the choir and orchestra performed at the Toluca Cathedral and two “Esperanza” concerts in Mexico City’s National Auditorium, which seats about 10,000 people. The two concerts in the National Auditorium featured guest artist singers Adassa and Alex Melecio and radio host Mariano Osorio and shared messages and songs of hope.
Choir officials announced on Wednesday, Feb. 21 — while choir and orchestra members were en route to the Philippines — that the fall tour from Sept. 5-12 will be to Florida and Georgia in the southeastern United States. On one of the flights, a member of the choir presidency announced it on the airplane’s intercom.
Previously, the choir and orchestra’s tours or travel assignments have been every few years with stops in many countries in a single trip and appearing mostly at small concert halls. Now, the choir and orchestra are traveling twice a year for a shorter time and performing in larger venues.
The Church of Jesus Christ in Philippines
With 853,254 Church members across 1,272 congregations and 23 missions, the Philippines has the most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Asia. Outside of the U.S., there are only more members in Mexico (1.5 million) and Brazil (1.4 million).
The nation is comprised of more than 7,100 islands in the western Pacific Ocean’s Southeast Asia region. The country’s land is roughly the area of Italy or the United States’ Arizona.
The Church’s history in the Philippines dates back to 1898 when two Latter-day Saints serving in the U.S. military first held Church services in the country. During World War II In the 1940s, American Latter-day Saints who were military members returned to the Philippines. The first Filipino to be baptized in the Philippines was Aniceta Pabilona Fajardo in 1945.
The Filipino government granted the Church legal recognition in 1961. It was on April 28, 1961, that then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley officially opened the country for missionary work. In June, four Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived and began sharing the gospel.
President Leavitt said Thursday evening that he’s spoken with two of those four missionaries who reflected on the beginnings of the Church in the Philippines more than 60 years ago and now has grown to more than 850,000 people.
“Beginning with this meeting, we as choir will have the privilege of being part of that miracle,” President Leavitt said.
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