The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will conduct its 2009 American central states tour from 18 June through 29 June 2009. The tour will consist of seven concerts, with performances in Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Norman, Oklahoma; and Denver, Colorado. Sixty-five members of the Orchestra at Temple Square will accompany the 360-voice choir on tour.
“Every week we have thousands of visitors from all over the world who come to experience the choir in person,” says Mack Wilberg, music director of the choir. “Touring gives us the chance to share this experience with new audiences across the world. It’s a great privilege and a highlight for choir and orchestra members to perform for audiences in live concerts.”
Music performed on the summer tour will draw from the choir’s extensive repertoire and will include choral masterworks, hymns, spirituals, and folk songs. The concert program will also feature selections from the Choir’s spring 2009 CD release titled Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
First on the tour will be a performance with the Cincinnati Pops at the Riverbend Music Center just outside of Cincinnati, with Erich Kunzel and Mack Wilberg sharing conducting duties. The choir will join the Pops as part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Riverbend Music Center, giving a very rare repeat performance after rave reviews by the audience at Riverbend just two years ago.
The choir and orchestra will also perform at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on 20 June; the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on 22 June; the Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha on 23 June; the Sprint Center in Kansas City on 25 June; the Lloyd Noble Center at the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman on 27 June; and the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver on 29 June.
Since its first tour outside of Utah in 1893, the choir has toured extensively across the United States and abroad. It has performed throughout Europe and in music capitals from Israel and Russia to Japan and Australia. Its travels have also included performances at the inaugurations of six U.S. presidents.
The all-volunteer, 360-voice choir, accompanied frequently by the similarly all-volunteer orchestra, can also be heard weekly as part of the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast. This 30-minute program is the world’s longest continuously running network broadcast, now in its 80th year. It currently airs on over 2,000 radio, TV, cable and satellite stations worldwide.
Tickets for the 2009 concerts will be on sale at all concert venues by 1 December 2008, through various online ticket agencies, over the phone and also online at www.mormontabernaclechoir.org.
Information on the venues and ticket sales on each of the tour stops is attached. For more information and additional media resources, please visit www.mormontabernaclechoir.org and click on “Newsroom.”