A new year calls for a quick look back to reflect upon great accomplishments, according to Choir President Mac Christensen. The world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir and its related Orchestra at Temple Square, Temple Square Chorale, and Bells on Temple Square registered an impressive list of events and activities in 2011. 

Some of the highlights included more than fifty concerts and mini-concerts both on Temple Square and in other venues.  It took over 300 rehearsals to put all the programs in place. The Choir sang in St. George, Utah at Dixie State College for its Centennial Celebration and at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for its 100th Anniversary Event. The Choir and Orchestra presented an annual Pioneer Day Commemoration Concert, a mini concert for United States Governors, a concert for LDS Temple Presidents and a televised concert, “Rising Abov,e” with news anchor Tom Brokaw in honor of 9/11. The Choir joined with the Utah Symphony for the Tanner Gift of Music and concluded the year with the Christmas Concerts featuring acclaimed baritone Nathan Gunn and Emmy award-winning actress Jane Seymour. The special Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir aired on PBS across the nation. In addition there were fifty live broadcasts and two recorded broadcasts of Music and the Spoken Word.  The Orchestra presented two concerts of major works and the Bells on Temple Square followed suit with two programs as well.

The Choir went on tour to five cities–Norfolk, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chautauqua, New York, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada—with 600 people in tow. In those five venues the Choir presented 7 concerts.  It took 3 airplanes to move them from Salt Lake to the Eastern Seaboard and 11 buses to cart them from one location to another.  There were 4 trucks just for luggage and 4 large semi trucks for all the equipment.

Organists Richard Elliott, Clay Christiansen, Andrew Unsworth, Bonnie Goodliffe and Linda Margetts plus special guest organists gave 470 organ recitals in the Tabernacle and Conference Center.

The Choir released three CDs under its own Mormon Tabernacle Choir® label–Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, This is the Christ and Glad Christmas Tidings with David Archuleta and Michael York and two DVDs—One Voice: On the Road with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Glad Christmas Tidings.

Tom Waldron retired as director of the Bells on Temple Square; 18 Choir members retired; as well as 2 Orchestra members. New members in the Choir totaled 29; new orchestra members, 12; and new bell ringers, 4.  Perhaps the most stirring event was the Choir’s singing at the funeral services of former and beloved Choir President Wendell Smoot, who served seventeen years from 1984 to 2000.

Conductors: Mack Wilberg | Organist: Andrew Unsworth

“When In Our Music God Is Glorified”
Traditional
Lyrics:  Fred Pratt Green
Arrangement:  Emily Crocker

“All Beautiful the March of Days”
English Melody
Lyrics:  Frances Whitmarch Wile
Arrangement:  Mack Wilberg

Finale from Symphony No. 1 (organ solo)
Composer: Louis Vierne

“Where Love Is”
Composers & Lyricists:  Joanne Bushman Doxey & Marjorie Castleton Kjar
Arrangement: Sam Cardon

“Somewhere Out There” from An American Tale
Composers:  James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil
Lyrics:  James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil (Over the Rainbow by E. Y. Harburg)
Arrangement:  Michael Davis (with Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen)

 “The Whole Armor of God”
Composer:  K. Lee Scott
Lyrics:  Henry Child Carter from Scripture

Repertoire subject to change for production and timing reasons. This is the repertoire for the live broadcast. Repertoire may differ in markets where the broadcast is shown tape delayed. To listen to this repertoire, click here

"The Promise of Hope"

The beginning of a new year is a good time to remember that most darkness is temporary. No matter how bleak or dark things may seem at times, the long nights of winter gradually grow shorter, a new day eventually dawns, and with it comes a new beginning and new confidence. Hope is the flame that brightens the darkest nights.

During the dark days of World War II, a Jewish inmate in a Nazi concentration camp found a way to rekindle hope. It was the first night of Hanukkah (which, in most parts of the world, falls at the darkest time of the year). On this night, Jews traditionally light the first candle in their Menorah. Not having any provisions for such a celebration, the prisoner saved a scrap of bread from his meager meal and dipped it in grease from his dinner dish. After saying the appropriate prayer, he lit his makeshift candle.

His son said to him, “Father, that was food you burned. We have so little of it. Wouldn’t we have been better off eating it?” The father replied, “My son, people can live for a week without food, but they cannot live for one day without hope.”

Hope is so much more than positive thinking. It’s deeper than smiley faces and lofty words, although a sincere smile or an expression of faith can be a good start. But true hope is found deep in the hearts of those who love. It is expressed through meaningful work and worthwhile activity. It is manifested in service, sacrifice, and selflessness. It leads us to see ourselves—and others—as children of a loving Heavenly Father who, as the Psalmist said, can be to us a light that casts away fear.

Each new year, and each new day, can be filled with hope and possibility. When the night seems particularly dark, let us light a candle, even if only in our hearts, to the promise of hope.