RACE, RELIGION + SOCIAL JUSTICE
Choir announces three pilot programs to help reach more people
Nov 18, 2022, 6:30 PM | Updated: Jan 4, 2023, 2:45 pm
FILE: The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square will play a previously recorded episode this Sunday instead of its usual live taping. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square announced Thursday changes it is making to spread its music throughout the world. Additionally, it is changing its mission, and implementing pilot programs to help reach a greater number of people.
President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Russell M. Nelson visited with the choir earlier this week. He shared what his vision is for the Choir.
“The Church will continue to grow. It will fill the world. It will continue to bless more and more nations, tongues and people,” said President Nelson to the Choir. “The Lord is hastening his work in the promised global gathering of Israel. You can be sure that the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra and Bells at Temple Square will be a pivotal part of that era.”
To help with the choir’s increased mission worldwide, the Choir Presidency announced an addition to its mission statement. The words “throughout the world” have been added to the current mission of the Choir.
The updated mission statement reads: “The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square performs music that inspires people throughout the world to draw closer to the divine and feel God’s love for his children.”
Pilot programs
Additionally, the Choir Presidency announced three pilot programs directed at reaching more people around the world.
The first of these is making the Music and the Spoken Word available to more individuals. This will be done by providing the weekly program in Spanish and Portuguese. These programs will start sometime in 2023.
Secondly, the choir will have shorter, but more frequent travel assignments. According to a news release, the choir has traveled every two years in the past. Moving forward, the Choir will travel annually, but for a shorter period of time.
The Choir will travel to Mexico City in June 2023 to test this change in travel assignments.
Lastly, plans are being made to allow qualified members of the church outside of the United States to audition for an opportunity to perform with the choir during General Conference next April. Those performers will come from areas such as Mexico, Central America, South America, West Africa, the Philippines and Asia.
Bonneville International Corporation, the company that owns KSL NewsRadio, is a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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