Virginia Campbell of Rio Negro, Argentina, watched videos of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and Orchestra at Temple Square perform. And then it was announced that the choir and orchestra would be performing in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“I’ve been dreaming of getting to the concert,” Campbell said after the choir and orchestra’s 2.5-hour concert in Movistar Arena on Aug. 22 that also celebrated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 100th anniversary of preaching the gospel in South America. The concert was the first time she had heard the choir and orchestra in person, and it was exciting to hear them, she added.
Campbell also said she felt many of the same spiritual feelings she did at her own baptism 30 years ago.
Campbell was one of nearly 9,000 people who attended the concert. The choir, orchestra, guest artists, dancers, narrators and guest musicians also performed on Aug. 23.
The concerts in Buenos Aires were part of the fifth stop on the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s “Songs of Hope” world tour.
“In each of our visits on our world tour, we testify of Jesus Christ,” Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt said in advance of the choir and orchestra’s tour stop in Argentina. The choir and orchestra also help to serve “as an ambassador from the Church to open doors and open hearts.”
The choir and orchestra’s shorter and more frequent travel assignments are one of three ways choir leaders are working to expand its reach. At the end of 2022, choir leaders announced that the words “throughout the world” would be added to the mission statement.
The expanded mission statement now reads: “The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square performs music that inspires people throughout the world to draw closer to the divine and feel God’s love for His children.”
The other two ways were through expanding “Music & the Spoken Word” into additional languages, starting with Spanish. Also, the choir would be inviting international musicians to sing with the Tabernacle Choir during the Church’s semiannual general conferences.
‘Music & the Spoken Word’
On July 13, the choir and orchestra celebrated the 5,000th episode of the “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast — the longest continuously running network broadcast in history. The milestone events included a pre-show, the regular 30-minute broadcast and an encore musical celebration. In addition to the choir and orchestra, Bells at Temple Square also performed.
The choir was also recognized by the National Association of Broadcasters with a commemorative proclamation and crystal, presented by Perry Sook, chairman of the association’s joint board of directors and the CEO of Nexstar Media.
“Today’s 5,000th broadcast recording represents more than longevity; it represents unwavering excellence, a commitment to public service, the enduring power of faith and music, and the ability of faith and music to unite us,” he said.
Prior to the broadcast, Derrick Porter, who is executive producer, principal writer and presenter of “Music & the Spoken Word,” invited people to send in their stories of experiences with “Music & the Spoken Word” and received more than 1,200 responses. Several of those were shared on the choir’s social media in the weeks leading up to the 5,000th episode and also during the celebration events.
During the final song of the 5,000th broadcast, music director Mack Wilberg used the baton director Anthony C. Lund used in that first broadcast on July 15, 1929. Also, former choir music director Craig Jessop, who served from 1999 to 2008, led “Consider the Lilies.”
The post-broadcast encore celebration concluded with many former choir and orchestra members in the audience coming onstage to sing the final two songs.
Also, a month earlier, the choir announced that the Spanish broadcast of “Music & the Spoken Word” would be broadcast on Telemundo in Utah on Sundays at 5 p.m. MT.
The Tabernacle Choir first began broadcasting “Music & the Spoken Word” in Spanish — “Música & Palabras de Inspiración” — on its Spanish YouTube channel El Coro del Tabernáculo as a pilot in July 2023.
Plans are still being made to expand to Portuguese, President Leavitt said in an interview prior to the 5,000th broadcast.
Global members at general conference
Since the April 2023 general conference, international musicians have been invited to audition to sing with the Tabernacle Choir. Each then goes through the multistep choir audition process with a recording, musical theory tests and live singing session with choir officials — a similar process for those who live within 100 miles of Salt Lake City. Also, they must be able to travel to the United States and demonstrate English proficiency.
In April 2024, the program went from a pilot program to a permanent part of the choir.
Each global member is initially recommended through area leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to the Tabernacle Choir’s website.
“It’s been like a dream come true for all of us for sure. A dream that we never thought would be possible,” Rodrigo Domaredzky of Curitiba, Brazil, who sings baritone, said in an interview with the Church News when he came to Salt Lake CIty in April 2023.
The global members, formerly called global participants, come from a variety of backgrounds — singing opera; singing professionally; having various degrees in music; specializing in an instrument, such as piano; or conducting; singing more as a hobby while having a profession in a completely different field.
Also, during the choir’s tour stops, the global members from those areas have been invited to participate in the concerts. In addition to singing, they’ve helped with narrating the concerts or been a guest musician.
