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Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra traveling to Brazil in 2026 on ‘Songs of Hope’ tour

Brazil is the 6th stop and 3rd in South America during multiyear tour

LIMA, Peru — The most recently announced stop on The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s “Songs of Hope” tour is Brazil in February 2026.

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The sixth stop of choir and orchestra’s multicity, multiyear tour — and third in South America — was announced at a press conference in Lima, Peru, where the choir and orchestra is currently on tour.

Choir and orchestra members arrived Tuesday, Feb. 18, and will be performing in the National Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 22, which will be livestreamed on the choir’s YouTube channel.

Buenos Aires, Argentina, will be the fifth stop in August, with the choir and orchestra’s visit with this year’s 100th anniversary of the formal organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South America.

“Our South America concerts commemorate an important anniversary for all the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the continent,” said choir President Michael O. Leavitt. “The choir’s messages of hope and peace are our gift to them.”

Information on venues, free tickets and guest artists for both tour stops will be announced at a later date.

The Tabernacle Choir first went to South America in 1981, when they performed in Brazil.

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‘Songs of Hope’ tour

In November 2022, choir leaders announced that the choir’s tours would be shorter and more frequent. Previously, the choir and orchestra’s tours or travel assignments have been every few years, with stops in many countries or states in a single trip. They appeared mostly at smaller concert halls.

Now, the choir and orchestra are traveling twice a year for shorter times, performing in larger venues for free and streaming at least one of the performances, as they “anchor and radiate.”

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and Orchestra at Temple Square perform at the National Auditorium in Mexico City on Saturday, June 17, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

In June 2023, the choir and orchestra’s first stop was in Mexico, where they performed “Esperanza” concerts at the Toluca Cathedral and at Mexico City’s National Auditorium, the latter of which seats about 10,000 people. Sharing messages and songs of hope, the two concerts in the National Auditorium featured guest artist singers Adassa and Alex Melecio, one of the narrators for the Spanish “Music & the Spoken Word,” and radio host Mariano Osorio.

The Philippines was the second stop on the “Himig ng Pag-asa” or “Melody of Hope” tour, in February 2024, with a sacred music concert at the University of Santo Tomas and two concerts in the SM Mall of Asia Arena. It featured singer and actress Lea Salonga, singer-songwriter Ysabella Cuevas and TV personalities Suzi Entrata-Abrera and Paolo Abrera.

The third stop was in the southeastern U.S. in September 2024. The first concert of the southeastern U.S. tour stop was a bilingual Spanish/English concert in south Florida on Saturday, Sept. 7, with singers Adassa and Melecio.

The choir and orchestra traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, and joined with the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs on Monday, Sept. 9, for a concert at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel on the Morehouse College campus. On Wednesday, Sept. 11, the choir and orchestra performed during a 9/11 tribute in the Georgia State Capitol in the morning. In the evening, the choir, orchestra and both college glee clubs performed in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena with surprise guest artist Kristen Chenoweth.

On all of the stops, select concerts have been available on YouTube, with area members and congregations encouraged to hold watch parties.

The tour includes most of the members of the 360-voice volunteer choir and 85 members of the orchestra, along with choir leaders and staff. These “musical missionaries” are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 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 orchestra was organized in 1999, and up to 85 musicians from a roster of 200 volunteers perform with the choir during the weekly “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast and other special events.

The Church in Brazil

There are nearly 1.5 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil — the third most in a country after the United States and Mexico.

There are 24 temples in the country — 12 are dedicated, three are under construction and nine are in planning stages.

Missionaries began preaching in southern Brazil in 1928, primarily to German-speaking areas. The Portuguese translation of the Book of Mormon was first published in 1940.

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Tabernacle Choir tours (since 2000)

David Morrow, director of the Morehouse College Glee Club, conducts a combined choir of his ensemble, the Spelman College Glee Club and The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during a concert as part of the “Songs of Hope” tour held at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
  • 2015 Atlantic Coast Tour — Bethesda, Maryland; Bethel Woods, Saratoga Springs, West Point, and New York, New York; and Boston, Massachusetts.
  • 2013 Upper Midwest Tour — Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • 2011 Eastern States Tour — Norfolk, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chautauqua, New York; and Toronto, Canada.
  • 2009 Central States Tour — Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Norman, Oklahoma; and Denver, Colorado.
  • 2007 Canada and Midwest Tour — Toronto, Canada; Chautauqua, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee.
  • 2005 Northwest States Tour — Pocatello and Boise, Idaho; Spokane and Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento, California; and Reno, Nevada.
  • 2003 Northeast States Tour — Traverse City and Grand Rapids, Michigan; Chautauqua, Saratoga, and New York, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Boston and Lenox, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • 2001 Southern States Tour — Houston and Fort Worth, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; and Tampa, Orlando, and Miami, Florida.
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Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra arrive for debut performance in Peru
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