The Orchestra at Temple Square celebrated its 25th anniversary on Friday, Oct. 25, with a concert in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
“We express our profound love, admiration and appreciation for all that they have done for the past 25 years,” Tabernacle Choir music director Mack Wilberg, who also oversees the orchestra, said during the concert according to a news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced in October 1999 the organization of a symphonic orchestra to serve as a companion ensemble to the choir. The Chorale at Temple Square and the choir’s formal training school were also created then, according to the Church News archives.
The orchestra was officially organized on Oct. 16, 1999, and the first concert with the Tabernacle Choir singers was later that month on Oct. 29.
Orchestra members perform at a variety of events, from individual performers and small ensembles to 85 musicians. Their performances include the weekly “Music & the Spoken Word,” during the Bells at Temple Square concerts, the choir’s annual Christmas concerts and other special events. Since 2005, the orchestra has participated in biennial concert tours with the choir as well as presenting its own symphonic concerts in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, according to information from the Tabernacle Choir.
Since the Tabernacle Choir established its own recording label in 2003, the orchestra has performed on every choir recording. That includes George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” released in 2016.
Wilberg said on Oct. 25 that the orchestra added a significant dimension in sound and repertoire to the choir’s broadcasts, concerts and performances.
“[When] the orchestra was established in 1999, [it was] hard to imagine at that time how the orchestra would in some ways reinvent the choir,” he said. “And since that time, the choir has been able to do things that we never dreamed possible, even 25 years ago.”
Barlow Bradford, the orchestra’s first conductor, served from 1999 to 2003 and was followed by conductor and violinist Igor Gruppman. Wilberg and associate director Ryan Murphy currently lead the orchestra and conducted at the fall concert.
Nearly 300 musicians responded to the initial call to be in the orchestra, and 100 were selected. Bradford told the Church News in 1999: “We could have created two full-size orchestras and could have had two excellent groups with the quality of people who auditioned.”
Harpist Julie Keyes is one of 32 current orchestra members who performed in the first concert in 1999.
“I think the most memorable experiences are with the audience, with the people showing how much they love and appreciate what we’re doing for them,” Keyes said in the Church’s news release.
The orchestra has been on the recent “Songs of Hope” multiyear, multicity tour with stops in Mexico City, Mexico; metro Manila, Philippines; and Florida and Georgia in the United States. The tour will continue in 2025 in Lima, Peru, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Orchestra member Bill Holman said his favorite experiences have been “traveling the world and playing in the world’s best concert halls.”
Holman, who was first introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through a “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast, said, “Watching the people’s reactions to the music in places like Mexico City and the Philippines has been very special. They were so honored and touched because they had waited so long to hear us live.”
The all-volunteer orchestra includes those who are professional musicians and others who have a variety of professions and backgrounds.
Murphy said: “They are here because they love music and they love God and they love serving.” He added, “It’s just a wonderful, joyous atmosphere to be involved in. And they are just top-notch musicians and top-notch people.”
Like members of the Tabernacle Choir or Bells at Temple Square, orchestra members are volunteers, audition for their spot, are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and live within 100 miles of Salt Lake City. Each is a musical missionary for the Church.
“I remember when I was thinking about auditioning,” Keyes said. “My dad was really excited about this. [He said], ‘You’ve got to play with this orchestra.’ And I said, ‘But why would I want to do that? I’m not going to get paid.’ I think that is what has been one of the most rewarding experiences of playing with the orchestra.”
The Oct. 25 concert featured “Overture, from Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Mikhail Glinka; Symphony No. 9, op. 95 (“From the New World”) by Antonín Dvořák; and “Flying Theme” by John Williams from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
In 2023, the fall concert featured the premiere of Wilberg’s “Lovest Thou Me” invitation from “Becoming Peter (Two Meditations for String Orchestra).” Also part of “Becoming Peter” is the lamentation “And Wept Bitterly.” The performance also marked the first concert featuring the orchestra since the COVID-19 pandemic, with the orchestra having paused rehearsals and concerts for a time.
As in 2023, the orchestra’s concert featured an early Christmas gift — attendees could exchange their ticket for a general admission ticket to this year’s Christmas concert with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Broadway star Ruthie Ann Miles will be the guest artist at the Tabernacle Choir’s 2024 Christmas concerts Dec. 19, 20 and 21 in the Conference Center. Tickets, which are free, will be distributed through a random ticket selection.
Registration went through Friday, Nov. 1. See TheTabernacleChoir.org/christmas-concert-2024 for information.
Below are more photos from the fall concert.