Yanina Murga of Ecuador was one of the narrators during the tour stop in Lima, Peru. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, nine global participants with ties to South America sang and several were part of the pre-show. Nelson Lopez of Paraguay, who plays English horn, was a guest musician with several of his siblings.
Those interested should visit thetabernaclechoir.org/global-participant-program for information.
‘Songs of Hope’ world tour
President Leavitt said that as the choir and orchestra have traveled and performed with the multiyear, multicity international “Songs of Hope,” they hope that having “the choir come to their country — and to their continent — it adds to a sense of belonging to the Church.”
Previously, the choir and orchestra’s tours or travel assignments were every few years, with stops in many countries or states during 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.”
At each stop, the choir and orchestra have performed a smaller interfaith or VIP concert and then a larger concert in an arena. On all of the stops, select concerts have been streamed live on YouTube, with area members and congregations encouraged to hold watch parties. The concerts from Peru and Argentina are available now on YouTube, and recent concerts have been available for up to a year.
Mexico City, Mexico: 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 Alex Melecio and Adassa, one of the narrators for the Spanish “Music & the Spoken Word,” and radio host Mariano Osorio. Melecio is originally from Mexico.
Manila, Philippines: The Philippines was the second stop on the “Himig ng Pag-asa” (“Melody of Hope” in Tagalog) tour, in February 2024 — the first time the choir and orchestra have performed in the country. The tour stop included a VIP concert at the Shangri-La Hotel, a sacred music concert at the University of Santo Tomas and two concerts in the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The concerts in SM Mall of Asia Arena featured singer and actress Lea Salonga, singer-songwriter Ysabelle Cuevas and TV personalities Suzi Entrata-Abrera and Paolo Abrera. Nearly 10,000 people filled the stadium.
The tour overlapped with the ministry of Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the country. He attended the VIP and sacred music concerts and also spoke to the choir and orchestra members.
Florida and Georgia, United States: The third stop was in the southeastern U.S. in September 2024. The first concert was a bilingual Spanish/English concert in south Florida on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, with singers Adassa and Melecio, in Amerant Bank Arena. Adassa grew up in southern Florida, and her parents are originally from Colombia.
The choir and orchestra traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, and joined with the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, for a concert at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel on the Morehouse College campus. On Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, 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 Kristin Chenoweth.
Lima, Peru: The fourth stop of the “Canciones de Esperanza” (“Songs of Hope” in Spanish) tour was in February 2025 with the choir’s first concerts in Peru — and the second time in its history performing in South America.
It first performed an interfaith/VIP concert featuring singers Adassa and Melecio at the Westin Lima Hotel and Convention Center in Lima, Peru. Adassa’s parents are from Colombia and Melecio’s mother-in-law is Peruvian.
The “Canciones de Esperanza” concert in the National Stadium was the largest open air stadium the choir and orchestra have performed a full concert in — about 34,000 people filled the stadium where Colombian pop star Shakira performed earlier in the week and the national soccer team plays. The two-hour concert featured singer Fonseca of Colombia, Mauricio Mesones of Peru and a former member of the band Bareto, Adassa, Melecio and the Fabre family trio from Ecuador. The 17-member Bolivian band Los Kjarkas played a nearly hourlong pre-show, with youth dancers.
Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles welcomed audience members at both concerts and also met with Peru’s president and other government, business and religious leaders during the choir’s tour stop.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: The fifth stop was in Buenos Aires with concerts that celebrated 100 years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South America. It was the choir and orchestra’s first performances in Argentina.
The concert at the Palacio Libertad auditorium featured guest artist and celebrated tango singer Raúl Lavié. The choir and orchestra performed two concerts — titled “Songs of Hope: A Century of Sharing the Gospel in South America” — in Movistar Arena to audiences of nearly 9,000 each evening. The 2.5-hour concert featured Argentine singer-songwriter Soledad Pastorutti and Melecio. The nearly hourlong pre-show featured singers Maggie Cullen and Dos Más Uno. Several guest musicians were also featured.
The choir and orchestra’s concerts celebrated the 100th anniversary of Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicating all of South America for the preaching of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, in Buenos Aires on Christmas Day 1925.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles welcomed the attendees to the concerts and also met with Argentina’s president and other government, business and community leaders.
Brazil: The sixth stop of the tour will be in Brazil in February 2026. The Tabernacle Choir first went to South America in 1981, when it performed in Brazil.
President Leavitt previously said it’s anticipated the “Songs of Hope” tour will conclude with the Salt Lake Temple rededication in 2027.
About the Tabernacle Choir
The Tabernacle Choir is a 360-voice volunteer choir. 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.
