Aybar, a native of the Dominican Republic and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wrote on Instagram that learning to swim helped her see possibilities rather than limitations.

“I began to see life from a completely different perspective. What started as a simple passion turned into something much bigger than I ever imagined,” she wrote.

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She carried the torch with Felipe Vicini, president of the nonprofit Creando Sueños Olímpicos (Creating Olympic Dreams, in English) that supports athletes in the Dominican Republic to reach elite levels in Olympic and Paralympic sports.

The Paralympic Torch Relay began on Feb. 24 with a flame festival in Torino and went 2,000 kilometers, or nearly 1,250 miles, throughout Italy to the opening ceremony in Verona Olympic Arena on March 6, according to information about the relay on Olympics.com. There were 501 torchbearers during the 11-day relay.

Aybar, who is 4 feet 3 inches tall, has brittle bone disease, osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as crystal bone disease. She began swimming when she was 26 after a knee injury and competed in her first Paralympics at 32 years old.

The industrial engineer has competed in both the 2020 Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Games. In Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, she became the first swimmer representing her native Dominican Republic to compete in the Paralympics and was a flag bearer in the opening ceremonies. She swam in the 100-meter breaststroke, 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly, in the divisions for those with physical impairments. In Paris, France, in 2024, she competed in the 200-meter individual medley, 100-meter breaststroke and 50-meter butterfly.

The Church News is looking for information about Latter-day Saint athletes. Please send information about 2026 Paralympians, including name, country and event, to churchnews@deseretnews.com.

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Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles welcomed those attending in the filled Ginásio do Ibirapuera arena, testifying of Jesus Christ as “the true source of inspiration and hope.”

He recognized that those in attendance had diverse beliefs, backgrounds and traditions. “We hope that everyone may likewise feel the spirit of unity and joy that marks this moment and feel spiritually uplifted,” said Elder Soares, who was accompanied by his wife, Sister Rosana Soares.

He added, “The music that will be presented today reminds us that, despite our differences, we share similar feelings, aspirations and dreams, and that beauty and harmony can unite us in a deeper way.”

The musical devotional Sunday featured singer Nathan Pacheco and a quartet of Beatriz Marmelo, Gabrielly Lourenço, João Daniel and Nicole Luz, all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also, children shared a story from the Book of Mormon about Jesus Christ visiting the Americas, with a chorus of about 200 more children joining them.

Guest harpist and native Brazilian Lethicia Caravello joined the orchestra during a medley of Primary songs — surprising her parents, Elder and Sister Soares. They were emotional as Caravello gave them a hug.

The concerts on Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, also in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera, featured guest artist Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo. The concert on Saturday, Feb. 28, was streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel and is available for on-demand viewing.

Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo surprise guest artist at Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s concerts in São Paulo, Brazil + see photos of the concert

For all three weekend performances, people lined up hours before the concerts, with the queues stretching around the block. The Ginásio do Ibirapuera — the same venue where the choir performed in 1981 — filled up each night with an estimated 6,400 attendees and an overflow area was available to view the concerts.

Also in attendance at the concert were members of the Tabernacle Choir presidency and the Brazil Area presidency and their wives. Elder Joni L. Koch, General Authority Seventy and the Church’s Brazil Area president, welcomed the audience in the arena and introduced Elder Soares.

The 320 choir members and 68 orchestra musicians, who are all volunteers, also performed earlier in the week on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at the Sala São Paulo.

São Paulo is the sixth stop on the choir and orchestra’s “Songs of Hope” tour — “Canções de Esperança” in Portuguese.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st ‘Songs of Hope’ concert in Brazil

What the guest artists, leaders are saying about bringing hope through music at Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s concerts in Brazil

Singing Primary songs

It’s been more than 11 years since Caravello last visited Brazil. She now lives in the United States, is the principal harpist with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is a married mother of two children. She also plays for other symphonies and orchestras and teaches music.

Caravello played the harp as the choir and orchestra performed a medley of “My Heavenly Father Loves Me” and “A Child’s Prayer.”

Before sharing the names of her parents, she told of how they encouraged her to play an instrument “even though I wasn’t too studious at the time.” When she decided she wanted to play the harp, it took time and effort to find access to an instrument and lessons. They also supported her in other ways, including late-night practices and having a vehicle large enough to transport a harp.

“My parents made many sacrifices throughout this journey to help me and followed what were probably many moments of divine inspiration to find a way for me to quite literally fulfill a dream,” she said. Caravello added her testimony of families, “The family is truly God’s plan for us to have happiness, and what an honor it is to know that it can be eternal thanks to our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Pacheco, whose grandfather is from Curitiba, Brazil, served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Campinas, Brazil.

“I represent thousands of young people who had the opportunity to do missions in Brazil,” he said, adding that while the missionaries had returned home, they never stopped thinking about Brazil and the people there, noting their faith in Jesus Christ. “Because there are no people like the Brazilian people.”

Pacheco sang one of his favorite songs, the soaring Italian aria “Nessun Dorma” by Giacomo Puccini, for which the audience stood, applauded and cheered.

For the next song of “I Am a Child of God,” he invited the audience to sing along as he led in Portuguese, many holding up the lights on their phones.

Toward the end of the concert, children narrated the account in the Book of Mormon of the Savior visiting people in the Americas after His Resurrection — including when Jesus Christ called the little children to Him and angels encircled them (see 3 Nephi 17).

Seven children narrated the story, while nearly 200 more gathered around the center stage as long, sparkly streamers came down from the ceiling.

The children, all dressed in white or light colors, also performed “Que Cristo Me Ama Eu Sei” (“I Know That My Savior Loves Me”). As the children sang, many people held up and waved the lights on their phones — and gave them a standing ovation.

‘We felt so blessed’: Looking back on Tabernacle Choir’s 1981 concert in Brazil

‘Canções de Esperança’ devotional

The two-hour performance featured 20 musical selections — hymns of praise, two Psalms, three alleluias, songs from around the world, songs of charm and joy, music of a new generation and hymns of hope — under the direction of director Mack Wilberg and associate director Ryan Murphy.

The choir stood in front of screens framed by arches that highlighted a variety of images or videos for each song. Other circles and half-moons with cut-out shapes of flowers, plants and animals surrounded the stage and the lights illuminating the shapes changed colors throughout the devotional.

Meet the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra members from Brazil

The concert was narrated by Church members from around Brazil, including Luz in the arena, and others were recorded messages that explored different aspects of the Church and the choir and orchestra.

The choir and orchestra members from Brazil were recognized during the concert: singers Alan Silva and Álvaro Martins and cellist Marcos Rangel, who all live in Utah; and Thalita Carvalho and Rodrigo Domaredzky, who are global members living in Brazil and have sung with the choir during general conference.

The concert opened with hymns of praise: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” in English and Portuguese and “Come, Ye Children of the Lord” in Portuguese. Music based on two Psalms followed: “How Excellent Thy Name,” the opening chorus from George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Saul,” and “148th Psalm” with cascading “hallelujahs.”

Next were two songs from around the world: “Gamelan,” designed to sound like an Indonesian orchestra with the choir rapidly singing a series of “ding” and “dong,” and “¡Ah, El Novio No Quiere Dinero!” a Sephardic wedding song in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish language.

A trio of alleluias followed, first with the peaceful “Alleluia” by Giuliano Caccini. Then the soaring “Alleluia,” from “Psalm 150,” by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, which has seemingly disjointed individual parts building before coming together to fill the space with music. The audience stood as the choir and orchestra performed “Hallelujah” from Handel’s “Messiah.”

The choir and orchestra then sang three “songs of charm and joy”: the upbeat “Music Everywhere,” the jazzy “What a Wonderful World” and the traditional spiritual “My God is So High.” The orchestra then played the dancing and playful “Le Bal” from “Jeux d’enfants” or “Child’s Games.”

Following Pacheco’s songs, the quartet of Marmelo, Lourenço, Daniel and Luz performed a medley of “Peace in Christ,” “Walk With Me” and “Disciple of Christ,” to which the audience members sang and clapped along. The group began singing the Church’s youth theme music in Brazil, known as “Jovens da Igreja de Jesus Cristo.”

The choir sang a medley of “My Heavenly Father Loves Me” and “A Child’s Prayer” in Portuguese, with Caravello as a guest harpist in the orchestra. It was followed by the children presenting the story of Jesus Christ visiting the Americas and singing “I Know That My Savior Loves Me” as the choir and many in the audience held up the lights on their phones.

The concert concluded with hymns of hope: “Let Us All Press On” in English and Portuguese; and “The Spirit of God” in Portuguese. During the last verse of “The Spirit of God,” Wilberg turned toward the audience and invited them to sing along — and many did with gusto.

As the audience gave the choir and orchestra a standing ovation, they performed two encores: “I Believe in Christ,” in English and Portuguese; and their traditional farewell song, “God Be With You Til We Meet Again,” sung in Portuguese with the audience.

As the audience stood, applauded and cheered, many choir members wiped away tears, waved or made hearts with their hands as they exited the stage.

‘Simply breathtaking’

Daiane Monique Amorim of São Paulo said the concert “was a remarkable experience, as if heaven had literally touched the earth for a few moments.”

She had seen the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast in Salt Lake City in 2015. This concert was different.

“The structure, the visual arts, the thoughtful planning of the arrangements and the harmony among all the musicians were simply breathtaking,” she said. “Hearing the choir sing in Portuguese made everything even more special and moving. It clearly demonstrated the members’ great effort and dedication.”

Silva, one of the choir members from Brazil, greeted several family members after the concert.

Heliana Pereira, a sister-in-law who isn’t a member of the Church, said the concert was “very beautiful.”

Liris Mariano, one of Silva’s nieces and a Church member, liked when the choir sang “The Spirit of God.” Mariano’s two children, Isac Sales and Isabela Sales, both liked “¡Ah, El Novio No Quiere Dinero!” “It was unexpected,” Isac Sales said.

Mariano was also touched that the choir sang in Portuguese, which she said was very good. “That was a surprise.”

After the performances, members of the choir and orchestra had a designated area to meet and greet attendees. Missionaries Elder Aaron Chapman of Henderson, Nevada, and Elder Nathan Allred of Spearfish, South Dakota, who are serving in the Brazil São Paulo Interlagos Mission, joined the line of people of all ages waiting to take a photograph with choir member Chathum Nielsen, who has a distinctive mustache.

Chapman said his family would watch for Nielsen at general conference, and now he got to see him in person.

Sunday’s concert was also Chapman and Allred’s first time hearing the choir sing in person. They came as their mission president said it would be a spiritual experience — and it lived up to that, Chapman said. “Let Us All Press On” was a highlight as ”it was really nice to have all the members, all the people here interacting.”

For Allred, a highlight was hearing “I Believe in Christ” and then everyone singing “I Am a Child of God.” A difference with attending in person is “being in a room where you can feel the vibrations as they sing and also feel the Spirit at the same time.”

Elder Soares meets with vice president of Brazil

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra arrive in Brazil for ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop

See more of Church News' coverage of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square

In addition to hearing the choir and orchestra in-person and the choir sing in Portuguese, the Wednesday, Feb. 25, concert was on her 47th birthday.

“I got very emotional,” she said of hearing the choir and orchestra testify of the Savior, Jesus Christ, through music. Baer, who is a pianist and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said through a translator the concert was “spectacular” and “phenomenal.”

The “Songs of Hope” — “Canções de Esperança” in Portuguese — concert Wednesday was at the Sala São Paulo, a train station that has been converted to a concert hall where the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra performs. Ornate arches and Corinthian columns lined the hall.

The concert featured two Brazilian singers and stage performers — Fabi Bang and Myra Ruiz — known for their portrayals of Glinda and Elphaba in “Wicked” and tenor Nathan Pacheco. The choir sang in both English and Portuguese throughout the concert.

The Tabernacle Choir last performed in São Paulo 45 years ago in May 1981.

‘We felt so blessed’: Looking back on Tabernacle Choir’s 1981 concert in Brazil

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles welcomed the audience of nearly 1,500 people and also those attending a reception before the concert. He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Rosana Soares.

“The Tabernacle Choir has united cultures, generations and nations through a repertoire that encompasses sacred, classical and contemporary works, using music as a universal language capable of bringing to the human spirit a tradition of excellence rooted in the sacred role of music in worship,” Elder Soares said. He grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, attending Church there.

During the reception prior to the concert, he said: “We are servants of Jesus Christ, and I rejoice in this way to share my heart with the world today and share my heart with my people here in Brazil.”

He extended the love and greetings of President Dallin H. Oaks, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

During the reception, Elder Soares greeted the Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, pastor emeritus of the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, California — and friend of the late President Russell M. Nelson — and his wife, Jane Brown. The Browns also greeted Sheikh Mohamad Al Bukai of the Brazil Mosque and Cardinal Odilo Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo.

