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Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra members visit Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra members learn about U.S., Philippine ties at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in between performances and rehearsals during tour to Philippines

TAGUIG, Philippines — On a plateau surrounded by communities that comprise Metro Manila in the Philippines is the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. It has more than 17,000 headstones for those in the U.S. military who died in World War II in the Philippines and in nearby conflicts. More than 36,000 names of those missing in action are on the monument’s walls.

On Saturday, Feb. 24, members of The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square visited the cemetery while in the Philippines on their multicity, multiyear “Hope” tour.

At noon, the strains of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” played throughout the memorial. Later, a group of singers sang it as they stood on the memorial.

Members of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sing while they and Orchestra at Temple Square take time to visit the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in metro Manila, Philippines, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

For Marian Marriott, a second soprano, seeing the memorial made her maternal grandfather’s experience as a radio tech on a U.S. naval ship in the Pacific during World War II very personal.

She was texting with her mother about Clifford H. Curtis and his experiences while at the memorial. He’s not listed there as he survived the war.

“It’s moving, and it’s so personal,” she said of the walls of names, including many radio techs.

The rows of white headstones — crosses with an occasional star of David — are arranged in 11 sections across the 152 grassy acres of the cemetery.

Alison Barton, left, and Lindsey Petersen, of The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, take time to visit the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in metro Manila, Philippines, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

For Alison Barton, choir executive assistant, the Philippines is the closest she’ll likely get to where her grandfather Jack Walker and his brother Dee Walker served on Pacific islands during World War II. Before coming to the Philippines, she began to dig into the history a bit more. He was injured on the Peleliu island of Palau and then sent to the Solomon Islands where he was able to connect with his brother.

“I never thought I would be this close to the places where my grandpa was,” said Barton, who got emotional when she saw the cemetery. She added, “It’s just beautiful.”

Dennis Flynn, who sings bass, put small U.S. and Filipino flags by the cross at the grave of his great-uncle, Carl Guy Draper, and was able to video chat with family members in the U.S.

Choir member Dennis Flynn, does a FaceTime call with family after he posted an American and Philippine flags at the marker for his great-uncle U.S. Marine 2nd Lt. Carl Guy Draper as members of The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square take time to visit the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in metro Manila, Philippines, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

There’s also a connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the cemetery.

It was at the cemetery the morning of April 28, 1961, that then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, rededicated the land for the preaching of the gospel. A year earlier, the Church had received legal recognition from the Filipino government. Later that year, the first four full-time missionaries to the Philippines arrived.

His prayer included “that there shall be many thousands who shall receive this message and be blessed thereby.”

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Church history in the Philippines

The Church’s roots in the Philippines go back to the late 1890s when two American, Latter-day Saint servicemen, Willard Call and George Seaman, were set apart as missionaries before being deployed to the country during the Spanish-America War. After World War II, Maxine Grimm was in the Philippines with the Red Cross in 1945 and introduced the gospel to Aniceta Pabilona Fajardo, who was the first Filipino to join the Church in the islands.

Meetings for servicemen were organized during the 1950s. On Aug. 21, 1955, President Joseph Fielding Smith at Clark Air Base dedicated the Philippines for the preaching of the gospel.

After six years, the Church received legal recognition and was allowed to have full-time missionaries enter the country. Elder Hinckley, then an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, rededicated the Philippines for missionary work in 1961.

Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt, and others look at the seal of the state of Utah as members of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square take time to visit the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in metro Manila, Philippines, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Now, there are 853,254 Church members across 1,272 congregations and 23 missions in the Philippines — 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).

There are two dedicated temples in the Philippines — the Manila Philippines Temple (dedicated in 1984) and the Cebu City Philippines Temple (2010). The Urdaneta Philippines Temple is scheduled to be dedicated on April 28. Three more houses of the Lord are under construction — in Alabang (started in June 2020), Davao (November 2020) and Bacolod (December 2021). Seven other temples have been announced and are in planning, but without announced sites — in Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Laoag, Naga, Santiago, Tacloban City and Tuguegarao City.

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.

Sacred music concert rehearsal

Also on Saturday, they rehearsed for the sacred music concert on Sunday, Feb. 25, in the Quadricentennial Pavilion of The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas.

Mack Wilberg, director of The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, works with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square as they rehearse in preparation for a concert at Quadricentennial Pavilion of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas in metro Manila, Philippines, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

The University of Santo Tomas was established in 1611 and is the oldest university in Asia. (Harvard University in the U.S. dates back to 1636.)

During the rehearsal, the choir, orchestra and organists performed “Happy Birthday” to President L. Whitney Clayton, first counselor in the choir presidency, to celebrate his 74th birthday.

About the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra and the ‘Hope’ tour

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.

The choir and orchestra will be in the Philippines through Thursday, Feb. 29. In addition to the sacred music concert, they will perform 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.

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