The Tabernacle Choir Celebrates 5,000 Episodes of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’

On Sunday, July 13, 2025, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s iconic “Music & the Spoken Word” program marked a historic milestone, airing its 5,000th episode from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. This unprecedented achievement underscores the weekly program’s enduring legacy and its profound global impact.

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The show is the world’s longest continuously running network broadcast. More than 6 million people in over 50 countries tune in via radio, television, and online streaming each week.

“‘Music & the Spoken Word’ knows no boundaries in this great world with multiple races and nationalities,” said President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “‘Music & the Spoken Word’ is a global resource. Music is the universal language of the Spirit. Music communicates to the heart and soul of individuals in a way that written words cannot duplicate.”

The program’s universal appeal extends across faiths and cultures. Rabbi Jarrod R. Grover, Senior Rabbi of Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto, is just one witness to the power of the show’s nondenominational message of hope and peace.

“When the media landscape is filled with shows that are negative and critical and news that is depressing and stressful, ‘Music & the Spoken Word’ is a rare exception that provides half an hour of music and message that is totally positive and affirming and hopeful,” said Rabbi Grover, who watched the 5,000th episode in person thanks to an invite from Derrick Porter, the program’s presenter.

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Rabbi Grover wrote Porter in March after the latter invited viewers to share their experiences with the show. The rabbi, who has watched the program for the past three years after being introduced to it by missionaries, thought he would never see “Music & the Spoken Word” in person because of his busy schedule and because of the proximity of the Church’s general conferences to Passover and the High Holy Days of the fall.

 Porter’s response, inviting the rabbi to Salt Lake City, came on Easter Sunday.

“[That is] the day of miracles,” Rabbi Grover said. “I literally fell off my chair. I feel like God directed me to be here with you this weekend because I did not ever think that this would happen.”

Rabbi Grover’s visit had other miracles attached to it. He was invited to sing with the Choir during a rehearsal on Thursday, July 10. And after Sunday’s broadcast, he attended the homecoming address for one of the missionaries he became closest to in Toronto.

“This is just miracle after miracle after miracle that’s happened to me to make this weekend extraordinary, and I’m deeply grateful to the Church for the hospitality,” Rabbi Grover said.

Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt echoed President Nelson’s comment about the universality of music, noting that the work of the Choir is for “billions of people who speak hundreds of languages, who seek truth and who seek peace and who have the same human need for a sense of healing that ‘Music and the Spoken Word’ so skillfully and so uniquely provides.”

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Perry Sook, joint board chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters, said the 5,000th episode of “Music and the Spoken Word” represents more than longevity and international reach.

“It represents unwavering excellence, a commitment to public service and the enduring power of faith and music to unite us all,” Sook said.

A Storied History

Heidi Swinton, who spent 20 years as a Choir volunteer, said the program has helped the United States and the world weather many storms through the years, from the Great Depression to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[The Choir] can be a voice that says, ‘We can do this. We can get through this,’” Swinton said. “Ronald Reagan called it ‘America’s Choir,’ and I think it’s because of its longevity, because since the beginning of radio, the Choir has been out there in front heralding the good things that happen and the hard things that happened and saying, ‘Lock arms and we’ll get through this.’”

The weekly program first aired on July 15, 1929.

“I remember the first broadcast of ‘Music & the Spoken Word,’” said 101-year-old Warna Huff. “It was something you don’t forget.”

Huff was five at the time and still watches the program every week.

“It just makes you feel good,” she said. “It just makes you feel something that you need. The music’s beautiful.”

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The 100-year-old President Nelson also has early memories of the program.

“I cannot remember life without ‘Music & the Spoken Word,’” the prophet said. “I was born in 1924, and the first broadcast of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’ was on July 15, 1929. I can remember, as a little boy, listening to Sunday broadcasts.”

The 5,000th episode coincides with another notable milestone: Choir Director Mack Wilberg is now in his 26th year with the Choir and his 17th as director.

“I always feel that we stand on the shoulders of the thousands who have come before us, who have made it possible for us to still be doing this wonderful broadcast every week,” Wilberg said. “Our hope is that we can continue to bring joy, hope and peace to the world.”

J. Spencer Kinard and Lloyd Newell, two of the four voices in the history of “Music & the Spoken Word,” are among those who came before.

Kinard spent nearly 32 years associated with The Tabernacle Choir. He was only 31 in 1972 when then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley asked him to audition to replace the recently deceased Elder Richard L. Evans as the new voice of “Music & the Spoken Word.” Kinard served almost 19 years in that capacity, followed by 11 years hosting in a non-broadcast role where he spoke to the audience before and after rehearsals and Sunday broadcasts.

