Musicians around the world rejoice in Christ for the 2024 Church Music Festival

Hundreds of performers filled the Tabernacle on Temple Square for the 2024 Church Music Festival on Saturday, Nov. 16, but many featured musicians weren’t in Salt Lake City for the festival, instead performing songs and bearing testimony from all over the world.

The Church Music Festival has evolved from a contest that showcased original compositions from members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to this year’s broadcast featuring songs in the new hymnbook and performances in other parts of the world.

The broadcast included recorded testimonies from global participants of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. The choir brings in 10 to 14 singers from around the world to sing with the Tabernacle Choir during general conference. The global participants spoke about finding comfort, courage and power through sacred music, speaking in Spanish, French, Swedish, Korean, Chinese, Danish, German, Portuguese and English.

In Spanish, Miguel Rodriguez from Puerto Rico told how the hymns have brought him peace.

“Several times when I have had experiences at different times in my life related to my anxiety, my fears, I always sing the hymn ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee,’” Rodriguez said during the broadcast. He sang with the choir during the October 2023 general conference. “And I always feel the Spirit of the Lord by my side, strengthening me in such a way that I can also feel the presence of the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ.”

In French, Esther Petion from France introduced this year’s music festival theme of “Come, Lord Jesus,” which is also the title of one of the songs performed and No. 1018 in the “Hymns — For Home and Church” music collection.

“In the first verse, we pray for the Savior to come into the world,” said Petion, who sang with the choir in the April 2024 general conference. “After He atones for our sins, we pray for His Resurrection to happen. Then we pray for His Second Coming when He will reign and govern forever.”

That theme was carried throughout the performances, beginning with “He is Risen!” sung by youth from the Pacific Area and ending with “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” sung by a choir composed of Institute of Religion students from Logan, Salt Lake City and Orem, Utah.

Marshall McDonald, the music coordinator for Seminaries and Institutes, directed the choir.

“Really the Savior is that fount of every blessing,” he said. “There’s no limit to what He and His Atonement could do for us in our lives.”

President Russell M. Nelson’s message during the October 2024 general conference on preparing for the Lord’s Second Coming goes hand in hand with the music festival’s theme of “Come, Lord Jesus.”

“In many ways, music can really help us just think a little bit about the significance of the time that we live in and the Savior’s eventual return,” McDonald said.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:71 reads: “And it shall come to pass that the righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy.” This is something McDonald reflected on as he prepared for the festival.

“I think evenings like this Church Music Festival seem to fulfill prophecy that there will be times when the righteous will gather and unite in singing,” McDonald said. “Music has a role to play in the gathering of Israel, and I think evenings like this are just giving us a little bit of a glimpse of the role that music can play to help us prepare ourselves for when the Savior will come again.”

Chemain Evans directed a choir of missionaries for the festival in singing “I Will Walk With Jesus,” one of the new songs added to the new hymnbook in May. She said she’s seen people become excited about music again as they engage with the new hymns.

“It’s just really exciting to see that there is value in the music traditions from all around the world and that we can incorporate those and enjoy those.” she said.

Seventeen-year-old Monroe Vata Rigby from the Garland Utah 2nd Ward in the Tremonton Utah Stake sang another new hymn: “He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child” in the original French.

“Singing in that language that I’ve always admired and that I’ve always found really beautiful, I just think it’s really neat to work with it and share it with others,” she said.

Monroe’s testimony has also grown as she’s learned and performed the song.

“This has been something that’s connected me to feeling closer to God,” she said. “I feel warmer; it just feels right.”

Other languages represented in song included Maori, Hawaiian, Tagalog, Cebuano and Spanish.

One highlight of the festival was the performances of “Gethsemane” and “Holding Hands Around the World,” sung by a choir of children ages 8 to 13 from stakes in northern Utah.

The same singers performed during the October 2024 general conference.

Other highlights include a Filipino choir singing “I Stand All Amazed” in three languages, a BYU–Hawaii choir singing “A Kou Aloha No/I Am a Child of God” in Hawaiian and English, Joseph Peeples on the organ playing Toccata on “Lobe den Herren” and a performance by Alyssa Jenks and Ian Christensen of “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” which is also in the new hymnbook.

Jinhyoung Park from South Korea, who sang with the choir during the October 2023 general conference, spoke during the broadcast about a difficult time for him during college. He had chosen not to study on Sundays but was instead listening to hymns.

“A deep peace filled my heart, and I felt a strong impression: ‘Rely on me and be not afraid,’” Park said. “Perhaps because I was listening to the hymns, I was able to hear the voice of the Spirit more clearly.”

The full 90-minute broadcast of the festival is available at broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, the YouTube inspiration channel, the Gospel Stream app and the Sacred Music app. Portions of the broadcast will also be available in the future in shorter videos on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

See more photos of the event below.

Editor’s note: This was updated on Nov. 18, 2024, with additional photos.