What the guest artists, leaders are saying about bringing hope through music at Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s concerts in Brazil

Also in attendance at the reception and concert were members of the Tabernacle Choir presidency and the Brazil Area presidency and their wives.

Brazil is the sixth stop on the choir and orchestra’s “Songs of Hope” tour. It is the third in South America with stops in Lima, Peru, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2025; and continues the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Church in South America. On Christmas Day in 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a prayer in Buenos Aires to dedicate the South American continent for the preaching of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Earlier in the week, Elder Soares accepted on behalf of the Church the highest award the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo can give.

The 320 choir members and 68 orchestra musicians will also present concerts on Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, and devotional on Sunday, March 1, at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera — the same venue the choir performed at in Brazil in 1981. Tickets have been distributed for the concerts.

The concert on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. Brasília Time, 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, will be streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel. The concert will be available for on-demand streaming after the concert for about a year.

‘Canções de Esperança’ concert

The concert featured more than a dozen songs — hymns of praise, two Psalms, songs from around the world, three “Alleluias,” songs of friendship and comfort and also of joy and hope — under the direction of director Mack Wilberg and associate director Ryan Murphy, filling the room with music.

About 1,500 people filled the auditorium and stood for multiple ovations during the concert. They included government, community and business leaders and also those from arts, education, religious and charitable organizations.

The concert was hosted by Catia Fonseca, Brazilian television presenter, and Márcio Gomes, journalist and anchor of CNN Primetime on CNN Brasil. Throughout the concert, they recognized the choir and orchestra members from Brazil: singers Alan Silva and Álvaro Martins; cellist Marcos Rangel; global members Thalita Carvalho and Rodrigo Domaredzky.

When they invited the choir members with ties to Brazil to stand, nearly half of those in the choir loft stood.

Meet the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra members from Brazil

Tabernacle Choir announces 2 guest artists for concert in Brazil

Bang and Ruiz’s mezzo soprano voices soared as they sang solos and a duet. Bang performed “Feed the Birds” from “Mary Poppins” in English, followed by Ruiz’s rendition of the pop song “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

Bang, wearing dark pink, and Ruiz, wearing green, performed in Portuguese “For Good” from “Wicked,” and embraced at the end of the song.

Later in the concert, Pacheco sang the aria “Nessun Dorma” from the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot.” Pacheco, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served a mission in Brazil.

The concert opened with hymns of praise: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” in English and Portuguese and “Come, Ye Children of the Lord” in Portuguese. Music based on two psalms followed: “How Excellent Thy Name,” the opening chorus from George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Saul”; and “148th Psalm” with cascading “hallelujahs.”

The choir performed three songs from cultures around the world. First was “¡Ah, El Novio No Quiere Dinero!” a Sephardic wedding song in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish language. It was followed by “Gamelan,” designed to sound like an Indonesian orchestra with the choir rapidly singing a series of “ding” and “dong,” and the hand-clapping United States folk song “Cindy.”

A trio of alleluias followed, first with the peaceful “Alleluia.” Then the soaring “Alleluia,” from “Psalm 150,” by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera that has seemingly disjointed individual parts building before coming together to fill the space with music. The audience stood as the choir and orchestra performed “Hallelujah” from Handel’s “Messiah.”

After Bang and Ruiz’s performance, the choir and orchestra shared three “songs of charm and joy”: the upbeat “Music Everywhere,” the jazzy “What a Wonderful World” and the traditional spiritual “My God is So High.”

The orchestra then played the dancing and playful “Le Bal” from “Jeux d’enfants” or “Child’s Games.”

Following Pacheco’s “Nessun Dorma,” the choir and orchestra performed “Let Us All Press On” in English and Portuguese and “The Spirit of God” in Portuguese.

As the audience gave the choir and orchestra a standing ovation, the choir and orchestra performed two encores: “I Believe in Christ,” in English and Portuguese; and their traditional farewell song of “God Be With You Til We Meet Again,” sung in Portuguese and punctuated with a loud “amen” from the back of the audience.

Ana Clebia, the president of the Liga de Mossoró de Estudos e Combate ao Câncer, a hospital that treats children with cancer, attended the concert with three of the hospital’s doctors — traveling from Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. (The travel distance to Sao Paulo is easier to describe by the three-and-half hour flight time rather than driving distance.)

The Church has made several donations to the hospital from 2024 to 2025, including several children’s beds for the Intensive Care Unit, Clebia said through an interpreter.

Clebia said: “We are really grateful and honored to have been invited to be here. It’s amazing and incredible. I can’t say it in words.”

At the hospital, they use music and art to help the young patients. “There is hope in music,” she said.

Choir member Debbie Kraft, who sings alto, said it’s amazing to see the faces of those in the audience “because you can tell that they are feeling the Spirit and feeling the light that is being delivered.”

She added, “We come here to testify and just having that opportunity to do that, it’s just beyond words.”

After the concert, a group of choir members greeting people after the concert sang happy birthday to Baer, whose husband works in the judicial system.

“Thank you for coming to Brazil to sing for us,” she said to them. “We are very happy you are here.”

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra arrive in Brazil for ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop

Legislative Assembly honor

Elder Soares was presented with the Collar of Honor for Legislative Merit (Colar de Honra ao Mérito Legislativo) on behalf of the Church on Monday, Feb. 23.

It’s the highest award the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo can give, Elder Soares noted in a social post.

“This honor recognizes the 100-year anniversary of the preaching of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in South America and the humanitarian work carried out by the Church in this state,” he wrote. It was presented by Fabiana Bolsonaro, the state deputy of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo.

Elder Soares said he is grateful to Church members in Brazil “who give of their time to bless the lives of people in Brazil. Because of their faith in Jesus Christ, they love God and love their neighbor. That is what this recognition represents.”

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Correction: An earlier version of this article said that 69 orchestra members were in Brazil. There are 68.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s concert in Argentina celebrates 100 years of the Church in South America

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Nearly 45 years ago, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sang in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera venue in São Paulo, Brazil.

The Tabernacle Choir was back in the same arena on Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, with the Orchestra at Temple Square — this time with surprise guest artist Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo — as they celebrated “Songs of Hope” and testified of the Savior, Jesus Christ, through music.

Singer Nathan Pacheco and a quartet of Beatriz Marmelo, Gabrielly Lourenço, João Daniel and Nicole Luz, all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also performed, along with children who shared a story from the Book of Mormon.

The 320 choir members and 68 orchestra musicians will also present a devotional on Sunday, March 1, in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera — the same venue the choir performed at in Brazil in 1981. Tickets have been distributed for the concerts.

The more-than-two-hour concert Saturday at 6 p.m. Brasília Time, 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, was streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel, and more than 500 watch parties were planned across Brazil and in Portuguese-speaking wards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world, including in Africa and Europe. The concert is available for on-demand streaming.

On Friday and Saturday, the line for the Ginásio do Ibirapuera stretched around the block right before the doors opened. The arena quickly filled with thousands of people — an estimated 6,400 in the arena each night — and included many who were seeing the choir and orchestra perform live for the first time.

Elder Mark D. Eddy, General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Church’s Brazil Area presidency, welcomed the audience in the arena on Friday, Feb. 27. On Saturday, Feb. 28, the welcome was by Elder Ciro Schmeil, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Brazil Area presidency.

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified at the beginning of the concerts of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and the purpose of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra.

“Through sacred music, we desire to point hearts to Him, Jesus Christ — the One who is, for us, the true source of hope,” said Elder Soares, who was accompanied by his wife, Sister Rosana Soares.

He said the principles taught through sacred music emphasize many values widely recognized and embraced in many religions and traditions, including love of neighbor, compassion, reconciliation, service and respect for human dignity.

“The music to be presented today reminds us that, despite our cultural and social differences, we share similar feelings, aspirations and dreams, and that beauty and harmony can unite in profound ways,” he said.

On Saturday, Elder Soares also welcomed those who were watching remotely.

Also at the concerts were the members of the Church’s Brazil Area presidency and their wives.

São Paulo is the sixth stop on the choir and orchestra’s “Songs of Hope” tour — “Canções de Esperança” in Portuguese. The all-volunteer choir and orchestra performed earlier this week at the Sala São Paulo concert hall.

‘We felt so blessed’: Looking back on Tabernacle Choir’s 1981 concert in Brazil

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st ‘Songs of Hope’ concert in Brazil

Sharing God’s love

More than halfway through the Friday concert, singer Ivete Sangalo was welcomed to the stage with a standing ovation and cheers as she sang “Eva” as the audience sang along.

Sangalo fainted at her house a few days ago and had injuries to her face that required medical care — and showed in bruises around her left eye.

Sangalo said that God teaches and can comfort people during difficult times, and she believes that God is close to people in the greatest moments of their lives, including times of joy and glory.

“I love to sing, … [and] singing fills my heart with joy. ... My mother was my first teacher and my first musical idol. Singing is a way of saying ‘I love you,’ and when I became a mother, I understood even more God’s love for us, the way God takes care of us, giving us love, resilience, understanding ... when we are afraid and feel alone, we feel God’s embrace,” she said.

She also performed “Aguas de Março” (“Waters of March”) and “Quando a Chuva Passar” (“When the Rain Passes”) and an encore of “Luar do Sertão” (“Moonlight of the Backlands”) as the audience sang along and cheered.

On Saturday, she invited Daniel to sing “Aguas de Março” with her as a duet. Sangalo also reflected on the power of music, and added in the beloved Primary song “I Am a Child of God,” accompanied by a guitarist. She asked the audience to stand and sing along, and many held up the lights on their cellphones.

Earlier in the concert, Pacheco, who is from the United States, spoke of how his grandfather is from Curitiba, Brazil. Also, Pacheco served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Campinas, Brazil — and would sing on buses.

“One of the things I admire most about the Brazilian people is the great and deep faith you have in the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said. “And despite the difficulties you face, you are happy people. You persevere in faith. …

“I believe that, because of Jesus Christ, you and all of us can be victorious, because with God, nothing is impossible.”

Pacheco sang the soaring Italian aria “Nessun Dorma” by Giacomo Puccini, for which the audience stood, applauded and cheered.

Toward the end of the concert, children narrated the account in the Book of Mormon of the Savior visiting people in the Americas after His Resurrection — including when Jesus Christ called the little children to Him and angels encircled them (see 3 Nephi 17).

Seven children narrated the story, while many more gathered around the stage as long, sparkly streamers came down from the ceiling.

The children also performed “Que Cristo Me Ama Eu Sei” (“I Know That My Savior Loves Me”). As the children sang, many people held up and waved the lights on their phones — and gave them a standing ovation.

What the guest artists, leaders are saying about bringing hope through music at Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s concerts in Brazil

‘Canções de Esperança’ concert in Brazil

The concert featured more than 20 musical selections — hymns of praise, three “Alleluias,” songs from around the world, songs of charm and joy, music of a new generation, Sangalo’s pieces and hymns of hope — under the direction of director Mack Wilberg and associate director Ryan Murphy.

The choir stood in front of screens framed by arches that highlighted a variety of images or videos for each song. Other circles and half-moons with cut-out shapes of flowers, plants and animals surrounded the stage and the lights illuminating the shapes changing colors throughout the concert.

The concert was narrated by Church members from around Brazil with recorded messages that explored different aspects of the Church and the choir and orchestra. The narrators included: Wesley Mercês of Salvador; Beatriz Albertel of Manaus; Luana Santos and Anna Ribeiro of São Paulo, Samuel Fagundes of Salvador; Alyne Lemos of Cuiabá; and Yuri Nacimiento of Rio de Janeiro.

They also recognized the choir and orchestra members from Brazil: singers Alan Silva and Álvaro Martins, cellist Marcos Rangel and global members Thalita Carvalho and Rodrigo Domaredzky.

Meet the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra members from Brazil

The concert opened with bells ringing and the tropical macaw flying across the screen as the choir sang hymns of praise: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” in English and Portuguese and “Come, Ye Children of the Lord” in Portuguese.

A trio of alleluias followed, first with the peaceful “Alleluia” by Giuliano Caccini. Then the soaring “Alleluia” from “Psalm 150,” by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera that has seemingly disjointed individual parts building before coming together to fill the space with music. The audience stood as the choir and orchestra performed “Hallelujah” from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.”

Following Pacheco’s “Nessun Dorma,” the choir and orchestra performed three songs from cultures around the world. First was “¡Ah, El Novio No Quiere Dinero!” a Sephardic wedding song in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish language that builds to a final crescendo. It was followed by the a cappella “Gamelan,” designed to sound like an Indonesian orchestra with the choir rapidly singing a series of “ding” and “dong,” and the hand-clapping United States folk song “Cindy.” The audience members clapped along to “Cindy.”

Next were “songs of charm and joy”: the upbeat “Music Everywhere,” the jazzy “What a Wonderful World” as videos played from across the country, including Iguazu Falls and the Christ the Redeemer statue, and the traditional spiritual “My God is So High,” with images of stained glass.

