On the night of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square were scheduled to perform a private concert.
Mack Wilberg, the choir and orchestra director, said: “The question was, ‘Are we going to go ahead?’ … It was decided that we would go ahead, but we would change the program significantly.”
With the approval of the First Presidency, Craig Jessop, then the choir director, and Wilberg, then the associate director, changed the program to more patriotic songs, said Heidi Swinton, former choir historian.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke; counselors President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust offered the prayers.
In his brief remarks, President Hinckley pointed to the Savior, Jesus Christ. He said, “There is shining through the heavy overcast of fear and anger the solemn and wonderful image of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Prince of Peace, the Exemplar of universal love — and it is to Him that we look in these circumstances.”
Wilberg said President Hinckley’s words “brought a sense of calm and a sense of comfort.”
Since that night 25 years ago, the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra have marked anniversaries of the events of Sept. 11, when airline jets crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City; the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.; and a Pennsylvania field. Flights were grounded across the country.
Wilberg said, “With continued challenging times, a primary purpose of the choir [and orchestra] is to bring hope, comfort, light and peace.”
Remembering the week of Sept. 11, 2001
That night, the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra performed patriotic songs, including the U.S. national anthem, “America the Beautiful,” “God Bless America” and an encore of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” reported the Church News archives.
Wilberg recalled that the songs “took on a totally different significance” that night.
The choir and orchestra performed Roy Ringwald’s arrangement of “God Bless America” that “starts like a prayer and then it builds, and then it comes back down to a prayer or a soft ending,” Wilberg said, adding, “It’s unusual for that piece.”
Wilberg said of that song, “It was so poignant for that particular occasion in that particular time.”
Friday, Sept. 14, 2001, was declared by then-U.S. President George W. Bush as a national day of prayer and remembrance. The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra performed two memorial services — at 10 a.m. and noon — that were broadcast over the Church’s satellite system.
In 2001, about half of homes in the United States had internet access, according to a report on Census.gov, and the vast majority of those were powered by dial-up connections.
During the Sept. 14, 2001, memorial, the choir and orchestra performed songs of peace and comfort, including “Blessed Are They That Mourn” (from Johannes Brahms’ “Requiem” drawn from Matthew 5), “How Great the Wisdom and the Love,” “God So Loved the World,” “Where Can I Turn for Peace?” and “Nearer, My God, to Thee”; and patriotic songs, including “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful.” President Hinckley and other Church leaders also spoke during the service.
Scott Barrick, who was the choir’s general manager for more than 20 years, was living in California at the time and went to his local Church meetinghouse for one of the services.
“I remember feeling connected,” he said. Barrick had applied for the general manager position with the Tabernacle Choir and was still in the interview process. He started with the choir in November 2001. “It was really interesting to me to see what impact the choir could have in a situation like this.”
Swinton said: “The choir has a way of breaching all kinds of divides and even languages because they sing from their hearts and from their very souls. And that touches people, no matter where they’re from, or what language they speak.”
Marking the anniversaries
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra did “Music & the Spoken Word” specials for many holidays and notable anniversaries, including 9/11, Barrick said. The first year, they released two songs that could be used in remembrances, according to the Church News archives. Through the years, they did patriotic programs near the Sept. 11 anniversary, especially if it was on a Sunday, Wilberg said.
For the 10th anniversary in 2011, television anchor Tom Brokaw was the guest narrator of the special “9/11: Rising Above.” The six songs from that special were released as a digital album.
The Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel launched the following year on Oct. 31, 2012, Barrick noted. That gave the choir more flexibility in sharing its music.
For the 20th anniversary in 2021, the choir and orchestra were still in the COVID-19 pandemic pause, creating some challenges, Barrick said.
Journalist Jane Clayson Johnson hosted the “9/11: Coming Together” anniversary broadcast, recording in New Jersey across the river from the World Trade Center memorial. Singer Kristin Chenoweth’s performance of “Angels Among Us” from the 2019 Christmas concert was included, along with other previously recorded songs from the choir and orchestra, Barrick said.
Swinton said the choir and orchestra “have provided a voice that can bolster the nation, that can bring peace and calm to the nation when we are suffering and can celebrate and bring joy when things go well.”
