Mormon Tabernacle Choir

I was in Salt Lake City for a national meeting of the American Chemical Society. Now while I love chemistry, the best moments of my visit were musical. On Sunday March 22, 2009, I heard The Mormon Tabernacle Choir as part of the 4149th broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word.

What a great moment! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang with a spiritual power that transcended religion.

• The late President Ronald Reagan called them America’s Choir.
• Since July 15, 1929 each broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word has begun with the words, “From the crossroads of the West, we welcome you to a program of inspirational music and the spoken word.“
• The general public is welcome in the Mormon Tabernacle as the choir performs for the broadcast, and the Purple Wren and I were two of them.
• You can get an impression of the choir by listening on YouTube, for example, to Consider the Lilies.

You can also hear broadcasts of Music & the Spoken Word around Des Moines too.

In the metro, early risers are in luck. KCOB in Newton (95.9 FM and 1280 AM) broadcasts the half hour program at 7:00 am on Sundays. The closest Iowa stations are

• Atlantic KJAN (1220 kHz on your AM radio) at 10 am on Sundays
• Cedar Rapids WMT (600 kHz on your AM radio) at 10 pm on Sundays
• Newton KCOB (1280 kHz on your AM radio or 95.9 MHz on your FM radio) at 7:02 am on Sundays
• Oskaloosa at William Penn KIGC (88.7 MHz on your FM radio) at 9 am on Sundays
• or you can find the others from Bonneville Communications

I know that I heard hundreds of radio broadcasts as a child because my father loved the music. I saw a few more broadcasts on black and white television. So when I walked into the tabernacle for the first time in 2009, it all looked very familiar. It should. The Tabernacle has been there (of course remodeled some) since 1867. The Tabernacle is known for its acoustics, but I was unprepared for the power and quality of music – an organ with 11,000 pipes; 360 disciplined, well-rehearsed voices (They rehearse or perform on 180 days/year). It was quite a thrill. If you are in Salt Lake City on a Sunday, don’t miss it.

Find a local Church of Latter Day Saints.

photos by Jim Lindberg

James is James G. Lindberg (Jim) is the Purple Wren’s sweetie and is a visiting chemistry professor at Grinnell College and retired from Drake University.
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