Representing the rising generation, Marmelo, Lourenço, Daniel and Luz performed a medley of “Peace in Christ,” “Walk with Me” and “Disciple of Christ,” to which the audience members sang along with and many raised the lights on their phones. The group began singing the Church’s youth theme music in Brazil and are known as “Jovens de Igreja de Jesus Cristo.”

The orchestra then played the dancing and playful “Le Bal” from “Jeux d’enfants” or “Child’s Games.”

Following Sangalo’s music and the story and song by the children, the choir and orchestra performed two hymns of hope, “Let Us All Press On” in English and Portuguese and “The Spirit of God” in Portuguese. During the last verse of “The Spirit of God,” Wilberg turned toward the audience and invited them to sing along.

As the audience gave the choir and orchestra a standing ovation, the choir and orchestra performed two encores: “I Believe in Christ,” in English and Portuguese; and their traditional farewell song of “God Be With You Til We Meet Again,” sung in Portuguese. In addition to the standing ovation, the audience cheered and waved as the choir and orchestra members left the stage.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra arrive in Brazil for ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop

‘More than I was imagining’

It was the first time Arthur and Amanda Silveira of São Paulo heard the choir and orchestra perform in person. The married couple regularly listens to the choir and orchestra’s music online and came with about a dozen friends to the concert.

“It was a special surprise to me to hear the choir sing in Portuguese,” Arthur Silveira said after the concert Friday. “I couldn’t hear an accent at all.”

As people were exiting the arena, orchestra violinist Peggy Wheelwright invited Lais Andrade, Andrade’s brother Lucas Barros and Andrade’s boyfriend Joao Gabriel to sing an impromptu “I Am a Child of God” as Wheelwright played.

Barros, 18, said, “When the concert started, I started to think, ‘Whoa, this is more than what I was imagining.’”

Andrade, 18, said the concert was “awesome,” and she got emotional during the concert.

Gabriel, 18, said they weren’t expecting Sangalo to perform, and it was a great surprise.

Family and friends of Silva, one of the choir members from Brazil who lives in Utah, came to the concert on Friday. His wife, Fatima Silva, and two daughters, Leticia Davis and Alana Barney, along with their husbands, flew from Salt Lake City. They invited family members in the São Paulo area to come.

For the Silva family, it was emotional to hear the choir and orchestra perform in Portuguese. They attended a Portuguese-language ward and grew up singing hymns in their native language.

Barney said: “To watch my dad sing with the choir that means so much to him in a place that means so much to him in the language that means so much to him was a cool experience.”

Davis noted that the choir and orchestra performed songs not typically part of the regular “Music & the Spoken Word” weekly broadcast and “have a different energy to them.”

“It was fun to see him in a different element,” Davis said.

They were grateful their extended family members, including those who aren’t Church members, could come.

Davis said, “It was really exciting to have them be here and where they could hear the choir sing songs that are spiritual but also different.”

On Saturday, Lucila Souza of Rio de Janeiro attended the concert with three friends and drove six hours to São Paulo. They didn’t realize their friend — orchestra cellist Rangel — would be performing.

“It was beautiful,” Souza said of the first time seeing the choir and orchestra perform in person. While she said that she feels the Spirit listening online, in person, “the Spirit was stronger.”

President David Oliveira, president of the Aracaju Brazil South Stake, attended Saturday’s concert with his wife, Sister Thiciana Oliveira, and sons Eloy, 16, and Levi, 6.

They were all very grateful to see the choir and orchestra — and all said the choir’s Portuguese was perfect.

President Oliveira said the concert was amazing. “I was really touched by the Spirit ... and I felt help in the trials of life,” he said.

Sister Oliveira said she felt the love of the Savior. “I needed to hear this.”

Eloy said his favorite song was “I Believe in Christ” at the end of the concert. “I really felt the love of the Savior.”

— Vanessa Fitzgibbon in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.

More photos from the concert

Photos of rehearsal Thursday

Photos of Saturday’s concert

“He respects the Church, and he respects our beliefs. He sees us as somebody who can help the people of this country,” said Elder Soares.

When Elder Soares was serving as the Church’s Brazil Area president, he worked with Alckmin, who was then the governor of the state of São Paulo. Alckmin also attended the Brasília Brazil Temple open house with Elder Soares in 2023.

Elder Soares was back in his native Brazil from Feb. 23 to March 1 with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for their “Songs of Hope” tour stop in São Paulo, Brazil.

During the week, he also met with other national and state government leaders, and also received an award on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo.

Meetings at the national capital

In Brasilia, Elder Soares also met with Sen. Carlos Viana, who represents the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, which is northeast of the state of São Paulo.

“As ambassadors of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we try everything possible to bring hope and peace [to] the hearts of people. [The Church is] not connected to any political parties. We are neutral,” said Elder Soares. “But we work with everybody who wants to bless the lives of God’s children.”

He continued: “Peace, hope — that brings us closer to Jesus Christ. That’s our message, and that’s what we declared in [these] visits.”

Elder Soares was accompanied by Elder Joni L. Koch, a General Authority Seventy and the Church’s Brazil Area president; Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt; and Gordon Smith, director of Church hosting.

President Leavitt said: “People know [the choir] is a symbol of peace and healing and of testimony of Jesus Christ.”

He added, referencing the choir and orchestra’s concert at Sala São Paulo on Wednesday, Feb. 25: “It does open doors. We had nearly 1,500 [guests] from all over Brazil — leaders of government coming to feel the sense of peace and healing we all crave.”

Elder Soares also visited the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia and met with Gabriel Escobar, the charge d’affaires.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st ‘Songs of Hope’ concert in Brazil

Brazilian singer Ivete Sangalo surprise guest artist at Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s concerts in São Paulo, Brazil

Honor from state of São Paulo

Elder Soares received the Collar of Honor for Legislative Merit from the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo, on behalf of the Church, on Monday, Feb. 23. It is the highest distinction awarded by the Legislative Assembly for contributions to the state’s social, cultural, spiritual and humanitarian development.

Fabiana Bolsonaro, state deputy of the Legislative Assembly, presented the recognition.

“The Church has been a powerful instrument of hope and light. As is written in the scriptures, ‘Ye are the light of the world’ (Matthew 5:14). And for over 100 years, this light has been shining brightly throughout Latin America,” said Bolsonaro.

The 100-year anniversary of the Church in South America was celebrated throughout 2025 and continues in Brazil.

“[This event] is the public recognition that principles like charity, service, faith, family and commitment to God make a difference in building a more just and humane society,” said Bolsonaro. “‘By their fruits, you shall know them’ (Matthew 7:20), and the fruits that have emerged from these 100 years are now clearly visible: strengthened communities, lives restored, families built up and concrete acts of love for our fellow human beings.”

During the ceremony, Elder Soares shared how faith in Jesus Christ and His teachings “cultivates citizens who are committed to peace, to honesty and to the common good.”

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“The invitation to come to Jesus Christ and follow Him has been the central focus and guiding principle of all that we have accomplished throughout the course of these many years,” said Elder Soares.

In 2025, the Church of Jesus Christ carried out more than 150 humanitarian projects in the state of São Paulo, blessing the lives of women, children and young people in vulnerable regions.

“We accept this honor with Christian humility and profound institutional respect,” said Elder Soares. “It truly belongs to the dedicated volunteers, to the families who diligently instill values, to the young people who consciously choose to serve, and to the entire population of São Paulo state who have actively participated in so many vital humanitarian projects.”

With more than 1.5 million Church members across nearly 2,100 wards and branches, Brazil is home to the third-highest number of Latter-day Saints, after the United States and Mexico.

“I want to thank all the members of the Church. Because of their efforts, because of their faith in Jesus Christ, they try to love God, and they try to love their neighbor,” said Elder Soares. “We are so thankful for the members of the Church in this country.”

The Tabernacle Choir and orchestra performed four concerts in São Paulo, including Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, with guest artist singer Ivete Sangalo at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera arena, and a devotional on Sunday, March 1.

2025: Elder Soares meets with Peru president, religious leaders during ministry

Listening to messages from leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also meant hearing The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

“I dreamed one day that I would listen to this choir in person,” said Elder Soares. Hearing conference on the radio meant occasional interruptions, getting the station tuned in just right and listening to an interpretation by someone who wasn’t a Church member.

“We kept reverently listening,” Elder Soares said. “When the choir would sing, it was just at a moment of peace and joy.”

And that opportunity came to hear the choir in person in May 1981 when, for the first time in its history, the Tabernacle Choir performed in São Paulo, Brazil. He had returned from serving a mission the year before and was dating Rosana Fernandes Morgado; the couple would marry the following year.

“We felt so blessed in Brazil to have that opportunity,” Elder Soares said of the concert.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra arrive in Brazil for ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st ‘Songs of Hope’ concert in Brazil

Elder Soares recalled that he was impressed to hear the Tabernacle Choir sing in Portuguese. The 20-something Elder Soares also waited outside one of the concerts with many others to wave and cheer for the choir members as they left.

“It was very, very emotional, and everybody felt so good and so excited about that,” he said of the concerts. “And we were always wondering when the choir will come back to Brazil.”

The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square will return to São Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 23 to March 2, as the sixth stop on the “Songs of Hope” — “Canções de Esperança” in Portuguese — tour. The choir and orchestra will perform in Ginásio do Ibirapuera — the same venue where they performed in 1981. The concert on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. Brasília Standard Time, 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, will be streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel.

Elder Soares said it has been emotional to be assigned to go with the choir and orchestra on this travel assignment.

“I have an opportunity to accompany the choir in Brazil, in my own country,” he said. He accompanied the choir and orchestra on the tour stop in Lima, Peru, in February 2025.

In advance of the choir and orchestra’s upcoming tour stop, the Church News asked readers to share their experiences at 1981 concerts.

“It was a great, great moment for our country,” Elder Soares said of the 1981 concert and the growth of the Church in Brazil. He added, “The choir contributed to opening doors and opening hearts to show people that we were serious about our worship to our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

At the end of 2024, the most recent numbers available, more than 1.5 million members of the Church live in Brazil, attending nearly 2,100 wards and branches across the country.

The first temple in the country and in South America, the São Paulo Brazil Temple, was dedicated in 1978. Now, there are 24 temples in operation, under construction or in planning across the country: 11 operating temples, five under construction and eight in planning.

Send it in: Did you see the Tabernacle Choir perform in Brazil in 1981?

Ground broken for João Pessoa Brazil Temple

The choir in Brazil in 1981

The 1981 concert included two of the 350 choir members who were from Brazil — Lin de Paula and Wany Santos Thrikill — singing a duet in Portuguese and the choir singing the Brazilian national anthem in Portuguese, reported the Church News at the time.

“The choir’s performance was simply extraordinary,” recalled Marcelo Leite Silveira of the São Paulo Brazil Taboão Stake in a recent email to the Church News, noting several of the songs the choir sang and the national anthem.

“But it was the closing hymns, ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ (‘Vencendo Vem Jesus’) and ‘Come, Come, Ye Saints’ (‘Vinde, Ó Santos’), that brought us to tears and left an unforgettable memory of this wonderful visit of the Tabernacle Choir to Brazil,” Silveira wrote.

Pedro Pereira dos Santos of the São Paulo Brazil Pirituba Stake was 17 years old in 1981 and had been a Church member for a year. He went with missionaries as they were inviting people to attend — including a Presbyterian congregation.

“For me, young and newly converted, it was a special experience to attend the Tabernacle Choir’s concert that day. It was a great experience,” he wrote. “Years later, in 2013, I was able to attend again in person at a general conference.”

Marina Talanskas was part of the five-member singing group Sal da Terra — Salt of the Earth in English — invited to sing for the Tabernacle Choir. The group performed songs rooted in Brazilian culture along with a selection of international songs, wrote Talanskas’ husband, Danilo Talanskas, of the São Paulo Brazil Ferreira Stake.

“The choir members’ warm feedback to Marina brought deep spiritual encouragement, especially because, in the weeks prior, we had been called to preside over the Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission from 1981 to 1984,” he wrote.

What the guest artists, leaders are saying about bringing hope through music at Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s concerts in Brazil

Missionaries in Brazil

Missionaries could attend the concert if they brought friends who weren’t members of the Church.

Bill Loveless of Taylorsville, Utah, who was serving as a missionary, wrote how they invited many people to the concert and it was on the day before the concert that a family said they were willing to go. However, the next day, when they went to visit the family, they weren’t home.

Loveless and his companion made their way to the concert, consulting maps and asking for directions, plus making two bus transfers and crossing the busy highway next to the venue. They were 35 minutes late for the concert.

“The choir sang a few songs in Latin, one in Hebrew and several songs in English, but they thrilled everyone by singing a few in Portuguese,” he wrote.

