Tabernacle Choir
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir, acting as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for over 100 years.[3] The Tabernacle houses an organ, consisting of 11,623 pipes,[4] which usually accompanies the choir.
This article is about the choir in Salt Lake City, Utah. For the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, see Brooklyn Tabernacle.
The Tabernacle Choir
at Temple Square
The choir was founded on August 22, 1847, twenty-nine days after the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. Prospective singers must be church members who are eligible for a temple recommend, between 25 and 55 years of age at the start of choir service, and live within 100 miles (160 km) of Temple Square.
The choir is one of the most famous in the world.[5][6] It first performed for a U.S. president in 1911, and has performed at the inaugurations of presidents Lyndon B. Johnson (1965), Richard Nixon (1969), Ronald Reagan (1981), George H. W. Bush (1989), George W. Bush (2001), and Donald Trump (2017).[7] The choir's weekly devotional program, Music & the Spoken Word, is one of the longest-running radio programs in the world, and has aired every week since July 15, 1929.[8]