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SALT LAKE CITY — When Mack Wilberg, music director of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, planned the 90th anniversary celebration of “Music and the Spoken Word,” he wanted the focus to not necessarily be on the history of the program, but more so on what it has become.
Because, well, it’d be hard to encapsulate nine decades of programming in just 60 minutes.
“Instead of making it too historical, it's mainly just reinforcing what the program is today,” Wilberg said. “And so, most of the musical performances and most of the comments will come from the last couple of years.”
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s anniversary prerecorded special, "Music for a Summer Evening: Celebrating 90 Years of Broadcasting," will air Saturday at 7 p.m.
The program will be streamed at TheTabernacleChoir.org, on the choir’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, and on the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' website.
BYUtv will also air the special, which replaces the choir’s annual July concert, Sunday at 5 p.m.
The first airing of “Music and Spoken Word,” way back on July 15, 1929, didn’t exactly look like a program that would go on to become a landmark in broadcast history. A radio crew ran a wire from its control room nearly a block away to an amplifier in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. The station’s only microphone was arranged on a ladder where 19-year-old Ted Kimball, the son of the Tabernacle organist, stood and introduced the music.
It wasn’t flashy, but it was the start of a journey that has seen “Music and the Spoken Word” go from a long-running radio program to a long-running television program to now; and with the help of the internet, it's also become a program seen by millions in every corner of the globe.
“It's meant to reach people of many backgrounds and many faiths,” Wilberg said. “And I think that something that we want to continue to build upon: to bring some light into the world, which, as we know, is quite needed.”
Bishop Gerald Causse, presiding bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said music can overcome all language barriers — and that's been seen with high viewer totals coming from non-English countries like Chile and the Philippines.
“Music is an international language — sacred music, in particular,” Bishop Causse said. “When the choir sings, there is no language anymore. There are no borders. Music is a way for the church to reach out to all the world, all people, and communicate with them from the heart.”
Tabernacle Choir historian Heidi Swinton’s voice grew slightly somber as she began to list all the tragic events that have occurred since “Music and the Spoken Word” began: the Great Depression, World War II, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the Challenger disaster, 9/11. These were moments in time where many, Swinton said, needed something or someone to lift them up. She specifically recalled the broadcast shortly after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 as a pinnacle moment for the program.
“All of those things have called for someone to say lift us up, take us from where we feel this pain to something higher,” Swinton said. “And I think that's what the choir does so well. It is a message of Jesus Christ and of his ability to encircle us with the arms of his love, and it comes from the music of all of these people.”
With the nation and world in a state of unrest over social injustice issues and a continuing pandemic, that message, Wilberg said, is once again needed.
“I think that it's more important than ever,” he said. “I think the best is yet to come in bringing joy and comfort to the world.”
The 90th anniversary celebration broadcast will feature selected performances by the choir and orchestra, as well as performances from guest artists who have appeared with the choir. Swinton said creators pulled from mostly the last 20 years, saying it was a way to celebrate those who helped build the program into what it is today.
Pondering on the past is humbling to Wilberg, who has been choir director since 2008. There have been so many people that have helped shape the choir, the music, the messages, and the broadcasts that he feels a great sense of responsibility to honor them and build upon what they did.
“We always say: 'We stand on the shoulders of the many who have come before us,’” Wilberg said. “The challenge is to try to keep it fresh and still relevant. That is the challenge, but that's a great challenge.”
Editor's Note: Deseret Digital Media, Inc., the operator of KSL.com, is a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