Don Lambson, of Sandy, Utah, was a missionary in the Brazil São Paulo South Mission in 1981 and had studied graphic design. “I was asked to create a large welcome banner for the choir to post at the concert site,” he wrote.

“Most amazing to all present was to hear the choir sing the Brazilian national anthem in Portuguese,” he wrote.

Leslie Johnson, a first soprano, said she was thrilled to be in Brazil. “We get to spread hope and joy,” she said of the concerts later in the week.

At each tour stop, “it’s wonderful to meet the people,” she added.

A few years ago, Johnson and her family met university students from Brazil in Salt Lake City and became friends. Even as their friends moved back to Brazil, they’ve kept in touch — and they have plans to meet up.

The choir and orchestra’s concerts on Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, and devotional on Sunday, March 1, are in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera — the same venue the choir performed at in Brazil in 1981. Tickets have been distributed for the concerts.

The concert on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. Brasília Standard Time, 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, will be streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel. The concert will be available for on-demand streaming after the concert for about a year.

The 320 Tabernacle Choir singers and 69 Orchestra at Temple Square instrumentalists arrived late Monday, Feb. 23, and when they arrived at the hotel in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Feb. 24, musicians and dancers presented cultural numbers.

As choir and orchestra members travel together, it has the feel of a reunion, with people visiting, playing games and also getting to know each other.

Tuesday evening, they went to a local cultural center for Brazilian food and traditional music and dances.

Meet the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra members from Brazil

Tabernacle Choir announces 2 guest artists for concert in Brazil

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra in Brazil

The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s stop in São Paulo, Brazil, is the sixth on the “Songs of Hope” tour. It is the third in South America with stops in Lima, Peru, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2025; and continues the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Church in South America.

In December 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a prayer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, dedicating the South American continent for the preaching of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

With more than 1.5 million Church members across nearly 2,100 congregations, Brazil is home to the third-highest number of Latter-day Saints, after the United States and Mexico.

The late President Russell M. Nelson, 17th President of the Church, said in 2017: “Brazil is part of the heart of the Church.”

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is from Brazil, has seen the Church grow in his native country in his lifetime.

In 1966, the first stake in South America was established in São Paulo. Brazil’s first temple and the first temple in South America — the São Paulo Brazil Temple — was dedicated in 1978, when Elder Soares was serving a mission in the country. The Tabernacle Choir performed there in 1981.

‘We felt so blessed’: Looking back on Tabernacle Choir’s 1981 concert in Brazil

Now, there are 24 temples in operation, under construction or in planning across the country: 11 operating temples, five under construction and eight in planning.

“What a beautiful endeavor,” Elder Soares said of how many things have been worked to “establish the gospel of Jesus Christ in our country.”

He noted how “people in Brazil are very joyful,” they come from many cultures, and “everything is a motive to have a party.”

“When we face difficulties, Brazilians find a way to find joy,” Elder Soares said.

When he was in Lima, Peru, with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square a year ago, he saw how the concerts opened doors to meeting with the country’s leaders, including the president.

“Then the choir really opened those doors for us to help establish relationships,” Elder Soares said. He met with the ambassador to the United States, and she attended the interfaith concert, along with three of the government’s ministers.

“It was a great, great opportunity to strengthen relationships and to reinforce our desire to contribute to the community,” he said.

Elder Soares attended the concert in 1981 as a young adult.

“Music touches hearts and speaks the language of the heavens and people feel the love of the Savior and God through music,” he said.

2025: Elder Soares meets with Peru president, religious leaders during ministry

The ‘Songs of Hope’ tour

The multicity and multicountry 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.

In 2025, the tour continued to Lima, Peru, in February and to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in August as they helped celebrate 100 years of the Church in South America. The concerts from Peru and Argentina are still available for streaming.

On all of the stops, select concerts have been available on YouTube, with area Church members and congregations encouraged to hold watch parties.

The concerts feature local guest artists. The choir sings some music in the language of the country they are visiting. Also, the choir and orchestra members — the musical missionaries — testify of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

The concerts have brought “a spirit of hope and a feeling of gratitude for Savior, Jesus Christ, and what He’s done for each of us as individuals and his families,” said President Gary B. Porter, second counselor in the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square presidency.

“For us to come and share the gospel message through music has been a real joy,” President Porter said.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st ‘Songs of Hope’ concert in Brazil

What the guest artists, leaders are saying about bringing hope through music at Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s concerts in Brazil

President Porter said that even before the choir and orchestra members arrive, invitation cards have been created for members and missionaries to invite their friends to watch the concerts and a QR code to share the choir’s music.

“That missionary effort before the choir comes has just created an energy and an anticipation that has been really wonderful,” he said.

April Murray, a second soprano in the choir, said that she was very excited when she heard Brazil was one of the tour stops. “I’ve always wanted to come to Brazil. And it’s beautiful and the food is great and amazing.”

Murray served a mission on Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City and had a missionary companion from Brazil. Her former missionary companion died a couple years ago of a brain tumor, and Murray has thought of her in preparing for the travel assignment. Murray also got to know other sisters from the country who were serving in the mission whom she has also kept in touch with, several of whom will be going to the concerts.

On Tuesday during a devotional, the choir and orchestra learned more about the Church in Brazil, including an experience at the 1981 concert, during a devotional and also visited the Northeastern Traditions Center, where they had Brazilian food and danced to a live band playing traditional music.

During the afternoon devotional, Elder Joni L. Koch, General Authority Seventy and the Church’s Brazil Area president, said that “Brazil is the real melting pot.” He said in addition to musical excellence and singing hymns of the restored gospel, what makes the Tabernacle Choir and orchestra unique is singing under the influence of the Spirit.

“And I pray that you will sing under the influence of the Holy Ghost. May your music bring many people … closer to God and to Jesus Christ during your stay,” he said. His wife, Sister Michele Koch, also attended the devotional.

Marisa Saito, an executive assistant in the area office, both shared about her experience as a 13-year-old girl attending the Tabernacle Choir’s concert in Brazil. “The experience was unforgettable. … It’s difficult to describe the joy I felt as I saw and heard the choir sing. It was a deeply special experience.”

Also part of the devotional was a conversation between choir President Michael O. Leavitt and the Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, pastor emeritus of the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, California, and a friend of the late President Russell M. Nelson; Jean Stevens, who is part of the choir staff, also spoke. Rev. Brown was accompanied by his wife, Jane Brown.

Rev. Brown noted how music made an impact in his life growing up in Mississippi as his family’s Sundays included listening to the Wings Over Jordan Choir, an a cappella group from Ohio, and “Music & the Spoken Word” by the Tabernacle Choir.

“I long remember that rich, rewarding and most inclusive experience,” he said, adding, “because we all learn through music that we are all children of God.”

He pointed to the hymn “Come, Come Ye Saints” (“Hymns,” No. 30) and quoted some of the lyrics, and shared how this hymn and “Lift Up Your Voice and Sing” helped give perspective to challenges.

Rev. Brown said that for him, the legacy of President Nelson will be the Church’s humanitarian efforts and also that members of the Church of Jesus Christ goes about “doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.”

History of the Church in Brazil

The Church first arrived in Brazil in 1913 through German converts. For many years, German immigrants made up the main body of the Church. In 1939, Portuguese became the official language of the Church in Brazil, and 16,000 people were baptized in less than a decade.

The Book of Mormon was published in Portuguese in 1940. São Paulo is part of two firsts in South America: the first stake in 1966 and the first temple in 1978.

The country’s 11 operating temples include the São Paulo (dedicated in 1978), Recife (2000), Porto Alegre (2000), Campinas (2002), Curitiba (2008), Manaus (2012), Fortaleza (2019), Rio de Janeiro (2022), Belém (2022), Brasília (2023) and Salvador (2024) temples.

The five houses of the Lord under construction in Brazil are the Belo Horizonte (since 2023), Ribeirão Preto (2024), Londrina (2024) and Natal (2025) and João Pessoa temple, with its groundbreaking on Jan. 24.

That leaves eight temples in planning and design stages, for São Paulo East (announced 2020), Vitória (2021), Maceió (2022), Santos (2022), Teresina (2023), Goiânia (2023), Florianópolis (2024) and Campo Grande (2025).

Teresina Brazil Temple groundbreaking date set

‘People of Faith’ Part 1: Meet 3 pioneering Latter-day Saints in Brazil

Myra Ruiz, known for her role as Elphaba in Brazil’s professional productions of “Wicked,” and Fabi Bang, who is known for her role as Glinda, are the guest artists.

Both Ruiz and Bang are Brazilian musical theater actors and voice artists. Bang has had leading roles in Brazil’s national theater productions, including “The Phantom of the Opera” and “The Little Mermaid.”

They will be at an invitation-only concert at the Sala São Paulo, with leaders and partners from the interfaith, community and public service sectors, according to announcements on the Tabernacle Choir’s social media on Feb. 20.

• See Church News’ coverage of the concert Sala São Paulo

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st ‘Songs of Hope’ concert in Brazil

What the guest artists, leaders are saying about bringing hope through music at Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s concerts in Brazil

Also, tenor Nathan Pacheco will sing with the choir and orchestra in Brazil, he announced in a Feb. 18 video on his social media.

“Brazil, here I come,” said Pacheco, who served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil.

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The choir and orchestra have presented similar concerts with government, business, community and interfaith leaders on other tour stops, in addition to the larger arena concerts a few days later. Also, the choir and orchestra have a tradition of performing with guest artists, both on tour and during the annual Christmas concerts.

In Argentina in August 2025, celebrated tango singer Raúl Lavié — introduced as an “honorary member of the Tabernacle Choir” — performed with them in the Palacio Libertad auditorium. A year ago in Lima, Peru, the concert featured Adassa, whose parents are from Colombia and who was the voice of Dolores Madrigal in Disney’s “Encanto,” and Alex Melecio, who is from Mexico.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st concert in Argentina

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st concert in Peru

The choir and orchestra will perform in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera on Friday, Feb. 27, Saturday, Feb. 28 and Sunday, March 1.

The concert on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. Brasília Standard Time, 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, will be streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel.

Invitations and tickets have been distributed for all of the concerts.

The special guest artist for the Ginásio do Ibirapuera concerts will be announced soon, according to the announcements.

‘Songs of Hope’ tour

Brazil is the sixth stop on the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s multiyear, multicountry “Songs of Hope” tour.

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. In 2025, the tour continued to Lima, Peru, in February and to Buenos Aires, Argentina, as they helped celebrate 100 years of the Church in South America. The tour stop in Brazil continues the celebration.

In December 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a prayer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, blessing the continent for the preaching of the restored gospel.

The larger stadium and arena concerts from Peru and Argentina are still available for streaming.

On all of the stops, select concerts have been available on YouTube, with area Church members and congregations encouraged to hold watch parties.

About the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra

The tour stops include 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.

‘We felt so blessed’: Looking back on Tabernacle Choir’s 1981 concert in Brazil

“It really took it to the next level with music, faith and spirituality,” she said at a news conference on Friday, Feb. 27.

Bang and Myra Ruiz, both singers and stage performers known for their portrayals of Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, in “Wicked,” sang with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra during the concert on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at Sala São Paulo as part of the “Songs of Hope” tour — “Canções de Esperança” in Portuguese. Brazil is the sixth stop on the tour.

The 320 choir members and 68 orchestra musicians will also present concerts Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, and a devotional on Sunday, March 1, at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera — the same venue the choir performed at in Brazil in 1981. Tickets have been distributed for the concerts.

The concert Saturday at 6 p.m. Brasília Time, 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, will be streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel. The concert will be available for on-demand streaming after the concert.

Also at the news conference was Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder Joni L. Koch, General Authority Seventy and the Church’s Brazil Area president; Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt; and singer Nathan Pacheco, who also performed Wednesday and is scheduled to sing in the upcoming concerts. Catia Fonseca, Brazilian television presenter, hosted the news event.

Elder Soares, who is from São Paulo, said being back in his home country is a blessing and spoke about the spiritual power of music.

“The choir’s music is a special invitation to come closer to Jesus Christ,” he said.

The choir and orchestra concerts are titled “Songs of Hope” with music that can help bring hope and peace amid the challenges of life, he said.

“The choir will help us to envision a bright future. The Savior and His atoning sacrifice brought us hope in life,” Elder Soares said. He later added, “Having faith in Jesus Christ gives us hope and helps us create a better world to live in.”

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra perform 1st ‘Songs of Hope’ concert in Brazil

Singing in Portuguese and sharing hope

The choir on Wednesday sang several songs, whether a verse or the whole song, in Portuguese. “They sang with perfect Portuguese,” Elder Soares noted.

Mack Wilberg, the music director of the Tabernacle Choir, said the two members of the choir from Brazil who live in Utah helped coach the choir on pronunciations. There is also a member of the orchestra from Brazil who lives in Utah and two global members of the choir from Brazil.

