Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir are on the road this week for a series of concerts on the East Coast. So far, the 2015 Atlantic Coast Tour has included stops in Bethesda, Maryland, and Bethel Woods and Saratoga Springs, New York. The 360-member choir and 65 musicians of the Orchestra at Temple Square are currently performing in two programs in Stern Auditorium on the Perelman Stage in the famous Carnegie Hall in New York City, including Wednesday and Thursday night shows, July 1–2.
Downloadable 1080 HD Mormon Tabernacle Choir 2015 Atlantic Coast Tour video for journalists
"We have been fans of the choir for our whole lives, and so to have them here at Carnegie Hall is very, very special," said Blair Garff, who chairs the events at Carnegie Hall. "We couldn’t ask for anything better."
"If you’re going to come to New York, Carnegie Hall is the number one place," Garff said. "The response of those who came last night was overwhelmingly positive. People left in tears. They said they hadn’t had an experience like that before."
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
The choir is no stranger to the Big Apple, having performed there six times before with the last time a decade ago in 2003.
Other stops this week include a Friday night pregame performance of patriotic songs from the field at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The choir will sing the national anthem for thousands of baseball fans before the start of the game between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.
It is no small feat for the choir, orchestra and staff to travel around the country. The performers, staff and equipment are being transported on three planes, 11 buses and six trucks. The singers have memorized more than 30 songs for two programs.
The choir wraps up its tour in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 6 with a performance in the Wang Theatre, a venue the choir and orchestra last visited in 2003.
For the past two decades, the choir has been hitting the road every two years. Since its first tour outside of Utah to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, the choir has toured extensively across the United States and overseas.
For more information on the tour, visit the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s website.