SALT LAKE CITY — The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was honored yesterday as a Laureate of the Mother Teresa Award for “edifying the world through inspirational choral performances and recordings.”
“This is the only choir I know that has touched the entire world with its beauty,” said Dan Paulos, director of the St. Bernadette Institute of Sacred Art, which gives out the award. “There are a lot of choirs out there, but none so remarkable. It’s a gift of God and it should be shared with the world.”
The Choir was presented with the award by The Very Reverend Joseph Mayo, Rector of the Cathedral of the Madeline, after the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast. Mac Christensen, president of the choir, and Craig Jessop, music director, accepted the award on behalf of the choir.
The Mother Teresa Awards were created to honor those who beautify the world through their unique gifts and talents. The award is a statuette of a modernized Mother Teresa, and was created by R.S. Owens Company of Chicago, who produces the Oscars for the Academy Awards.
Other Laureates of the Mother Teresa Award include Pope John Paul II, Maya Angelou, Andrea Bocelli, President Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel and others.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir originated in the mid-19th century as the first pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Since then, the choir has become world-renowned through its many recordings, tours and weekly TV and radio broadcast, Music and the Spoken Word, the longest-running continuous network radio broadcast in the world.