The choir had learned songs in Spanish for the previous tour stops in Mexico, Peru and Argentina, and found how different Portuguese is from Spanish.

“To come to Brazil and sing in Portuguese is a blessing,” Wilberg said. He also answered questions about the choir and orchestra, including the choir’s rehearsal schedule — on Thursday evenings and Sundays before the weekly “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast — to how the choir and orchestra members are volunteers. The music for the program will be from the 17th century to present day and includes Brazilian popular music.

President Leavitt said the Tabernacle Choir reflects both the worldwide membership and mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are 1.6 million Church members in Brazil, the third most in any country around the world, after the United States and Mexico.

“Our mission is to convey a sense of peace, a sense of healing and hope,” he said. The concerts are to deliver a gift on behalf of the Church in celebration of 100 years of being able to convey peace, unity and hope preaching of the restored gospel in South America.

On Christmas Day 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a prayer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to dedicate the South American continent for the preaching of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Brazil is the sixth stop on the choir and orchestra’s multicountry “Songs of Hope” tour. It is the third in South America, with stops in Lima, Peru, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2025.

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

‘We felt so blessed’: Looking back on Tabernacle Choir’s 1981 concert in Brazil

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra arrive in Brazil for ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop

‘Heavenly bear hug’

Both Bang and Ruiz said they noticed how generous and welcoming people were to them, including choir and orchestra staff, singers and musicians.

Ruiz said that it’s hard to explain all of her feelings from the concert, saying it was a “magical concert.”

Fonseca said hosting the choir and orchestra concert on Wednesday and the press conference on Friday was the first time she had done either. The opportunity came at a time when she is intentionally trying new things in her life.

She said it was beautiful being on stage with the choir and orchestra, pointing out she still gets goose bumps talking about the experience. “This was life-changing for me, and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Pacheco said he has “a Brazilian heart,” as his grandfather was from Curitiba, Brazil, and he served a mission in Campinas, Brazil.

Singing with the choir and orchestra is like getting a “heavenly bear hug,” Pacheco said, adding it’s both a musical and spiritual experience. “You’re singing up there and they start singing with you, and it’s just the most glorious thing ever.”

Pacheco said he’s seen how the Lord can communicate through music and lift people. He hopes those who attend will “feel what they need to feel through the music and from the Lord so they can receive the hope and the courage to face and overcome” their challenges.

‘A dream I never had’

There are five members of the choir and orchestra who are from Brazil and were at the news conference. They answered questions from media representatives after the news conference. Alan Silva and Alvaro Martins are the two choir members from Brazil who live in Utah. Marcos Rangel, who also lives in Utah, plays cello in the Orchestra at Temple Square.

Thalita Carvalho of São Paulo and Rodrigo Domaredzky of Curitiba are global members of choir. They auditioned for the choir remotely and have joined the choir in Salt Lake City to sing for general conference. They sang during Wednesday’s concert and will also perform with the choir for the upcoming concerts.

Meet the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra members from Brazil

Martins and Silva both helped with Portuguese pronunciations, which they started at the beginning of the year.

“We have so much talent in the choir that I was just impressed how quickly they got it,” Martins said.

Domaredzky said it felt surreal to sing in Portuguese with other choir members.

“Some are singing perfectly and some of them had a harder time. And I really appreciate it because it shows how much they care and how much they are willing to sacrifice and learn and do their best to perform in the best way possible,” he said.

Carvalho said this week has been “magical” to have the choir and orchestra performing in São Paulo and in Portuguese — reminding herself that this is real.

“For me, it’s wonderful,” she said. Choir members have been excited to share their Portuguese.

Rangel said he got emotional while the choir sang in Portuguese, and he was close enough to the audience to hear them start singing along. “It’s a huge blessing,” he said.

Silva said being back in Brazil felt like coming home after so many years, and singing in his native language has been a spiritual experience.

Singing with other choir members in Portuguese has been “a dream that I never had because it was impossible. And now it’s happening.”

See more of Church News' coverage of the Tabernacle Choir

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — When Alan Silva first heard The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sing as a 17-year-old in Brazil, he knew he needed to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The missionaries had brought over a VCR and a tape of general conference. Silva listened to the talks, but it was the music that changed him.

“I remember the feeling was so overwhelming,” recalled Silva, who now sings second tenor in the Tabernacle Choir and lives in Millcreek, Utah. “And I looked at the missionaries and said, ‘You need to teach me tonight.’

“And I was baptized a week later — all because of the music of the choir,” he said of his baptism in 1985.

Silva, 57, who is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is returning to his home country this week for The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s “Songs of Hope” — “Canções de Esperança” in Portuguese — tour stop from Feb. 23 to March 1 in São Paulo, Brazil. (See below for information on streaming the concert on Saturday, Feb. 28.) The choir and orchestra are continuing the celebration of the 100th anniversary of missionary work in South America.

Silva and Alvaro Martins are the two choir members from Brazil. Martins, who sings baritone, was living in Natal, Brazil, before moving to Pleasant Grove, Utah. Marcos Rangel, who plays the cello in the Orchestra at Temple Square, is from Rio de Janeiro and now lives in Herriman, Utah.

There are two more global members of the choir from Brazil: Thalita Carvalho, of São Paulo, who sings second soprano; and Rodrigo Domaredzky of Curitiba, Brazil, who sings second tenor.

Now a permanent program, 10 to 12 singers from around the world join the Tabernacle Choir for general conferences. The global members have a similar four-phase audition process, and it’s anticipated each member will sing twice in general conference within five years.

All the Brazil natives say it’s a dream come true for the choir and orchestra to perform in Brazil.

There are also a dozen more choir and orchestra members who have served missions in Brazil, and many more with ties to the country, including through family or employment.

‘We felt so blessed’: Looking back on Tabernacle Choir’s 1981 concert in Brazil

Alan Silva: Feeling the Spirit through music

After his baptism, Silva said his bishop invited him to learn how to play the piano as there wasn’t a pianist in their ward. Then he took voice lessons, too.

“I just loved the feelings the music was bringing to me,” he said of the piano lessons in an interview prior to leaving for Brazil this week.

He served a mission in Curitiba from 1992 to 1994. He married his wife in 1995 — they celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary on Feb. 17 — and later the family, including two daughters, moved to São Paulo and then to the United States.

“It’s so easy to feel the Spirit through music, especially sacred music,” Silva said. And as a choir member, he shares his testimony of Jesus Christ and the gospel through music.

When Silva and his family moved to the United States, he attended a “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast — his first time hearing the choir in person — and said it was one of “the most exciting things that happened in my life.”

He wanted to audition but was concerned about his English-language skills; he also worked nights at the time. Several years later, in 2015, he applied for the choir and didn’t make it, but received a letter with things to work on. Eight years later, he auditioned again and made it. He’s sung in the choir since 2023.

“Brazil is a beautiful country, but with a lot of difficulties that [are] hard to work through,” Silva said. “But they do it, and they do it while being happy. I think the choir is going to bring more happiness and more hope for them.”

Alvaro Martins: Feeling God’s love through music

After a successful audition, Martins began singing with the Tabernacle Choir in 2022.

“I had joined the choir, and it was the dream of my life,” said Martins, 43. But a few months later, he had to move back to Brazil for work.

Then he was invited to be part of the pilot group of global members that sang with the choir during the April 2023 general conference.

Martins came back for the October 2025 general conference. In the meantime, he worked with his company to obtain a visa and return to the United States. He’s now sung with the choir for three months, said the father of two who lives in Pleasant Grove.

“Music was one of the things that brought me closer to the Divine as a child,” Martins said.

Martins’ mother joined the Church in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, before he was born — and she’s one of the pioneering members in the area.

“She would save money to make the annual trip to the São Paulo Brazil Temple,” he said of the trip that consisted of three days of travel there, a week working in the temple and three days of travel back.

When Martins was a teenager, his mother helped him save money so he could also attend the temple.

He also remembers singing in stake choirs with his aunt and the uplifting feelings he had through music. The same aunt invited Martins to learn piano so they could have an accompanist in sacrament meeting — learning one part at a time, starting with the melody. He had to relearn parts of it as he was one key off.

Martins, who served a mission in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, was in the Conference Center choir loft when the late President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for the city where he lived, Natal, Brazil, in 2023. Later, Martins was invited to direct the choir at the groundbreaking.

He hopes people at the concert leave knowing “there is a God and that He loves them and that He wants them to love their neighbors and do good all around the world.”

Marcos Rangel: ‘Huge blessing in my life’

The music of the Tabernacle Choir and orchestra was a consistent part of his life where grew up in Campos dos Goytacazes, in northern Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. His parents joined the Church before Rangel was born. The family listened to “Music & the Spoken Word” and would get the DVDs of the Christmas concerts.

Rangel and a friend, who also played the cello but wasn’t a member of the Church, would watch the recordings of the choir and orchestra performing.

“He still remembers how we would imagine playing with them,” Rangel said of the orchestra. It was through watching the orchestra that the two decided to pursue music professionally.

Rangel, now 37, has been a member of the orchestra since 2023. The married father of three young children is currently in a master’s degree program at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and found out Tuesday, Jan. 24, that he was accepted into the school’s Doctor of Musical Arts program.

“It has been a huge blessing in my life,” he said of playing in the orchestra, noting there are sacrifices, too.

Rangel started playing the cello with his twin brother Mateus Rangel when they were 13 and when a cousin was putting together a youth orchestra program where they lived in Campos dos Goytacazes, in northern Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. They had originally hoped to play the violin, but there weren’t any violin spots.

The following year, when the twins were 14, their ward didn’t have a pianist. Their father, who was serving as bishop, invited them to play their cellos as the accompanists for sacrament meeting.

“I believe because we served that way, my cello playing was improving,” he said. “Because we needed to play every Sunday. That helped the tone, intonation, rhythm.”

Marcos Rangel served as an accompanist until he was 17, when he graduated from high school and moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro for university. He pursued music and lived in Rio after graduation.

Rangel said that during a recent rehearsal for the tour, he got emotional as the choir practiced singing hymns in Portuguese.

“I hope that my people will feel God’s love for them, they will feel heaven close and that we are all children of the same God,” he said.

Global members: Music as a ‘sacred way to testify’

Carvalho and Domaredzky were part of the pilot group in April 2023. Domaredzky returned for the April 2025 general conference, and Carvalho also sang in the October 2025 general conference.

Domaredzky, 31, said he “never thought it would be possible to be in the choir while living in a different hemisphere, or to see the choir perform in my country — and even less to be part of their performances for my people.”

He talked about how he’s seen the choir “going out of their way to help members of the Church from all over the world feel included and seen.”

He hopes people who attend the concerts, whether in person or virtually, feel the love of the Savior, Jesus Christ. “The message the choir is bringing is a message of hope — a hope that comes through the love of Christ,” he wrote in an email to Church News.

Carvalho, 38, said: “For me, music is a sacred way to testify of Jesus Christ. Being able to do that in Brazil through the choir feels like a unique and tender blessing, a moment where my love for my country and my testimony of the Savior come together in a very personal way.”

There is already anticipation building around the choir and orchestra’s concerts, said Carvalho, whose background is in choral conducting.

“The choir carries a message of faith and love that invites people to draw closer to the Savior,” she wrote in an email to Church News, adding, “It will be a sacred opportunity to feel the Savior’s invitation to come closer to Him and place their hope in Him through sacred and inspiring music.”

How to watch

The Tabernacle Choir and orchestra will perform in Ginásio do Ibirapuera — the same venue where it performed in 1981 — on Friday, Feb. 27; Saturday, Feb. 28; and Sunday, March 1. Tickets have been distributed for the concerts.

The concert on Saturday at 6 p.m. Brasília Standard Time, 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, will be streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel.

There are more than 500 watch parties planned across Brazil.

Tabernacle Choir announces guest artists for concert in Brazil

See more of Church News' coverage of the Tabernacle Choir

Furnell is on the USA sled with pilot Kris Horn and fellow push athletes Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering.

The competition included four heats down the twisty and icy track at the Cortina Sliding Centre, known as the “house of speed.” The fastest sleds reach speeds up to 85 mph (137 kilometers per hour). The team with the fastest total time in four heats is the winner. Places are determined by hundredths of a second.

The first two heats were Saturday, Feb. 21, and Furnell’s sled was in ninth place. The final two heats were Sunday, Feb. 22 — the final day of the Winter Olympics.

During the third heat, the Team USA sled had a time of 55.22 seconds, less than a second behind the leader, according to times on Olympics.com. It had the third-best start time but slipped and skidded on a slippery spot out of the start gate that added to its time. The commentators noted that a few other sleds had skidded in that same spot. Overall, Team USA’s combined race time of 2 minutes, 44.83 seconds put it in 11th place.

