Singer Adassa returns to southern Florida roots for Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra ‘Songs of Hope’ bilingual concert

SUNRISE, Florida — In a bilingual concert where the speakers and singers shifted seamlessly from English to Spanish and back in southeastern Florida, The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square performed their first concert of the global “Songs of Hope” tour in the United States on Sept. 7, as previous stops on the tour have been in Mexico and the Philippines.

The concert featured singer Adassa, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “To be here, it means everything. This is where my seeds grew for music for the love of the stage,” said Adassa, who voiced Dolores in Disney’s “Encanto” and has won Golden Globe, Oscar and Grammy awards.

It’s the 310-voice choir and 69-member orchestra’s first concert in Florida since 2001, when the choir visited multiple southern states. About 7,800 people from all over Florida — including buses to bring attendees from Orlando more than 200 miles away — came to the choir and orchestra’s free performance in Amerant Bank Arena, in Sunrise, Florida, where the Panthers hockey team won the NHL’s Stanley Cup earlier this year.

The concert was being livestreamed, with watch parties planned for throughout the southeastern U.S. By Sunday morning, the YouTube stream had more than 12,000 views and counting.

Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Sister Valérie Caussé, and Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Church’s North America Southeast Area, and his wife, Sister Jayne Corbitt, attended the concert. Elder Corbitt welcomed the audience at the beginning of the concert.

Bishop Caussé said afterward that “it was a testimony of joy,” adding that people “could feel their testimony of Jesus Christ.” He noted how it was uplifting and many people had smiles on their faces, but also at times during the performance, were almost moved by the Spirit to tears.

“I’m so glad we have so many friends join us from Florida, from all kinds of cultures and backgrounds. And we feel that sense of unity, thanks to music and the strength of the Lord,” Bishop Caussé said.

Elder Corbitt said: “The excitement about the choir is palpable. There wasn’t one electric moment; it was electric throughout the concert.” He added, “There was an undeniable sense of the divine in their music tonight.”

‘Songs of Hope’ in Florida

Singer Adassa sang the Latin-inspired “La Vida Es Un Carnaval” (“Life Is a Party”), a song she said was a personal favorite, and then the slower, melodic “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto” about two caterpillars falling in love.

Her family in Nashville, Tennessee, were planning to go to a watch party — one of many hosted around the southeastern U.S.

“I’m so grateful to be here for the third time,” Adassa said of performing with the choir and orchestra during the tour stop in Mexico in June 2023 and during the summer concert in July 2023.

“I’m still on cloud nine. The difference is that I’m starting to feel like we’re friends,” she said.

The bilingual concert includes speakers seamlessly switching between English and Spanish and subtitles for the other language appearing on screens. The choir also sings the verses of a couple of the songs in Spanish.

Adassa, whose parents are from Colombia, was raised speaking both English and Spanish at home. “To have a concert in which we can share both languages, number one, really brings a sense of community, that there are no lines and this is for everyone.”

She hopes that everyone will feel represented. “I think it’s a joy to be among them to be able to share both sides of my culture.”

The choir members are from 13 different countries and represent some 30 nations.

Singer Alex Melecio, a Mexico native and one of the hosts of the Spanish “Music & the Spoken Word,” hosted the concert, speaking both English and Spanish.

“It’s humbling. It’s exciting,” Melecio said prior to the concert of singing with the choir and orchestra again. “It’s comforting because I’m up there singing and I’m not by myself — I have the most amazing choir behind me, lifting me up, carrying me through the notes and through the program.”

During the concert, he also sang “Standing on the Promises — Stories of Faith and Hope,” featuring “Standing on the Promises of God.”

“When we sing of hope, we’re not just singing about having hope in ourselves,” Melecio said in Spanish. He added in English, “We look to the source of all hope,” Jesus Christ.

Six youth and young adults from southern Florida — Luzcille “Lucy” Badaraco, 20; Stephanie Mo, 22; Rachael Orantes, 17; Alejandro Garza, 17; Jackson Mills, 22; and Thomas Aldave, 17 — narrated the biblical stories of Jesus Christ calming the waves and walking on water. They also testified of the Savior and how faith can help navigate life’s storms.

They invited the audience to turn the lights on on their phones to share their faith and “let your light shine.” And the area filled with small pricks of light.

“Let this moment, this music, be your testimony that He lives,” Mills said as he and others testified of the Savior. “He loves you.”

