The Tabernacle Choir is so beloved,” says Brother Newell. “When you think of what went before, when you think of the history of the broadcast and how beloved this program is, you recognize that it’s part of the American culture. Brother Newell continues to serve as announcer, working closely with music director Craig Jessop and producer Ed Payne. Newell became only the third official announcer of the program. Brother Kinard served for 18 years, and in 1990 Lloyd D. Spencer Kinard was selected to be Elder Evans’s successor. Lee, then First Counselor in the First Presidency, at the April 1972 general conference. Evans didn’t just belong to this Church he belonged to the world, and they claimed him as such,” said President Harold B.
His final broadcast had aired just hours before. “After repeated attempts to convince him, we presented him a copy of the Book of Mormon and parted friends.”Įlder Evans’s tenure came to an end with his unexpected passing on a fall night in 1971. Evans were one and the same,” Brother Monson wrote in a letter to the choir. “We could not convince him that the church we represented and the church of Richard L. Monson of Ogden, Utah, was one of those elders.
Evans church,” one elderly gentleman told missionaries who knocked on his door. He became a household name, and some not of his faith claimed him as their spiritual leader. The voice of Brother Evans, who became Elder Evans with his calls to the Seventy and later the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, rang out for 41 years on Music and the Spoken Word. The broadcast, which started on NBC, was picked up by the CBS Radio Network, which still carries it today. Music and the Spoken Word was set in motion.
The starting time cue was telegraphed in from New York City, and the broadcast was a success. He stayed on his perch for the entire broadcast. Kimball, climbed the ladder to announce the songs. Nineteen-year-old Ted Kimball, son of Tabernacle organist Edward P. A single microphone was strung from the ceiling, and a tall ladder was placed beneath it. On a Monday afternoon the choir gathered in the Tabernacle under the direction of Anthony Lund. The scene was somewhat different from the highly technical and frenzied pace of today’s broadcasts. Brother Glade convinced the choir, and the first broadcast aired on 15 July 1929 to 30 stations. It struck him that an emerging technology-network radio signals-could be used for a musical broadcast featuring the Tabernacle Choir and organ. Glade, founder and manager of what would become Salt Lake City radio station KSL. The broadcast began in the late 1920s with an idea that came to Earl J. As the oldest continuously running network broadcast in the world, it has been a constant and stable force for good for the millions who have tuned in each week during the last three-quarters of a century. In July, Music and the Spoken Word has been doing so for 75 years. “The purpose of this broadcast is to give comfort, to give peace,” says Brother Newell. It was calming, soothing, and otherworldly. Twenty-seven minutes and fifty-six seconds exactly, and all the audience heard was beautiful music and inspiring words. Newell, and technicians quickly address it. There is a microphone problem on announcer Lloyd D. As the choir sings, continuous chatter on an audio system travels among groups, and somehow individuals hear the messages meant for them: “Standby on five” “Ten seconds short” “Light on Lloyd.” Producers busily keep pace with the music. sharp it is time to go live, and the pace becomes frenetic. The rehearsal concludes, and they have 30 minutes to make last-minute tweaks. The choir, soloists, and announcer perform the entire program from beginning to end. A pair of producers time each note and every word. the dress rehearsal begins, and the buzz turns to intensity as all players practice their parts in unison. Producers, directors, stage managers, sound technicians, engineers, and assistants are all taking their posts in the Tabernacle and the Conference Center.Īt 8:30 A.M.
It is 7:15 A.M., and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has arrived for rehearsal. Within 45 minutes the morning calm turns to bustle, 360 voices strong. Clinks and clangs begin to echo through the building as workers prepare for the weekly live broadcast and recording of Music and the Spoken Word. The Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square is quiet and empty as bleary-eyed camera operators arrive to set up. Mountain shadows stretch long across the valley. The midsummer sky turns pink with the rising sun.