From sprinting to sliding: Latter-day Saint bobsledder’s journey from track to Winter Olympics

For the fourth heat, the Team USA sled had a time of 55.11 seconds, with the second-best starting time, according to the results on Olympics.com. The team’s combined time was 3 minutes, 39.94 seconds, which was 2.37 seconds behind the gold medal winners.

Team USA has two sleds in the four-man bobsled competition. The sled piloted by Frankie del Duca finished 12th overall with a combined time of 3 minutes, 40.06 seconds.

The gold medal winner was the German team piloted by Johannes Lochner, who also won the two-man bobsled competition, and its overall time was 3 minutes, 37.57 seconds. Thorsten Margis, one of the push athletes on the first-place German sled, now has five gold medals in bobsled, according to news reports.

Two-time defending Olympic champion Francesco Friedrich, piloting a second German team, took second place with a time of 3 minutes, 38.14 seconds. A Swiss team piloted by Michael Vogt won bronze with a time of 3 minutes, 38.64 seconds.

About Caleb Furnell

Furnell, 24, is a graduate of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where he was a sprinter on the track team and also set school records. From Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Furnell thought his athletic career was over, but a friend suggested he try out for a bobsled combine.

After trying out, he was invited to the USA National Push Championships in Lake Placid, New York, in September 2025. He was one of the 12 push athletes named to the World Cup teams.

The 2026 Milan Cortina Games are his first Olympics.

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How an Olympic dream prepared this Latter-day Saint to assist with the Salt Lake Temple open house

Several of her eight children and their spouses were back in Lima for the performance Wednesday, Feb. 19, in the Westin Lima Hotel and all were planning to be back for the choir and orchestra’s “Songs of Hope” (“Canciones de Esperanza”) performance in the National Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 22.

“It was time to bring the family together,” Utrilla said in Spanish of her children who are spread across the Americas and Europe.

The concert Wednesday featured singers Adassa, whose parents are from Colombia and who was the voice of Dolores Madrigal in Disney’s “Encanto,” and Alex Melecio, who is from Mexico. His wife, Melodi, also attended, as did her mother, who is Peruvian.

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in an interview on Thursday, Feb. 20, that “it was a beautiful experience.”

He saw how much the choir connected with the local culture with music and performers. The concert was also uplifting and inspirational, he said.

“The sacred hymns are are always inspirational and help us to draw ourselves closer to Jesus Christ,” Elder Soares said.

In a reception prior to the concert, he invited those attending to feel not only the spirit of the music but God’s love through the music.

“The music that we present to each of you tonight can draw us closer to God and Jesus Christ,” Elder Soares said in Spanish to the group before they entered the ballroom for the concert.

Former U.S. Senator Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann Romney, also attended.

Earlier Wednesday, Elder Soares, the Romneys and the choir presidency — President Michael O. Leavitt and counselors President L. Whitney Clayton and President Gary B. Porter — participated in an event at the Congress of Peru and at an interfaith discussion with the Interfaith Council of Peru.

The audience of about 400 people Wednesday evening included government and business leaders and also those from arts, education, religious and charitable organizations.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra arrive for debut performance in Peru

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra traveling to Brazil in 2026 on ‘Songs of Hope’ tour

‘Canciones de Esperanza’ concert

The concert featured hymns of praise, songs from around the world, traditional songs from the United States and hymns of hope.

Before performing “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto,” Adassa said, “As the child of Colombian parents, the love of my parents gave me hope.”

While Adassa may be known for her part in “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” she said in Spanish there is another song that “captured the hearts of people all over the world.

“It describes what happens when two little caterpillars love each other and find hope together.”

Prior to singing “Color Esperanza,” Alex Melecio said, “This is a special time of hope for our family — hope that our children will experience and embrace their heritage from the Andes.”

He also said that one of the songs from the world tour “reminds us that hope is a choice we make. For us, when we choose hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, everything is better.”

The choir sang more than a dozen songs, under the direction of director Mack Wilberg and associate director Ryan Murphy, filling the room with music. It started with hymns of praise “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” in English and Spanish, and “Hijos del Senor, Venid” in Spanish.

A trio of alleluias followed with the peaceful “Alleluia.” Then the soaring “Alleluia,” from “Psalm 150,” by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera that has seemingly disjointed individual parts building before coming together to fill the space with music. The audience stood as the choir and orchestra performed “Hallelujah” from “Messiah” by George Frideric Handel.

The choir performed two international songs, including “¡Ah, El Novio No Quere Dinero!” a Sepharic wedding song. After Adassa and Melecio’s performances, the choir and orchestra performed three songs from the American songbook, “Music Everywhere,” “What a Wonderful World” and “Cindy” and three hymns — “Let Us All Press On,” “The Spirit of God” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

As an encore, the choir and orchestra performed songs with ties to the four northwest countries — “Colombia Tierra Querida” with Adassa, “A Mi Lindo Ecuador,” “Viva Mi Patria Bolivia” and “Contigo Peru” with Melicio. As the guitarist strummed the first few notes of “Contigo Peru,” the audience quickly stood. The choir and orchestra ended with the traditional “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”

The women of the choir wore multicolored necklaces and earrings made in Peru, as were the men’s colorful ties and pocket squares.

Elder Jorge T. Becerra, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s South America Northwest Area — which includes Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador — welcomed the audience and the choir’s gift of music.

“May the songs of hope we share tonight lift you and your family members for years to come,” he said.

Elder Rafael E. Pino and Elder Juan Pablo Villar, both General Authority Seventies and counselors in the South America Northwest Area presidency, also attended the concert.

Guillermo Estrugo and Alicia Perez, a married couple with a background in broadcasting, were the masters of ceremonies for the evening. Estrugo is the area’s director of communications for the Church and is also serving as the vice president of the Interfaith Council of Peru. Perez, his wife, has a background as a television host and presented in Bolivia.

Wilberg said the audience was warm and receptive.

“The people are so warm, and they love music, all of that combined makes for a great experience we’re having here,” he said.

José Quezada, who is a composer and conductor for an interreligious choir in Peru, said he has listened to the choir many times. “The choir was amazing,” he said in Spanish. “It’s one of the best choirs I have seen in my life.”

Karyn Tripp, a Tabernacle Choir member who sings second alto, said after the concert as it’s the first time the choir has sung in Peru, “it was a powerful moment to recognize. That makes it extra special.”

After the concert, Utrilla, who has since moved to Utah, recalled how when she was baptized more than 60 years ago, there were two little branches in the country, she would walk 7 kilometers with four young children, ages 5 years to 2 months old, to attend Church meetings as she couldn’t afford a taxi.

“I read the Book of Mormon. I felt the Spirit of the Lord,” Utrilla said in Spanish about reading about Alma’s experiences.

Utrilla’s husband was baptized 28 years later, and they were later sealed in the Lima Peru Temple. One of Utrilla’s daughters-in-law plays in the orchestra.

There are 320 members of the 360-voice volunteer choir on tour and 68 members of the orchestra, along with choir leaders and staff. These “musical missionaries” are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days 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 Tabernacle Choir first went to South America in 1981, when they performed in Brazil.

‘Songs of Hope’ tour

The choir and orchestra will also perform on Saturday, Feb. 22, in the National Stadium — home of the Peru national soccer team — and include an audience of 30,000 people, which is larger than the 21,000-seat Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

The concert will feature musical artists representing Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia: Colombian artist Juan Fernando Fonseca, known as Fonseca; Adassa, who has Colombian roots; Mauricio Mesones of Peru and a former member of the band Bareto; the Fabre Family from Ecuador; and Melecio.

Los Kjarkas, Bolivian group known for their Andean music, will present a preshow performance.

It will be streamed on the choir’s YouTube channel.

The choir and orchestra multicity, multiyear “Songs of Hope” tour began in 2023 with a stop in Mexico City, Mexico. In 2024, the choir and orchestra performed in Manila, Philippines, and in southeastern United States in Florida and Georgia. The concerts have been free and at least one in each location has been livestreamed and available on-demand.

In August, the choir and orchestra are scheduled to go to Argentina in August 2025 and in Brazil in February 2026.

Interfaith discussion: Call for peace

Prior to the concert, Elder Soares, the Romneys and the choir presidency were part of an interfaith discussion with about 40 people through the Interfaith Council of Peru.

Elder Soares, who spoke in Spanish, said that peace isn’t merely the absence of conflict. The United Nations definition includes being able to communicate and to have dialogue.

Solving conflicts and promoting rights includes dialogue and communication.

“It is our responsibility to support respect of human rights,” Elder Soares said. He later added, “Protecting religious freedom is key for peace and world stability.”

He reiterated Church President Russell M. Nelson’s invitation to be a peacemaker and avoid contention.

Mitt and Ann Romney spoke on strengthening families — also invited their youngest son, Craig, up to speak, which he did in Spanish.

Mitt Romney said: “I’m convinced that the only way to re-establish marriages and families and children and population stability is if religions — all of us — are more successful in bringing people to God."

Congress of the Republic of Peru award

Eduardo Salhuana, the Congress of the Republic of Peru president, recognized the choir and orchestra Wednesday and presented a medal of honor to choir President Leavitt in the Hall of Democracy.

“It’s a symbol for appreciation and their admiration for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Tabernacle Choir,” President Leavitt said, adding it’s an “important moment of the Church’s development in South America.”

A quartet from the orchestra played during the ceremony.

Musical artists announced for Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s tour concert in Peru

See more coverage of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra

The USA sled, with pilot Kris Horn, is ninth after two runs at the Cortina Sliding Center in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Furnell is a push athlete with Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering.

In the four-man bobsled, the men push a bobsled, jump into it and tuck their heads in as the pilot steers it on the twists and turns of the icy track, with the fastest sleds reaching speeds up to 85 mph (137 kilometers per hour). Places are determined by hundredths of a second.

From sprinting to sliding: Latter-day Saint bobsledder’s journey from track to Winter Olympics

Latter-day Saint in the 2026 Olympics: Final standings in 4-man bobsled

During the first heat, the Team USA sled time was 54.60 seconds, tying for eighth place with a team from South Korea with pilot Jinsu Kim, according to the results on Olympics.com. They were 0.69 seconds behind first place — a sled piloted by German Johannes Lochner, which set a track record with a time of 53.91 seconds.

For the second heat, the Team USA sled time was 55.01 seconds, which was 11th place, and 0.32 seconds behind first place sled — another German team piloted by Adam Ammour with a time of 54.69 seconds. The second heat had a couple of track delays due to midtrack crashes by sleds from Austria, France, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Team USA’s combined time for the heats is 1:49.61 — exactly 1 second off the 1:48.61 time of the lead sled, piloted by Lochner of Germany. The USA team is 0.22 seconds from fifth place and 0.41 seconds from the bronze medal spot.

Team USA has two sleds in the four-man bobsled competition. The sled piloted by Frankie del Duca is 12th after the second heat with a combined time of 1:51.02 seconds.

About Caleb Furnell

Furnell, 24, is a graduate of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where he was a sprinter on the track team and also set school records. From Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Furnell thought his athletic career was over, but a friend suggested he try out for a bobsled combine.

After trying out, he was invited to the USA National Push Championships in Lake Placid, New York, in September 2025. He was one of the 12 push athletes named to the World Cup teams.

The 2026 Milan Cortina Games are his first Olympics.

When to watch

The bobsled, or bobsleigh, competition consists of four races, timed to the hundredth of a second. The team with the fastest total time is the winner.

The first two heats were Saturday, Feb. 21. The final two heats are on Sunday, Feb. 22, beginning at 10 a.m. Italy time (2 a.m. Mountain). The fourth and final race begins at 12:15 p.m. (4:15 a.m. Mountain). The top 20 of the 27 sleds will race in the last heat.

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“I was happily retired from the sport,” 24-year-old Furnell said in an interview with the Church News. He added, “I thought my athletic career was over.”

Now, the Latter-day Saint is running on ice and sprinting for about 40 yards as a push athlete and brakeman on one of the United States’ four-man bobsled teams. He’s in a sled with pilot Kris Horn and push athletes Carsten Vissering and Hunter Powell. (See below for when to watch.)

Furnell’s journey to the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics has twists and turns not unlike a bobsled track.

“As a little kid, I wanted to be an athlete,” Furnell said. “I thought it was soccer, then it was track, and I guess it’s now bobsled.”

Latter-day Saint in the 2026 Olympics: Final standings in 4-man bobsled

Latter-day Saint in the Olympics: Bobsled slides into the top 10 halfway through the 4 heats

Injuries and recovery

Caleb Furnell is from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and is the second of four children — three boys and a girl, the youngest. “Caleb is a naturally gifted athlete and also works really hard,” said his mother, Margene Furnell.

Caleb Furnell competed in the high jump in high school — setting a state record his sophomore year. During his junior year, universities started recruiting him. At a meet at a university, he broke his leg while competing, Margene Furnell said. After, he wasn’t able to high jump at the same level as before his injury.

