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MANILA, Philippines — There was celebration, music and dancing as the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square arrived in the Philippines to kick off the second segment of its "Hope" world tour.
It was clear by its arrival to drummers, dancers and fans that the Filipino people really love the choir. The weekly broadcast of "Music & the Spoken Word" has one of the highest viewerships, internationally, in the Philippines.
This is the first time the choir has been to the Philippines. Some choir members arrived late Wednesday night Filipino time, which is 15 hours ahead of Salt Lake City.
The country has more than 865,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The more than 500 choir and orchestra members and support staff will perform four concerts, two at the Mall of Asia arena, which holds 9,000 people. The free 18,000 tickets for those concerts sold out in just three hours.
The choir is in the Philippines for a nine-day stay as part of its world tour. Over the next four years, the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square will travel at least once a year for shorter periods to a new country.
"We are using a different method now. We call it anchor and radiate. We go to a large city and anchor there and perform multiple times, and then use technology to stream our programs throughout an entire region," said Mike Leavitt, president of the choir, to KSL-TV as the choir prepared for the trip.
In June 2023 the choir started its world tour by going to Mexico City, Mexico. Leavitt said it was an incredible and inspirational visit for the people of Mexico as the choir performed before thousands, and also streamed the concert across the world.
"We moved the needle in Mexico. It was a profound success, and we anticipate the Philippines will be the same," he said.
Choir members say they are excited to be able to inspire and uplift and bring hope to the Filipino people through the power of their music.
"I'm excited to go to the Philippines because these humble people are so excited to hear us sing and feel the spirit and that excites me," said a choir member.
News Specialist Dan Rascon is in the Philippines following the choir and will share reports on KSL-TV and his social media sites.
