[4] The choir was founded on August 22, 1847, shortly after the Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley.
By 1950, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square performed numerous concerts each year and had released its first long-playing recording.
During the 1950s, the choir made its first tour of Europe and earned a Grammy Award for its recording of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
[12] Several award-winning popular artists have reflected on the beauty of the choir's music publicly, including Bryn Terfel,[13] Gladys Knight (of Gladys Knight & the Pips),[14] Sting (of The Police),[15][16] James Taylor,[17] Ric Ocasek (of The Cars),[18] and The Osmonds.
The following are some of its key points: The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square has performed for ten presidents of the United States beginning with William Howard Taft.
[44] The choir performs an annual Christmas concert in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City during the month of December.
Typically, the concert series consists of a Wednesday dress rehearsal, Saturday afternoon recording session and three performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings followed with a shortened version of the concert on Sunday morning in the weekly Music and the Spoken Word broadcast.
[45] A live album (CD/DVD) is typically released, along with the concert being aired on PBS and BYUtv, during December of the following year.
Past guest artists have included: The choir holds a yearly summer concert in mid-late July as part of Utah's Pioneer Day celebrations.
[74][75] Richard Elliott, Andrew Unsworth, Linda Margetts, Brian Mathias, and Joseph Peeples are the current organists.
Kimball remained at the post for only 11 months, when he was replaced by Richard L. Evans, who continued in that capacity until his death in 1971.
[79] The 320-person choir is the largest act to chart on the Billboard Hot 100—their version of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" reached No.