Blake Erickson says singing in The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square has “always been something that I’ve wanted to do.”
And this spring, it came true for Erickson, who sings first tenor. He applied last summer and since then has been progressing through the four-phase audition process, including participating in The Chorale at Temple Square and choir school from January to May.
He is one of about 40 singers who are now joining the Tabernacle Choir and adding their voices to the weekly rehearsals and “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcasts.
Erickson said the experience has been a “mix of nervous and absolutely thrilled.”
“The magnitude of singing with the Tabernacle Choir is just starting to sink in, and I can’t wait to see what new experiences I will have,” he said. “The first ‘Music & the Spoken Word’ was emotional.”
In addition to when new choir members join, May is also when those who have reached the end of their service years in the choir, Orchestra at Temple Square or Bells at Temple Square, or as support staff, celebrate their last performances and are recognized for their service.
On June 1, the choir begins accepting applications to audition for the choir. The last day to apply is Aug. 15. The application-and-audition process is four phases that starts with the initial application, including a bishop’s recommendation and submitting a recorded audition. The second phase is an in-person aural and written test and the third is an in-person singing audition. The fourth step is Choir School and participating in The Chorale at Temple Square, which also includes those choir members finishing up their first full year in the choir, and singing in the chorale’s spring concert.
See thetabernaclechoir.org/2025-auditions-for-the-tabernacle-choir for an application guide, videos about the application process and the link to begin an application.
Laura Webster, 41, who sings second alto, was part of the Choir School 2024 class and is finishing her first full year in the choir.
She’s had “pinch-me moments like, ‘Am I really doing this? Am I really here? I really get to do this?”
Webster had heard The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square perform live multiple times. She said in joining the choir, “I just want to be in the choir to help people feel what I feel when I listen to the choir.”
During the past five audition cycles — from 2019 to 2024, as the audition cycle in 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions — about a quarter to a third of those who applied became choir members, according to information from the choir.
The 360 members of the Tabernacle Choir are volunteers and are considered “musical missionaries.” The choir’s origins date to 1847, when pioneer members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints formed a choir to sing at a conference of the Church weeks after arriving in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley.
Deciding and preparing to audition
Both Webster and Erickson grew up in musical families.
Webster’s parents met in an institute of religion choir. Her mother served as ward organist and would bring her children to ward choir practice.
“I like to think that choir is in my blood,” she said. Webster played the flute and sang in the choir in high school. As a newlywed, she sang in various community choirs.
“I’ve never considered myself a soloist. I’ve always loved choral music and small ensembles and things like that.”
Then their family began growing — they have five children from 7 to 16 years old — and her husband was serving as ward bishop.
“Once he was released, he knew this was something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” she said.
Erickson, 49, grew up in a family of six children in the Dallas, Texas, area and they all participated in musicals. He was part of the Texas Boys Choir and they sang with different opera groups.
“We just love singing in our family,” he said. Erickson sang in high school and a little in college and majored in international economics. He works for the Church in the Information and Communications Systems Department. It had been on his bucket list to audition for the Tabernacle Choir when it would work for his job and family life.
He accepted an invitation to be a guest at a Tabernacle Choir rehearsal last year. “I’ve sung in some pretty amazing places. This tops them all.”
The choir members he sang next to were welcoming and told him, “You really need to come do this,” Erickson said. After that performance, he decided he was going to audition and started voice lessons. He and his wife have a 23-year-old daughter.
The first time Webster applied, in 2021, she didn’t move beyond the first phase. She decided to take voice lessons before auditioning again. “My teacher and I were both like, ‘Now, you kind of know what you don’t know.’”
While taking voice lessons is not a requirement for the audition, both Erickson and Webster know of many choir members who have.
Webster said, “I would say the audition process is intentionally challenging because they have to know that you can withstand the rigor of the choir.”
