Home for the Holidays: Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for over 100 years. Its weekly devotional program, Music & the Spoken Word, is one of the longest-running radio programs in the world, having aired on radio every week since July 15, 1929, and on television every week since October 1949. The choir was founded on August 22, 1847, shortly after the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. Prospective singers must be LDS Church members who are eligible for a temple recommend, be between 25 and 55 years of age at the start of choir service, and live within 100 miles (160 km) of Temple Square. The Tabernacle Choir is one of the most famous choirs in the world. It first performed for a U.S. president in 1911, and has performed at the inaugurations of presidents Lyndon B. Johnson (1965), Richard Nixon (1969), Ronald Reagan (1981), George H. W. Bush (1989), George W. Bush (2001), and Donald Trump (2017).