Harmony in Atlanta: Tabernacle Choir Reunites with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs 

The Morehouse and Spelman College Glee Clubs welcomed The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for a special concert at the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel on the Morehouse campus in Atlanta on Monday, September 9, 2024. 

This concert marked the second time that the Choir and the glee clubs have come together in celebration of the power and joy of music. In October 2023, the Choir hosted the glee clubs in Salt Lake City, where the groups performed on the Choir’s weekly broadcast of “Music & the Spoken Word.” 

“This friendship just gets stronger, and you could see it today,” said Choir President Michael O. Leavitt. “When the Spelman Glee Club came [into the auditorium], there was this sense of spontaneous applause among the sisters who were in the Choir. And you could see that was the result of bonding that occurred when they were together.” 

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Henry Goodgame, vice president for external relations and alumni engagement at Morehouse College, sang in the glee club during his time at Morehouse and listened to the Tabernacle Choir growing up as a child.

“This was a day I only dreamed of actually happening,” Goodgame said. “It’s one of those things you will never, ever forget in your life.”

For Goodgame, the three choirs were able to extend their reach by performing together.

“We wrapped our arms around a troubled world, and we extended to this community and to all communities an olive branch,” he said. “Music is a healer.”

Leslie Darcus of the Tabernacle Choir said she was excited for the opportunity to reunite with the glee clubs because she attended one of the U.S.’s historically Black colleges and universities.

“We’re doing what we love together, which is singing, using music to share our testimonies of God and to sing praises to Him,” Darcus said. “And it’s just a great experience to be able to come here to Morehouse and Spelman and do what we did just last October with them.”

Simone Moales, a senior at Spellman College and member of the glee club, said she felt their time in Utah last year was too brief. She was ready to spend more time with her friends from The Tabernacle Choir.

“We were all so sad when we had to leave, but we’re going to make the most of our memories together and really make sure that the sound we share is both meaningful and impactful for our audiences and for our guests,” Moales said. “We’re singing songs of hope together, understanding that with hope we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and with hope we can share in this love, not only of our country, but of the person standing to the left and the person standing to the right.”

Elijah Gatling of the Morehouse College Glee Club said participating in the “Songs of Hope” tour was meaningful and personal.

“I believe that hope is the message that we must all spread to each other, whether you are religious or not,” Gatling said. “That is what will keep us and what will help us as a human race to further ourselves. It is hope that brings us joy. It is hope that brings us peace. It is hope that keeps us going, so that is why I sing the message of hope.”

The Choir and glee clubs performed six songs together. One of those, “Songs for the People,” had its world premiere during the performance. The music was composed by Kevin Johnson (Spelman College Glee Club Music Director) and arranged by Mack Wilberg (director of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.) 

“This is our message for the world. This text, you know, written by abolitionists, is why we do music, why our songs are for the people,” said Johnson. “That’s probably the most powerful thing from this particular concert this year — this collaboration, the gift of ‘Songs for the People,’ for other choirs to use.” 

“The message of the poetry is quite strong,” added Wilberg, “and it really does reflect the message of hope and things being better in the future.” 

In April 2023, Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Georgia, honored President Russell M. Nelson with the first Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize. 

President Nelson began building bridges with the NAACP in 2018 with a joint call for greater civility and racial harmony in society. 

Now, on President Nelson’s 100th birthday, the choirs sang together as another link in this growing friendship. 

Lawrence E. Carter Sr., founding dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel presented President Nelson with the Peace Prize. He attended Monday’s concert. 

“Tonight, I drew inspiration from the diversity of that stage,” Dr. Carter said. “And like the scripture says, [upon] which President Nelson has built his ministry and also Joseph Smith Jr., Black and white, Jew and Gentile, men and women. This text affirms that God is coming from a place of love. No scorecard, not judgmental, unconditional and all conditional forgiveness and mercy. If the Christians can come from that place, we will all be Latter-day Saints.” 

Those in attendance were welcomed by Thurl Bailey, an ambassador for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. The opening prayer was offered by Dr. Carter. 

Alex Melecio, who narrated the Choir’s performance in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday, September 8, was joined by Preston Darger, Jalyn de Moors, and Landry Townsend as narrators for this concert. 

The Morehouse College Glee Club and the Spelman College Glee Club will also perform as the Choir’s special guests at the State Farm Arena concert in Atlanta on September 11. 

Enjoy the full performance here.

About the Choirs

The Morehouse College Glee Club is the premier singing organization of Morehouse College, traveling all over the world and demonstrating excellence not only in choral performance but also in discipline, dedication and brotherhood for more than 100 years.

The historic Spelman College Glee Club has maintained a reputation for choral excellence since 1924. Generations of young women, including those majoring and minoring in music and those focusing on other areas of study, have given their time, talent and energy to this elite group embedded within the Spelman sisterhood.

For more than a century, The Tabernacle Choir has given voice to the hopes, joys, trials and triumphs of people around the world.

This 360-member chorus of men and women, all volunteers, has performed at World’s Fairs and expositions, at inaugurations of U.S. presidents, in acclaimed concert halls from Australia and Europe to Asia and the Middle East, on television broadcasts, and now on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. The Choir has even been referred to as “America’s Choir,” as a result of their high standard of popular choral music.

With their incomparable voices and their shared faith in God, they are a significant presence in the world of music, giving service through song. The Tabernacle Choir is dedicated to the universal language of music that has the power to bring joy, peace and healing to its listeners.