More than 2,000 people of various faiths gathered on March 20, 2016, in the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City to participate in the 14th annual Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable Musical Tribute.
Representatives from the Muslim, Jewish and Native American faith traditions opened the tribute with prayer devotions.
Elder John C. Pingree Jr. of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints welcomed the group to the Tabernacle.
Father Elias Koucos of the Greek Orthodox Church offered the invocation.
Reverend Caryl Marsh of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of Saint Mark explained the history and significance of Palm Sunday in the Christian tradition.
The tribute, themed “Voices of Faith: Sacred Prayers and Traditions,” featured eight faith-based groups that performed music and dances sacred to their religious communities, including:
The Utah Pipe Band, a Presbyterian tradition;
Idlewild Quartet, earth-based religion;
A Hindu dance troupe;
Desert Wind, a Jewish quartet;
The Ogden Taiko Drummers, Ogden Buddhist Temple;
The Youth Whirling Dervishes, Pacifica Institute;
Utah Valley University LDS Institute of Religion Concert Choir;
A Cambodian Buddhist Dance Troupe;
and the Rwandan Burundi Drum group.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could take the peaceful feeling from this concert and share it in every city in America?” asked emcee Carole Mikita of KSL Television.
The benediction was given by Imam Muhammed Shoayb Mehtar of the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake, followed by the audience singing “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”
The tribute originated the Sunday before the 2002 Olympic Winter Games as a time of prayerful reflection for religious leaders and others preparing to welcome the world to Salt Lake City. It returns every spring near the anniversary of the Games and is the signature event of Interfaith Month in Utah, which celebrates the legacy and spirit of global harmony and understanding inspired by the Olympics.