Phase 1: The application
The first phase includes a recorded vocal audition. Erickson said he started the recordings in June, but kept redoing them and didn’t submit the recordings until right before the deadline in August. “I’m my own worst critic,” he said.
When Webster applied again in summer 2023, it helped her to record the different exercises multiple times and then to pick the one she liked the best. Also, there was one exercise she struggled with, and when she got it right, that’s the version she submitted.
Phase 2: The musical assessment and theory test
“The theory test is very intimidating,” Erickson said. He hadn’t previously specifically studied musical theory. The choir has a book with study materials that can be checked out, if needed.
Both Webster and Erickson used the provided study materials and tried to cram in as much as they could. Some parts of the test were recognizing different intervals, whether on paper or listening to it, and another part included hearing two lines of music and noticing if there are differences.
Webster also met with a choir member she knew through her husband who also helped her study and helped her understand why having the knowledge base and skills are important. Webster said during the test scratch paper with a piano keyboard on it was provided and that helped her.
When she took the test, current choir members came to help with things like passing out pencils and the test forms. During the breaks, the choir members would share some of their experiences with the choir, Webster said.
“I think that helped us feel at ease and say, ‘This is why we want to do what they do,’” Webster said.
Auditioners have to score at least 80% on the test to move to the next round.
“I think once I found out that I passed the written test, I cried more then with relief than when I actually made it in,” Webster said.
Erickson said he received the email with his test results while he was in a meeting. It was his meeting, so he cut it short and then read it.
“Honestly, I thought I blew it,” he said of the test. There were parts he knew, but others he wasn’t as sure about.
“It was kid-at-Christmas type” of excitement, Erickson said of getting the news he was moving on to the next step.
Phase 3: The in-person vocal audition
The audition includes singing a hymn for director Mack Wilberg, associate director Ryan Murphy and other staff members.
“I’m standing in front of essentially my heroes,” Erickson said. He sang the hymn he prepared — “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy” — and the directors asked him to sing it with different variations, including tone and volume, and then he was given a piece to sight-read.
Said Erickson: “I knew I did some things very well, and I knew I did some things horrible. I felt so accomplished, if I’d made it or not.”
After the test, Webster got sick and lost her voice. Her voice was about 90% back when she went to the vocal audition a few weeks later. “That was really nerve-wracking.”
She had intended to sing the hymn from memory, but forgot the words when the nervousness set in. During the hymn and the audition, Webster said the directors were kind and helped coach her through it.
“I left that part of the audition thinking: ‘Who knows? Who knows if I made it? I have no clue.’ I didn’t feel really super confident about any of the steps,” Webster said.
In the interviews with a choir presidency member, both Webster and Erickson said it was a review of the time commitment to serve in the choir and a chance to bring up any concerns.
When Erickson got the email notification that he had made it into the choir, he said, he cried. His wife, Mindy, found him in the kitchen and guessed that he had gotten in the choir.
“I just sat there for a little bit at our kitchen table and let it all soak in,” he said.
During the audition steps, his job had changed to include supporting the Tabernacle Choir organization, which he double-checked that it wouldn’t interfere with him auditioning.
“I had, in some cases, resolved myself that if I didn’t get in, I was still supporting the choir and I would be OK with that.”
Said Webster: “It’s a huge relief when you find out you made it. Now, the real work begins.”
Phase 4: The Chorale at Temple Square and Choir School
Webster said Choir School felt like a college-level course, and she was studying for a music minor with the types and depth of the things they were studying. There were lectures, discussions, handouts and a test at the end.
Erickson said Choir School felt “intimidating at first, because I really did feel like I was surrounded by people who are better than me. Come to find out they all thought the same thing, too.”
In Choir School, he learned more about musical theory, singing in the choir and also his voice as an instrument, including how it works, what affects it and how to take care of it.
While the Choir School instructors were nurturing and caring, it was an intense study as they were realistic about what it takes to sing in the choir and the level the choir performs at, Erickson said.