Caleb Furnell said: “I had to switch, so I started sprinting. Sprinting got me onto a college team.”

His senior year of high school, he talked to the track coach and tried sprinting events — and made it to the state championships and to the podium in one event.

After high school graduation, a couple of Furnell’s friends were going to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and he decided to see if he could go to Utah Valley University in nearby Orem, Utah. He was a walk-on for the track and field team.

Furnell, who is 6 feet 2 inches tall, has three of the top times in the school’s records for the indoor and outdoor 200-meter race and the 4-by-100 relay, the school noted. In 2024, he was part of the Western Athletic Conference champion 4-by-100 relay team that qualified for the NCAA Regionals and was also a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference honoree in the 100-meter and 200-meter events.

Despite doing all he could to be healthy, he had a few injuries and setbacks that put Olympic track competition out of reach, said Brynlee Furnell, his wife. The couple married in 2023 in the Cedar City Utah Temple.

Pushing a bobsled

A friend invited Caleb Furnell to a bobsled and skeleton combine in Utah in fall 2024.

He said that in a bobsled “you’re folded over and you’re just feeling all this pressure on your back, like sucking into the sled. But they don’t tell you how shaky and rattly and noisy it is.”

In his position in the back, his head is down and he can’t see anything. It was disorienting and chaotic the first time, he said.

“I had my combine in October, and then starting in November, I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got 45 weeks till next season to completely change my body, essentially, to fit this sport better.’ And so that’s what I did,” Furnell said. Also during his training, he was asked to fill in a couple of bobsled races in Park City, Utah.

After the combine and a rookie camp, he was invited to the USA National Push Championships in Lake Placid, New York, in September 2025. He was one of the 12 push athletes named to the World Cup teams. After more training in Lake Placid, he was put with a team and “luckily, my team has stayed the same.”

Since November, he and his team have been in Europe competing in World Cup races, he said. He did get to go back to Missouri for Christmas, and his wife met him there.

“Bobsled was kind of a curveball. We didn’t plan for it really,” said Brynlee Furnell.

She said she’s been grateful for the community she has in Vineyard, Utah, including their Latter-day Saint ward, while her husband has been in Europe.

Margene Furnell said of her son’s journey, “Where you think that there are dead ends, the Lord turned them into a different path.”

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Sliding in the Olympics

Caleb Furnell and his team are in the Olympic Village in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, where they will compete in Cortina Sliding Centre. He walked with the United States contingent in the opening ceremonies.

“It’s fun to see all of the [athletes] from other countries, and it’s been enjoyable so far,” he said.

Brynlee Furnell said she remembers that when she and Caleb were dating, he had Paris 2024 as a goal on a dreamboard. Looking back, she’s seen how the Lord guided his path.

“My faith in how much God knows us as individuals has just been incredibly strengthened,” she said.

When to watch: The bobsled, or bobsleigh, competition consists of four races, timed to the hundredth of a second. The team with the fastest total time is the winner.

The first two heats of the four-man bobsled races are Saturday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. Italy time (2 a.m. Mountain) at the Cortina Sliding Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The final two heats are on Sunday, Feb. 22, beginning at 10 a.m. Italy time (2 a.m. Mountain). The fourth and final race begins at 12:15 p.m. (4:15 a.m. Mountain).

Church News podcast, episode 271: Olympic medalist Noelle Pikus Pace on sharing the light of the gospel by being a covenant keeper

One of those athletes is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Caleb Furnell, 24, is a push athlete on one of Team USA’s four-man bobsled teams.

Furnell is from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and played soccer and set a state record in high jump in high school. He was a sprinter at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, from 2019 to 2024. Furnell, who is 6 feet, 2 inches tall, has a trio of top times in the school’s records for the indoor and outdoor 200-meter race and the 4-by-100 relay, the school noted. In 2024, he was part of the Western Athletic Conference champion 4-by-100 relay team that qualified for the NCAA Regionals, and was also a first team All-WAC honoree in the 100-meter and 200-meter races.

A friend suggested Furnell try out at a bobsled combine, and Furnell said he didn’t prepare for it. He was named to the United States national team. Within a year, he was on a team competing in World Cup races.

“To transition quickly to another sport and already be at the senior level, … it’s been pretty wild; it’s been fun,” he said in an interview with Kansas City, Missouri, television station KSHB 41 in December 2025.

Furnell and his wife, Brynlee Furnell, live in Vineyard, Utah.

From sprinting to sliding: Latter-day Saint bobsledder Caleb Furnell’s journey from track to Winter Olympics

Latter-day Saint in the 2026 Olympics: Final standings in 4-man bobsled

When to watch: The bobsled, or bobsleigh, competition consists of four races, timed to the hundredth of a second. The team with the fastest total time is the winner.

The first two heats of the four-man bobsled races are Saturday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. Italy time (2 a.m. Mountain) at the Cortina Sliding Center in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The final two heats are on Sunday, Feb. 22, beginning at 10 a.m. Italy time (2 a.m. Mountain). The fourth and final race begins at 12:15 p.m. (4:15 a.m. Mountain).

Furnell is on a sled with pilot Kris Horn and push athletes Carsten Vissering and Hunter Powell.

Church News podcast, episode 271: Olympic medalist Noelle Pikus Pace on sharing the light of the gospel by being a covenant keeper

Bobsled coach: Also at the Olympics with Latter-day Saint ties is Chris Fogt, who is the head coach of USA Bobsled. Fogt won silver in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

If you know of any other Latter-day Saints competing in the Milan Cortina Olympic Games or in the Paralympic Games, please email their name, country and sport to churchnews@deseretnews.com.

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Latter-day Saints in the 2024 Paralympics: 4 medals in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, discus and canoe in Paris

See the Church News' coverage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Salt Lake City is also home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And while not the focus of the Games, there were moments the days and nights of competitions 20 years ago linked with the Church.

Here are several from the Church News archives.

Opening ceremonies

There were 55,000 attending in person and some 3.5 billion viewers globally who tuned into the Olympics opening ceremonies on Feb. 8, 2002. The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, then known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, was part of those ceremonies, where President George W. Bush opened the Games.

The choir members, with the Utah Symphony, performed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” They also performed “Call of the Champions,” the 2002 Olympic theme composed John Williams, Spiro Samara’s “Olympic Hymn” and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” The choir also provided backup to Sting and Yo-Yo Ma’s duet of “Fragile.”

Choir member Sally Brinton said: “It was spectacular. It was uplifting. I felt for that moment in time that the world was unified.”

The Tabernacle Choir sang earlier in the day at the Utah State Capitol at an event with Bush. Bush was one of the world leaders who met with the First Presidency.

Torch relay

As the traditional torch relay arrived in Utah and then in Salt Lake City, it passed by the Church Administration Building on Feb. 7, 2002. President Gordon B. Hinckley, his counselors President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust, and several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stood out on the steps as Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles ran it up the steps.

“To every one we extend our gratitude and best wishes. Let this be a great and historic and wonderful occasion for everyone who joins with us here in this beautiful city and in this great mountain place of beauty, extending best wishes, our congratulations and our gratitude,” President Hinckley said as he held the torch.

He passed the torch to Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who ran with the torch as it headed to the Salt Lake City-County Building.

The torch passed Emigration Canyon before briefly stopping at This Is the Place Heritage Park earlier in the day as those in the relay helped the torch make its way downtown.

A month later, during the Paralympic Games torch relay, the First Presidency and several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gathered outside the Church Administration Building.

“We want you to succeed, and we hope that this will be a great and marvelous and wonderful occasion for everyone who participates. Let everyone be a winner. Hurray!” President Hinckley said.

Tabernacle and Conference Center

During the Games, the choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square performed with several different guest artists in the Tabernacle for the Cultural Olympiad.

The first one included mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, John Williams, the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets and Salt Lake’s International Children’s Choir. Williams also directed the choirs and orchestra in the “Call of the Champions.”

Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, a cappella ensemble King’s Singers and percussionist Evelyn Glennie were featured guest artists at the other Cultural Olympiad concerts.

In the Conference Center, a cast of more than 1,000 dancers, singers and actors staged “Light of the World — a Celebration of Life” on a domed stage. “Light of the World” included the story of the Creation, the purpose of life and several inspirational stories in the Olympics and the Church’s history.

Temple Square

On Temple Square, more than 200 sister missionaries wearing flags of their home countries with their name tags greeted an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Olympic visitors a day. Tours were available in 40 languages, with more available upon request.

“There is a feeling of great anticipation from the sister missionaries,” then-Temple Square Mission President M. Garfield Cook said. “They know that out of this is going to come so much good for the world. They sense they are part of it. They feel they are a part of history.”

A dozen banners were hung on downtown buildings as a backdrop for the Games — and also the medals plaza. One of a figure skater, more than 20 stories tall, hung from the 28-story Church Office Building. A banner was also hung on the Museum of Church History and Art.

In the news

An interview President Hinckley did with anchor Tom Brokaw aired on NBC on Feb. 22, two days before the closing ceremonies, and included Latter-day Saints, the Book of Mormon, tithing, polygamy and the Church’s role in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

“The Olympics will bring people here from everywhere,” President Hinckley said. “I think there will be a better understanding as a result of people coming here.”

On Feb. 7, NBC’s “Today” show broadcast from Salt Lake City and featured the Church, including a live Tabernacle Choir broadcast from Temple Square. It also included quotes from Presidency Hinckley.

“We are just ordinary people trying to do an extraordinary work,” President Hinckley said.

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve also briefly appeared on the show, answering questions about the choir and the construction of the Salt Lake Temple.

The Church was also mentioned in the several news reports around the world.

“We’re very excited and looking forward to welcoming the Tabernacle Choir to Brazil. It will be a historic occasion that will bless immensely both members and friends of the Church,” said Elder Joni L. Koch, General Authority Seventy and the Church’s Brazil Area president.

During the recent tour stop in Lima, Peru, the choir announced it will go to Brazil in February 2026 for the sixth stop on the choir and orchestra’s multicity, multiyear “Songs of Hope” tour.

Information on venues, free tickets and guest artists will be announced at a later date.

Buenos Aires, Argentina, will be the fifth stop, in August 2025, with the choir and orchestra’s visit coinciding with this year’s 100th anniversary of the formal organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South America. Exact dates have not been announced for the Argentina tour stop.

Last month, about 34,000 people attended the concert in the National Stadium in Lima, with thousands more watching the livestream in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador. The tour stop also included an interfaith VIP concert.

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

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra concert in Peru’s National Stadium celebrates hope, Latin America culture

About the ‘Songs of Hope’ world tour

The “Songs of Hope” tour began in Mexico in June 2023, where the choir performed “Esperanza” concerts at the Toluca Cathedral and in Mexico City’s National Auditorium, the latter of which seats about 10,000 people.

The Philippines was the second stop on the “Himig ng Pag-asa” tour, in February 2024, with a sacred music concert at the University of Santo Tomas and two concerts in the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

The third stop was in the southeastern U.S. in September 2024. The first concert was a bilingual Spanish and English concert in south Florida. The choir and orchestra traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, and joined with the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs on Sept. 9, for a concert at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel on the Morehouse College campus. On Sept. 11, 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.

On all of the stops, select concerts have been available on YouTube, with area Church members and congregations encouraged to hold watch parties.

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 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.

The Tabernacle Choir’s invitation to celebrate the 5,000th week of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’

Meet the 12 musicians singing as global participants with the Tabernacle Choir during April 2025 general conference

The concerts are in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera — an 11,000-seat indoor venue. The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square performed in the 12,000-seat Ibirapuera Auditorium during a visit in 1981.

Send it in: Did you see the Tabernacle Choir perform in Brazil in 1981?

The concerts will be Friday, Feb. 27, at 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m.; and a Sunday devotional will be Sunday, March 1, at 4 p.m. All times are local time.

The concert on Saturday, Feb. 28, will be livestreamed on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel. Also, local celebrations are being planned at various meetinghouses of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across Brazil.

For information about tickets to Ibirapuera or for celebration locations, please talk to local Church leaders.

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Tabernacle Choir announces dates for ‘Songs of Hope’ tour stop in Brazil

‘Songs of Hope’ tour

Brazil is the sixth stop on the Tabernacle Choir and orchestra’s multiyear, multicountry “Songs of Hope” tour.

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. In 2025, the tour continued to Lima, Peru, in February and to Buenos Aires, Argentina, as they helped celebrate 100 years of the Church in South America.

The concerts from Peru and Argentina are still available for streaming.

On all of the stops, select concerts have been available on YouTube, with area Church members and congregations encouraged to hold watch parties.

About the Tabernacle Choir, orchestra

The tour stops include 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.

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra concert in Peru’s National Stadium celebrates hope, Latin America culture

Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra’s concert in Argentina celebrates 100 years of the Church in South America

It’s one of several times the Tabernacle Choir has sung for the president of the United States in a variety of settings, from Salt Lake City to the White House, according to the choir’s website.

