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PASAY, Philippines — The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square met the Filipino media in preparation for its main concerts to thousands of people at the Mall of Asia in the Philippines.
The choir has just two more performances in the Philippines, which is the second stop of the world tour. The last two performances will feature popular artists and will also include a social media influencer in hopes it will attract a younger crowd.
The Mall of Asia is the largest in the Philippines; it includes a 9,000-seat arena where popular artists from across the world travel to perform. Glimpses of signs and advertisements can be found all around the city of Pasay telling the local people that the choir is coming to town.
The choir has already performed two concerts in the Philippines, both of which were smaller and more private gatherings compared to what is coming.
Monday morning the choir held a press conference for the Filipino media to showcase the special guest artists who are Filipino. The two concerts will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
Lea Salonga
"I'm very excited for the coming two days," said acclaimed Broadway singer and actress Lea Salonga, who is featured as the main guest artist.
Salonga is also the singing voice of Disney princesses Jasmine and Mulan. She also performed with the choir in December 2022 for the choir's Christmas concert. She said it took seconds to decide that she wanted to be a part of the concert when the choir called and asked her to join them.
"I just remember feeling, 'Oh this is something I'm never ever going to forget,'" she said.
Other guest artists include Suzi Entrata-Abrera and her husband Paolo Abrera. The husband and wife duo, both TV personalities and news anchors, will act as narrators during the performances.
"It's such a great honor to be part of this event. Who doesn't know the Tabernacle Choir? And to receive an invitation from them and actually see them, to feel the energy the choir puts out is just a whole different experience," Paolo Abrera said.
Ysabelle Cuevas
To bring in the younger generation, the choir also invited popular social media influencer and singer Ysabelle Cuevas. She has garnered millions of followers on her YouTube channel.
"I am incredibly grateful and humbled to be invited to this," Cuevas told KSL-TV's Dan Rascon, who is in the Philippines covering the choir's concerts. "I know the choir is already global but reaching the younger audience is so important. We've seen how far the gospel can spread from just a click of a button," Cuevas said.
Choir president Michael Leavitt said this is an important step in appealing to all ages.
"The choir needs to be constantly expanding our audiences into new categories. A lot of our offerings have been focused on more mature audiences. We need to find ways of connecting with people who are younger and different musical tastes, but have a commonality with us in terms of things they value," Leavitt said.
"This is the start of something much bigger," Cuevas said.
