Tabernacle Choir in Temple Square and St. Olaf’s Choir cancel joint plans

COVID-19 continues to disrupt the Tabernacle Choir in Temple Square in 2022.

The Tabernacle Choir had planned to host 75 guests for its weekly “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast on January 23 in Salt Lake City.

The famous St. Olaf Choir from St. Olaf College in Minnesota was to join the Tabernacle Choir that day. This was to be the second performance of the St. Olaf Choir on a national tour.

St. Olaf had sold tickets for its first performance on January 22 at the First Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City.

All of those plans are being canceled at this time due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in Utah, according to a press release from St. Olaf’s:

In partnership with the First Presbyterian Church Salt Lake City and the Tabernacle Choir in Temple Square, the upcoming St. Olaf Choir appearances in Utah have been canceled due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in the state . This includes the concert at the First Presbyterian Church on January 22 and a guest appearance with the Tabernacle Choir during their Music & the Spoken Word performance on Sunday January 23. We hope to postpone these two events later this spring. Buyers of First Presbyterian concert tickets may request a refund or keep their tickets, which will remain valid for a postponed concert. St. Olaf continues to monitor COVID-19 across the country and work with our local sites to assess our plans for 2022 tours.

The Tabernacle Choir has resumed its activities in recent months.

He resumed live broadcasts of “Music and the Spoken Word” on October 24, 2021, more than 19 months after the choir closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The retransmissions of the Palais des Congrès were not open to the general public.

He also recorded a Christmas special in December to be broadcast next year. But the Tabernacle Choir aired an encore performance of “Music and The Spoken Word” on Sunday due to COVID-19, according to the choir’s website.

The two choirs have taken steps to resume their activities during the pandemic.

The fully vaccinated St. Olaf choir had previously planned to wear masks throughout its performance at the First Presbyterian, and members of the public were to be required to wear masks.

All members of the Tabernacle Choir and the Temple Square Orchestra must also be vaccinated in order to perform. They also pass COVID-19 tests before each workout and performance.

The St. Olaf Choir bills itself as America’s premier a cappella choir, and critics have called it the gold standard and among the best in the country. The choir is made up of full-time undergraduate students at St. Olaf College, a four-year liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America in Northfield, Minnesota.

The conductor, Anton Armstrong, is an institution in his 32nd year of teaching and conducting the choir. He is the fourth conductor in the 110-year history of the choir.

“Hearing the St. Olaf Choir in concert is more than just a musical experience,” said Armstrong. “Our singers, who perform at the highest artistic level, convey a message of hope. Our music provides a bridge to what can unite us at a time when the world is so divided. We often hear spectators tell us that they are not only struck by the sound and uniformity of the Choir Saint-Olaf, but also by the seriousness of what emanates from the voices of our young singers. Our singers touch the hearts and souls of listeners, and our audiences emerge transformed.

Armstrong has led the group on several international tours and is no stranger to television. He and the choir won a regional Emmy in 2014 for the PBS TV show “Christmas in Norway with the St. Olaf Choir”.

The Utah performances were to kick off the St. Olaf Choir’s nationwide tour of 15 cities and 12 states.

Saint-Olaf Choir

The choir had prepared a variety of sacred and secular works for the tour, including pieces by living and traditional composers like Mack Wilberg of the Tabernacle Choir and Adolphus Hailstork, Felix Mendelssohn, JS Bach and the founder of the St. Olaf Choir, F Melius Christiansen.