Music of praise, the believers and from around the world

The choir and orchestra began the concert with hymns of praise, “Alleluia Fanfare” leading into the boisterous “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” in both English and Spanish, and the Irish folk song “With Joyful Voices Ringing,” all arranged by director Mack Wilberg.

Next were three alleluias: “How Excellent Thy Name” and “Alleluia,” from “Saul” by George Frederic Handel; the peaceful, chantlike “Alleluia,” attributed to Italian composer Giulio Caccini and arranged by Wilberg; and the soaring “Alleluia, from Psalm 150,” by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera that has seemingly disjointed individual parts building before coming together to fill the space with music.

The songs of the world included the celebratory Sephardic wedding song “¡Ah, El Novio No Quere Dinero!” from Spain in Ladino, which is a mixture of Hebrew, Yiddish and Spanish; the debut of “Gamelan,” designed to sound like an Indonesian orchestra; and the hand-clapping, foot-stomping American folk song “Cindy.”

“The language of the South is more than spoken words and phrases, right?” Melecio said during the concert. “It includes music, it includes the lyrics of Christian hymns.” Then switching to Spanish, he said, “Tonight, as a tribute to hymn singing in the south, we share three hymns of the believers.”

They performed the upbeat “Music Everywhere,” which was originally published in 1862, and with music by associate director Ryan Murphy; and his arrangements of “In the Garden,” by C. Austin Miles, about the resurrected Savior; and “To God Be the Glory” by Fanny Crosby.

“Truly they are songs of hope,” Melecio said in Spanish. “For they inspire us to endure earthly sorrow by looking to Christ for eternal joy.”

After Adassa’s songs and the story, the choir sang two hymns of hope: “Let Us All Press On” and “The Spirit of God,” with an encore of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”

The choir and orchestra were framed by a geometric sunburst design with a central screen that showed images and videos to illustrate the song.

‘Truly a wow’

It was the first time Father Reginal Jean-Mary, pastor at Notre Dame D’Haiti Catholic Mission, had heard the choir sing in person. “That was truly a wow,” he said of the concert.

“It was truly a wonderful concert, especially the theme of hope is very relevant,” he said, adding how he sees many living under despair. “It really recharged my batteries to go and convey that message of hope.”

Rosa Maria Merida de Mora, the counsel general of Guatemala in Miami, said she was very grateful to have been invited. She had seen the choir online, and it was her first time hearing the choir in person. “I am very blessed to be here.”

Stewart Russo of Palm Beach, who is involved in real estate business, said he was impressed by the dedication of the choir and orchestra.

“The raw beauty of the performance was in and of itself very dramatic. … And I’m so glad I made the trip down to be a part of this,” Russo said. He had seen the choir on television, but “there’s nothing like seeing a live performance.”

He added, “I’ll never forget it.”

‘Songs of Hope’ tour

The choir’s “Songs of Hope” multicity, multiyear world tour began in Mexico City, Mexico, in June 2023. The second stop was in Manila, Philippines, in February 2024.

The choir and orchestra now go to Atlanta, Georgia, for two concerts — one at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel on the Morehouse College campus on Sept. 9 and another at the State Farm Arena on Sept. 11, both at 7 p.m. At both concerts, they will be singing with the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs. Glee club members came to Salt Lake City and sang during the choir’s weekly “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast.

The concerts will be livestreamed on the choir’s YouTube channel, on broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and on the Gospel Stream app, and the two arena concerts will be available for on-demand viewing. (See www.choirworldtour.com for streaming information.) There are also watch parties across the southeastern U.S. to view the concerts live.

The choir and orchestra will also perform in the Georgia state capitol building on Sept. 11 as part of a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of 9/11.

More photos from the concert, dress rehearsal

Church News’ coverage of the ‘Songs of Hope’ southeastern U.S. tour stops in Florida and Georgia

• Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra in Florida for first concert of southeastern U.S. ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop
• ‘Spectacular’: Tabernacle Choir and the Morehouse and Spelman colleges’ glee clubs combine together as they sing, testify of Savior through music
• What the Morehouse and Spelman college glee clubs are saying about performing with the Tabernacle Choir in Georgia
• Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra perform at the Georgia State Capitol
• Kristin Chenoweth surprise guest artist at Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s final tour concert in Georgia
• How to watch the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s concerts in Florida and Georgia
• See photos of watch parties across southeastern U.S. for Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s ‘Songs of Hope’ concerts