The Tabernacle Choir’s Invitation to Celebrate the 5,000th Week of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’

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By Christine Rappleye, Church News

On Sunday, July 13, will be the 5,000th week of continuous network broadcasting of the “Music & the Spoken Word” with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square.

To commemorate the milestone, Derrick Porter — executive producer, principal writer and presenter of the “Music & the Spoken Word” — is inviting those who have “had any special experiences or stories, or feelings of inspiration that has come as you’ve participated in” the show to email those to 5000@tabchoir.org.

These experiences will be used to help determine the theme of the “Spoken Word” message for that day, Porter said. Some of these experiences, with permission from the submitters, may be highlighted during the broadcast or shared in other media posts, he added.

The 5,000th weekly broadcast airs two days before the 96th anniversary of the first broadcast, which was on July 15, 1929.

For the first broadcast, one microphone for the choir and announcer was attached to the ceiling, with a long cable connecting it to KSL’s radio controller, located a city block away. Nineteen-year-old Ted Kimball, the son of organist Edward P. Kimball, climbed up a 15-foot-tall step ladder and announced each song that was sung by the choir.

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“For 96 years, ‘Music & the Spoken Word’ has been sharing music and messages of hope, peace and joy with the world,” Porter said. “The broadcast began just months before the Great Depression and has endured each week, uninterrupted, throughout other major world events including World War II; the fall of the Berlin Wall; the bombing of Pearl Harbor; the assassination of John F. Kennedy, who had spoken at the [Salt Lake] Tabernacle only weeks earlier; 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Each week’s music and message are written for the people of the earth and are developed in response to world events,” Porter told the Church News. “As such, we’re inviting any and all to share with us their stories and experiences, the impact that ‘Music & the Spoken Word’ has had in their life. We’d like to share some of these stories with our viewers across the world.”

Porter became the announcer for the show on June 25, 2024, after Lloyd Newell and his wife, Karmel, were called as mission leaders for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Porter said he’s heard many “incredible stories” about the impact of the “Music & the Spoken Word.”

“Most are very simple in nature but signify the deep spiritual impact that so many have had because of the music and at times the ‘Spoken Word’ message,” he said.

One experience that he shared was of a couple who had been married for many years and spent some of their last moments together watching the Sunday morning broadcast, as the husband died shortly thereafter.

“The theme that day was ‘everyday courage’ and this strong woman took heart in exercising everyday courage through this difficult time,” he said. “She was able to join us in the Conference Center a short while later for a live broadcast, and it was a special moment.”

This Sunday, March 23, marks the 4,984th week of the “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast.

How to Watch

The “Music & the Spoken Word” airs on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time and is broadcast on over 2,000 stations worldwide in more than 50 countries. It’s also available on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel and on a variety of social media outlets, with captions available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. The Spanish version — with Spanish-speaking narrators and other features — is on the El Coro del Tabernáculo YouTube channel.

There are 4 million to 5 million regular viewers on any given Sunday, with that number rising during special events, such as Easter and Christmas, according to information from the Tabernacle Choir.

Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.

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