Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Address:Salt Lake City, Utah

The Salt Lake Tabernacle (also known as the Mormon Tabernacle) is a sight to both see and hear in Salt Lake City. The walls of the domed building ring with music and soar with the length of the antique organ. Located in Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, the building is located just west of Salt Lake City Temple. It is home to the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the historic and official choir of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

Completed in 1867 after 4 years of construction, Brigham Young, the early leader of the church, suggested that the Tabernacle's unusual design looks something like a hollowed-out eggshell cracked length-wise. Because of its extraordinary acoustics and historical significance, the Tabernacle was designated a national historic landmark and a national civil engineering landmark. It is so acoustically sensitive that a pin dropped at the pulpit can be clearly heard at the back of the hall 170 feet away.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir began in the mid-1800s on the American plains as the Mormon Pioneers trekked across the country to reach Salt Lake. One hundred and fifty years later, the songs and sounds of the Choir continue to delight people in the United States and the world over. The Choir is entirely volunteer-based, with 360 highly dedicated men and women ranging in age from 25 to 60, from many different backgrounds and professions, brought together by their love for song and their faith. Because the organization is world renowned and highly sought after, members often take time off from work, sometimes foregoing personal vacations, to go on tour. The Choir has appeared at 13 world's fairs and expositions, performed at the inaugurations of five U.S. presidents, and sung for numerous worldwide telecasts and special events.

Many of the Choir's rehearsals are free and open to the public. You can watch the live holiday telecasts from the Tabernacle, but be sure to arrive on time because you won't get in after the doors close. Weekly public rehearsals are held on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. Sunday rehearsals end with the broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word. During rehearsals you can come and go as you please, but all guests must be seated at 9:15 am for the 9:30 am broadcast of Music and The Spoken Word. In addition to rehearsals, there are also free, daily 30-minute recitals on the world-famous 11,623-pipe Tabernacle Organ. The organ and its pipes has been rebuilt and enlarged several times in its 135-year history. The original casework and some of Ridges' pipes remain in the organ.

Ronald Reagan dubbed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir "America's Choir" in 1981 when it performed at his inauguration. The name remained because it embodies the purpose of the Choir, which is to reach out to the entire world. Its music has a universal message for people of every faith and culture.