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Kinard recalled significant moments, including live broadcasts from the inaugurations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush and a program featuring Johnny Cash at the base of the Washington Monument for the U.S. Bicentennial. Kinard also enjoyed tours to Japan, Scandinavia, Germany, and England.

However, he said what truly resonated with him was the audience’s reaction, with people often in tears, expressing how the music or message positively impacted their lives.

“[When] someone comes up to you afterwards with tears in their eyes that the song or the message or something affected their life for good that day — those were the moments you remembered most,” Kinard said. “To be associated with anything that’s 90 years old and still be alive is quite remarkable. And to be associated with anything as iconic as The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square is quite a remarkable opportunity in one’s life.”

Like Kinard, Newell said he has often been the recipient of viewers’ gratitude for the program.

“I spent years in broadcasting, and when I did the news, no one ever came up to me after a news broadcast and said, ‘Your newscast really touched my heart.’ I never heard that,” said Newell, who narrated the program for nearly 35 years. “But with ‘Music & the Spoken Word,’ all of us associated with it — the singers, the conductors, all of us — would say we get to hear that all the time.”

Newell became the voice of “Music & the Spoken Word” in 1990 at age 34. He is a key figure in the program’s enduring legacy. He never missed a broadcast, participating in 1,800 live programs (some 36% of the 5,000 episodes).

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Newell calls the program a “trusted friend” and something “constant and reliable” in a world full of change.

“The world is so topsy-turvy, and there’s so much tumult and difficulty,” Newell said. “From wars, including world war, economic upheaval, ups and downs, the Great Depression, difficulties of one kind and another over the years, there’s this familiar anchor, this trusted friend, where week in and week out people can find ‘Music & the Spoken Word.’”

Newell said the program’s value became especially clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of the global crisis, there were no new broadcasts of “Music & the Spoken Word” for four months. For the next 18 months, Newell and a small crew recorded new spoken word segments that were inserted into existing broadcasts featuring music from previous programs.

“It gave us a chance to talk to people around the world about the pandemic and about what we’re collectively going through,” Newell said. “That was an important opportunity for us as a broadcast, even in some sense the Church, to be able to talk about universal principles, about getting through hard things, about community, the value of family, the value of connection, about looking out for one another and enduring through hard times.”

The deep roots of “Music & the Spoken Word” extend through the generations of its performers as well. For example, violinist Jane Clark in the Orchestra at Temple Square comes from a family with five consecutive generations involved with the Choir.

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“It’s kind of all we’ve ever known,” Clark said, explaining that she grew up practically in the Salt Lake Tabernacle because her mother was a Choir member for over 26 years. This upbringing fostered “a love for the Choir, for being in that historic [place], a love for music and for serving, and it means a lot.”

Clark shared a special moment from the program’s 75th anniversary, where she and her mother shared the stage.

“I thought, ‘I’m on stage with my mom for the first time ever.’ So that had a lot of meaning,” Clark said.

The 5,000th Episode

Derrick Porter became the fourth-ever voice of “Music & the Spoken Word” last year. In Sunday’s 5,000th episode, titled “5,000 Weeks of Inspiration,” Porter focused on the program’s enduring mission to inspire feelings of peace, hope, and a deeper connection to the divine over nearly a century. He highlighted how the broadcast consistently stirs something deep within listeners through music and simple messages, providing strength to continue forward.

His message was primarily shaped by over 1,000 inspirational stories submitted by viewers and listeners worldwide, illustrating how “God really is in the details of our lives.” A central story shared was that of Caden Simpson’s father, who found profound peace and a sense of God’s presence through the Choir’s music during his son’s battle with cancer.

Sunday’s musical selections were “The Morning Breaks” (performed during the first broadcast in 1929), “When in Our Music God is Glorified,” an improvisation on “Hymn to Joy” by organist Richard Elliott, “Pilgrim Song,” “Consider the Lillies” and “High on the Mountain Top.”

“As we mark this 5,000th broadcast,” Porter said, “we give thanks to God for His enduring grace. With hope and faith, we look to the future, trusting His hand will guide us still.”

In a separate interview, Porter noted that the program’s staying power over the decades is rooted in its relevance to the moment.

“Every week, the music and the messages are put together in response to what’s happening in the world,” Porter said. “There’s an element of music, there’s an element of the spoken word, [and] there is a great element of the Spirit that comes together to deliver feelings of hope and peace and joy to all who listen.”

Though the program’s reach is wide and expanding, Porter said the goal is not popularity, views, or clicks.

“It’s about going deep into the hearts of the people who are looking for peace and solace in a world that’s busy,” Porter said. “‘Music and the Spoken Word’ seeks to fill a void that’s in the world. And that void is a regular, recurring voice saying, ‘It’s going to be OK.’”