In the chorale, they work on a longer piece with several movements and other shorter pieces. One of the pieces performed in the spring concert this year was the oratorio “The Redeemer — A Service of Sacred Music,” by the late Robert Cundick.
“You really get to dive deep into it and dissect it and really perfect it and polish it,” said Webster, who finished her second year of being in the chorale. She had chorale rehearsals on Tuesdays, choir rehearsals on Thursdays and then the Sunday “Music & the Spoken Word” performances, with an occasional rehearsal afterward.
Webster said being in the choir is nonstop as members are always preparing for Sunday broadcasts and then another, larger performance, whether it’s the Christmas concerts, the “Songs of Hope” tour stops, general conference and the chorale concert.
“I do feel like I’m blessed. When I pray for help, I receive help,” she said. “I’ve prayed for the Lord to guide my voice. And help me remember the words.”
The first “Music & the Spoken Word” Webster performed in was “nerve-wracking.” She sat next to a veteran choir member, who helped comfort her.
“My family came and supported me, so I loved knowing that they were there,” she said, adding that the songs for the first were at least familiar to her.
Both Erickson and Webster practice on their own time for that week’s music, whether while listening or singing along to a recording or sitting at a piano.
During the first several months, Webster said, a friend in the choir would record their part and she would listen to that to help learn the second alto for the music.
As Erickson looks forward to performing with the choir, he said, “I’m intimidate, but encouraged.” He hopes he doesn’t take this opportunity for granted.
His advice to anyone considering auditioning for the choir? “Pray about it. Follow the inspiration. And do it.”
He added: “if for no other reason, then that first time through, you’re going to learn what needs to be done.”
Webster said, noting people have three chances to audition, “If you don’t make it in, don’t give up.”
Tabernacle Choir 4-phase audition process
The four-phase audition process begins with an online application, which can be submitted between June 1 and Aug. 15.
See thetabernaclechoir.org/2025-auditions-for-the-tabernacle-choir for an application guide, videos about the application process and the link to begin an application.
Choir member requirements
- Be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing and hold a temple recommend.
- Be between 25 and 55 years of age on April 30 of the year following applying, when choir service would begin. (Choir tenure is until age 60 or after 20 years of service, whichever comes first.)
- Currently resides within 100 miles of the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
- Be willing to maintain required attendance levels. Choir membership means about 10 to 20 hours a week, depending on projects and schedules.
- Be in good health for consistent participation in rehearsals, travel and performance-related requirements.
- Have auditioned not more than two times in the past. Applicants are limited to a total of three applications over their years of age eligibility.
Phase 1: Application
- The first phase includes the online application, a bishop’s recommendation and a recorded audition. Applications are accepted from June 1 to Aug. 15, 2025.
Phase 2: Music skills assessment
- The second phase is an in-person aural and written assessment that is currently scheduled for September. Auditioners must score at least 80% on the exam to move to the next phase.
- See the application guide for more on study materials and specific areas covered in the exam.
Phase 3: In-person vocal audition
- For the in-person audition, singers are asked to prepare to sing the melody line of a hymn of their choice in the vocal range of the part they are auditioning for and in the key of their choice. An accompanist is provided. It’s anticipated that these will be in October, according to the application guide.
- The directors will also do a general survey of vocal and musical abilities, including musical memory, rhythmic proficiency, sight-singing and voice-part determination.
- Also, auditioners meet with a member of the choir presidency for a short interview.
Phase 4: The Chorale at Temple Square and Choir School
- The Chorale at Temple Square and Choir School function concurrently as a choral training ensemble and choral music training school. The chorale rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings and choir school is on Thursday evenings, from January to the end of May. Additional dates are listed on the application guide.
- Singers are asked to commit to 100% attendance.
- The Chorale at Temple Square typically performs in a spring concert.
- Those accepted into the choir are also required to serve in the chorale the following year. So, those accepted into the choir in spring 2026 will participate in the chorale January to May 2027.
