Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra arrive for debut performances in Argentina on ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — People cheered, waved Argentine flags and held posters as they welcomed members of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square as they arrived in Buenos Aires for the fifth stop on their multicity, multiyear “Songs of Hope” (“Canciones De Esperanza”) tour.

This is the first time the choir and orchestra have been to Argentina, and they will be celebrating 100 years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South America.

“We’re an exclamation point in a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ in South America,” Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt said in an interview as the choir and orchestra were preparing for the tour stop.

The concerts on Friday, Aug. 22, and Saturday, Aug. 23, will be in the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires — which will seat more than 9,000 people — and the preshow and performances will feature singers Maggie Cullen, Dos Más Uno, Soledad Pastorutti and Alex Melecio.

The Aug. 23 concert will be streamed on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel. There are more than 500 watch parties planned across the South American continent, Leavitt said.

At the Ezeiza International Airport, dancers in traditional dress also performed as the 320 choir members, 68 orchestra members and several staff members arrived late Sunday, Aug. 17, and in the early morning hours of Monday, Aug. 18. After a bus ride from the airport to the hotel — a route that included passing by the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple — choir and orchestra members were serenaded by musicians and dancers, as the choir and orchestra members checked in.

During one number, the dancers invited the choir and orchestra members to join them.

Sheryl Moser, a second soprano, has been excited about the choir and orchestra’s tour stop as her husband served a mission for the Church in Chile. “I have this special feeling that I get to sing for his mission,” she said, mindful of the broadcast across South America.

Moser said that she is humbled by the members’ excitement who welcomed them.

“It’s so cool to be here and experience the culture and the people and share the love of music that we all have,” she said.

Taryn Thomas, who also sings second soprano, said it was “overwhelming and amazing” to see the excitement from the groups who met them at the airport and the hotel so late at night.

“I feel so honored that they are so excited for us to come,” said Thomas, adding that they got “to see the amazing talents” of the dancers.

Century in South America

The choir and orchestra’s concerts in Argentina are part of the celebration of the Church’s 100th anniversary in South America.

Elder Melvin J. Ballard, an early 20th-century Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Tres de Febrero Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Christmas Day 1925 offered a prayer dedicating South America for the preaching of the gospel. A small monument there notes the event.

President Leavitt said: “One hundred years later and we are there to commemorate the prophetic growth in that period.”

There have been other centennial celebrations this year, too, including one in June with Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in Chile.

The Church News has also featured pioneers in several countries, including Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

There are nearly 4.4 million Latter-day Saints currently residing across the 12 South America nations and one territory.

‘Songs of Hope’ tour

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

The choir and orchestra’s second visit to South America was to Lima, Peru, earlier this year during the “Songs of Hope” — “Canciones de Esperanza” — multicity, multiyear world tour.

Next year, they plan to go back to Brazil, as part of the centennial celebrations.

The tour started in 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico; continued in 2024 to Manila, Philippines, in February and to Florida and Georgia in the southeastern United States in September.

During the tours, President Leavitt said the “musical missionaries” of the choir and orchestra testify of Jesus Christ and also help raise awareness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — to “open doors and open hearts.”

In addition to bringing songs of peace, comfort and hope, they also want to be supportive of local Latter-day Saints in the areas they visit and hope people feel a sense of belonging to the Church, Leavitt added.

Leavitt said that the choir has looked for ways to learn from each tour stop, including how people receive the performances. For those in-person in the arenas and those attending watch parties, “we were gratified by the fact that they loved it — and they were effusive in expressing their appreciation for it,” Leavitt said.

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.