Presidents Day is on the third Monday in February, in the United States, and here’s a look back at when the choir’s audience has included the country’s president.

Kennedy’s visit was one of five he made to the state. He stayed at the then-Hotel Utah. During his speech in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, 8,000 people were in the building, 2,500 in the Assembly Hall and 5,000 more on the grounds, according to the Deseret News archives. Later that year, the choir participated in the national broadcast honoring Kennedy after his death, according to the choir.

The choir also performed at the Salt Lake Tabernacle when President Jimmy Carter visited in 1978. Carter’s visit was during National Family Week, and he was presented the Family Unity Award, a statuette titled “Love at Home,” from President Spencer W. Kimball, according to the American Presidency Project. (Carter also toured Temple Square in 1990 while on a layover en route home to Georgia, according to the Church News archives.)

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Tabernacle Choir in Washington, D.C.

In addition to singing in the Salt Lake Tabernacle when U.S. presidents came to Salt Lake City, the choir has performed seven times at inaugurations of six U.S. presidents and also for three other presidents in Washington, D.C.

In 1911, the choir toured the U.S. with a stop to perform at the White House, at the request of President William Howard Taft, according to the Deseret News archives. The tour also included a performance in the historic New York City Hippodrome Theater, which was billed as the world’s largest theater at the time.

In October 1958, the choir performed a musicale at the White House for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Cabinet and staff, according to information from the Eisenhower Library.

On Sept. 14, 1974, President Gerald Ford attended the choir’s performance at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Photos show him and first lady Betty Ford mingling with choir members after the performance.

The 7 times the Tabernacle Choir went to Washington for a presidential inauguration

The inaugurations the choir has participated in include the swearing-in ceremony for President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 where it sang “This Is My Country,” according to the choir’s website.

The choir also sang “This Is My Country” at the swearing-in ceremony for President Richard Nixon in 1969 along with “The Star-Spangled Banner,” accompanied by the United States Marine Band. In 1973, 30 members of the choir performed at a devotional in the White House for Nixon’s second inauguration.

In January 1981, the choir was back in Washington, in an inauguration parade for President Ronald Reagan. It was during this parade that Reagan called it “America’s Choir.”

The choir performed at a variety of events for the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush in 1989, including the prelude music for the official swearing in, a parade later in the day and at a gala the day before. For President George W. Bush in 2001, the choir was part of the inaugural parade.

In 2017, the choir performed “America the Beautiful” at the official swearing-in ceremony for President Donald Trump.

2002 Winter Olympics

In 2002 when Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics, the Tabernacle Choir performed at the opening ceremony where President George W. Bush officially opened the Games. Earlier in the day, he spoke at the state Capitol, and the choir also performed, singing “Climb Every Mountain” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” according to the Church News archives.

The Tabernacle Choir includes up to 360 volunteer singers and a roster of up to 200 orchestra members. A smaller group generally goes on travel assignments. 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 Church maintains a position of political neutrality and doesn’t endorse candidates or parties. Church leaders do encourage members “to be active citizens by registering, exercising their right to vote and engaging in civic affairs, always demonstrating Christlike love and civility in political discourse.”

Editor’s note: This was originally published on Feb. 15, 2021, and was updated on Feb. 16, 2022, with the 2002 performances.

It had been nearly six years since President Brigham Young — just four days after arriving in the valley — put his cane in the ground on July 28, 1847, and said, “Here we will build a temple for our God.”

The initial knee-jerk reaction was, “No,” said Susan Easton Black at BYU’s Campus Education Week in 2010. “Why? They said ‘everywhere we’ve built temples, we’ve been persecuted.’”

The Saints had left the temple in Kirtland, Ohio, and only the cornerstones had been laid for a temple in Far West, Missouri, but many more had been planned there. As the pioneers walked down Parley Street when leaving Nauvoo, Illinois, they gave one last look to the temple before crossing the Mississippi River.

“But I can see it right before my eyes,” President Young said on the 1847 day he put his cane into the ground. There were six towers — three for the Melchizedek Priesthood and three for the Aaronic Priesthood.

And he also made a promise: “This one will stand through the Millennium.”

However, given their history of moving around, many of the pioneers “were positive they weren’t going to stay long,” Black said.

The temple, as well as President Young’s office, was built on a 10-acre parcel of land, and the city slowly built and developed around it.

President Young, who was a carpenter, glazier and painter, said to cancel everything on Valentine’s Day in 1853. He said he was going to go work on the temple and if people wanted to talk to him, they could bring a pick or a shovel, Black said.

The morning of Feb. 14, 1853, thousands huddled in the winter weather to see ground broken for the Salt Lake Temple. President Heber C. Kimball, first counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the site.

President Kimball and other Apostles loosened the frozen earth with a pick, then President Young shoveled out the first turf. He spoke of the groundbreaking as historic, saying, “It is our unspeakable privilege to stand here, this day, and minister before the Lord, on an occasion which has caused the tongues and pens of prophets to speak and write for many scores of centuries.”

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The foundation

From 1853 to 1856, Latter-day Saints worked on the foundation. Blocks of red sandstone, 16 feet high, were brought in from the canyons surrounding Salt Lake City.

When word came from Orrin Porter Rockwell that Gen. Johnston’s army was coming, work stopped on the temple. The foundation was buried and made to look like a farmer’s field.

“People were told to leave their homes empty with hay and leaves inside,” Black said. They were determined to not let the Army take their homes.

During the Army’s four-year stay, there weren’t any meetings, including church services. Church members had prayer circles, where the Saints prayed for the Army to leave, Black explained. After the military left to go back East and participate in the Civil War, President Young put out a call for help to unbury the temple’s foundation.

“Some of the little children at the time thought there was an entire temple buried in that square,” Black said.

When the foundation was unburied, cracks were discovered in the red sandstone.

For four days, President Young could be seen sitting on the foundation. The cracked sandstone wouldn’t last until the Millennium, so they needed to start over.

But how could these stones, which were viewed as sacred by the Saints, be taken from Temple Square? In order to keep them there, a Tabernacle was built and the exterior included some of the red sandstones, Black said.

Stone for the temple

“What does every woman want in our kitchens?” Black asked. “Granite.”

To mine the granite from Little Cottonwood Canyon, hundreds of men would dangle their friends over the side of the mountain. Those who were dangling over the edge would pound wedges into the side of the canyon wall every few inches.

Then when everyone was ready, they would pound and shout together — almost like with rap music — and when they heard a crack, the new face of the mountain would fall down.

When they heard the crack, they would yell “pull” and the people holding the ropes would hopefully lift them before they were hit by the falling granite.

Once the face of the mountain fell, it was cut into relatively smaller blocks. One of the pieces of granite was cut into 2,500 blocks.

“They were absolutely huge,” Black said.

With oxen teams and ropes to hold them in place, the granite blocks were slowly brought down the canyon to Temple Square.

As the teams with these huge blocks passed, farmers in the fields would put down tools and come to the side of the road and sing “The Spirit of God,” and housewives, schoolchildren, shopkeepers and others would sing as the stones wheeled past their homes, schools (every stone meant recess) and businesses.

At Temple Square, the stonecutters would dress the stones and make them ready for the masons.

“They were perfectionists,” Black said of the stonecutters, many of whom had come from England and had worked on the palace or other impressive buildings. “They didn’t like every stone that was brought to Temple Square.”

So what did they do with those stones? They, like the sandstone, couldn’t leave Temple Square.

Later, the Assembly Hall on Temple Square was made of the “undressed,” or rough, stones that were brought in for the temple, Black said.

Black’s ancestors worked on the temple.

“They weren’t stonecutters, but they knew how to carry rocks,” she said.

Building the temple

“Brigham Young had planned for the temple to be as decorative as the Nauvoo Temple,” Black said. “Meaning, there would be faces in the sunstones.”

The granite was very laborious to carve, but a consistent decorative element was needed.

Scientist and mathematician Orson Pratt was asked to draw the phases of the moon in the month of April, and those were used on the outside of the temple.

President Young eventually died, as did his successor, President John Taylor, but, “The temple continues to rise,” Black said.

In 1892, Wilford Woodruff was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It had been 39 years since that Valentine’s Day when President Young turned over the shovel. The spires were there, but the interior was completely unfinished.

“It’s this amazing shell of a building,” Black said.

Angel Moroni

President Woodruff wanted a statue of angel Moroni on the tallest tower, but he didn’t want one like the weather-vane style as on the Nauvoo Temple.

“He wanted a tall, stately statue,” Black said.

The brethren discussed the names of area sculptors, and Cyrus Dallin’s name came up.

Dallin had sent work to Ohio to be bronzed, which was a big deal then, she said.

”He was approached by general authorities, his answer was ‘no,’” Black said.

Black said Dallin’s response was, “I don’t believe in angels, and I haven’t believed in them for years.”

President Woodruff went to visit him in Springville, Utah, but his answer was still “no.”

So President Woodruff looked through the records to find a tithe payer in Dallin’s family. His widowed mother’s name was on the books, so President Woodruff sent a message for her to come meet with him.

He met with her and asked her to approach her son about building the statue. She fasted and prayed before her visit to her son.

He tells her “no.”

“I didn’t come to ask you that,” Black said Dallin’s mother said of building the statute. “I came to ask you if you have an angel mother.”

“Yes,” he answered.

“Will you make it for me?” his mother asked.

Dallin made the Angel Moroni statue.

The capstone ceremony

President Woodruff sent word throughout the Church for everyone who’d worked on the temple to gather on Temple Square on April 6, 1892.

“Some accounts said there were 15,000 people gathered on Temple Square,” Black said. “Other accounts say there were 20,000 more people gathered on rooftops on buildings.”

They saw a big black object covered in black cloth with ropes all around. President Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow spoke, but without a public announcement system hardly another could hear. After they talked, the angel statue was unveiled.

Then, President Woodruff made a prophecy: If the interior of the temple is finished in a year, the persecution they have known will end, Black said.

“This generation is pretty motivated,” she said. Many people remembered or endured extermination orders in Missouri, being run out of Illinois, lawsuits and an army coming.

The doorknobs, murals, decorative ceiling and other art was done in a year. Art missionaries were called home from Europe to head up the effort.

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The dedication and a delivery

In April 1893, three weeks of temple dedication sessions had been scheduled, Black said.

“To get into session No. 1 was big,” Black added.

Tickets were issued, and there was a doorkeeper checking tickets.

President Woodruff was dedicating the temple and blessing the different parts of the temple, including the holes that would be a very good size for elevators in years to come, Black said.

A woman in the session, Sister Bennett, was pregnant and went into labor. A Relief Society president, who was also a midwife, was there.

“Sister Bennett is about to bring forth a child, and she’s not going to make it out of the temple,” Black said.

She was taken to another room where she delivered a son. The temple was also dedicated.

On day eight of the dedication — in keeping with the old Jewish tradition that a firstborn son should be circumcised and then on the eighth day receive his name and become a son of Abraham — Sister Bennett brought her son to the temple.

The doorkeeper, President Joseph F. Smith, asked for her ticket. She didn’t have one, but then indicated she was the one who wasn’t quiet during the first session, Black said.

Joseph F. Smith takes Sister Bennett and the baby into the temple and gives him a blessing and a name — Joseph Temple Bennett. He was known as Temple Bennett.

“He became one of the most famous fireside speakers this Church has known,” Black said.

Temple work

The temple is up and running.

The first temple president is Lorenzo Snow, and his apartment was in the temple, Black said. The Relief Society general president was the matron.

When people came to the temple, they could do the work for themselves, but they didn’t have little blue or pink name slips.

They were asked who their earliest ancestor in the Church was and then they would look in the file to see if there was a name available to do.

“If there weren’t any more names in the file, they couldn’t go through,” Black said.

Many people who were from England or Scandinavia would write to relatives and researchers so they could return to the temple to do the work.

Women in the Church, at the time, didn’t cut their hair. Pictures of early pioneer women showed no bangs, no short hair.

“Women believed their crowning glory was her hair,” Black said.

That changed. The pioneer women started to cut their hair because they could sell it for about 40 cents an inch. They would use that money to send to researchers in Europe so that they would be able to bring family names to the temple.

Bookends

Black and her husband were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Her parents were also married there.

“No matter what happens in our country, where is a safe place to go? Make sure you always have a temple recommend,” Black said.

And the temple continues to stand.

“The Salt Lake Temple is a temple with a promise,” Black said. It would last through the eternities, and the persecution of the pioneers would end.

The temple can also be seen as a bookend, the way President Gordon B. Hinckley saw it.

The Angel Moroni statue on the Salt Lake Temple faces east and bookends with the statue on the Nauvoo Illinois Temple that faces west.

This story was originally published in the Deseret News on Feb. 14, 2011.

See Church News' coverage of the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square renovations