Choir Name Change and General Conference

On October 2, Tuesday, Liana called me to tell me she thought she might need to get her appendix removed. She was feeling pain and they ran some tests at her clinic because of consistent pain she was feeling. I ran over, we ran an additional test and it was confirmed. She needed to remove her appendix.

I texted the choir staff to let them know I would be missing rehearsal and why.

In choir, we have rehearsals that are called "mandatory rehearsals." These rehearsals are mandatory for you to attend in order to participate in an upcoming event. They are essential. If you are unable to attend a "mandatory rehearsal" then you are not eligible or guaranteed an opportunity to participate. There are mandatory rehearsals for everything. Even for the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast. The mandatory rehearsal for the broadcast is every Thursday evening the week before. If you don't attend that rehearsal, then you don't sing on Sunday morning.

General Conference is a busy time because everyone wants to attend that particular event but now I was ineligible.

Fortunately, Liana's appendix was removed on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and she was home by the next afternoon. She was doing well. By Thursday night she encouraged me to go to choir rehearsal even though I lost eligibility.

I went to rehearsal and was still able to participate. I am extremely grateful.

What's in a name?

The next day, the church released a statement announcing the new name for the choir. The choir was no longer to be called, "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir" but would not be officially known as, "The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square." The name matched those of our sister organizations, The Orchestra at Temple Square and The Bells at Temple Square. Social media was buzzing and I received a lot of messages and comments about the name change. Some humorous, some puzzling, some annoyed, etc. What I found even more amazing was how much press the name change garnered. For example, this is from Billboard's website:

Billboard website reported on the name change as well as other news outlets.

For me, the name change made me feel sad. The history, the experiences, the legacy of the choir I had grown up listening to and loving seemed like it was being replaced. I felt a void. The images of the choir from album covers, books, magazines and so forth all carry the name, "Mormon Tabernacle Choir." So to see that replaced with a less familiar name seemed almost disrespectful to those who came before us. A name they were proud to carry (and a name I was proud to carry) was now something we needed to avoid.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the Kirtland Temple. October 1911.

It wasn't until General Conference that I felt a comfort in the name change. President Nelson explained the need of the church to focus on identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ and not the nickname that was, at one time, derogatory towards the saints.

I also learned that the choir's original name was "The Tabernacle Choir" anyway. In fact, Brother Enke, in my ward, only knows the choir as, "The Tabernacle Choir" because that is what it was called when he was a boy. The "Mormon" insertion came later but he always referred to the choir as, "The Tabernacle Choir" whenever I spoke to him before so it is of no change to him.

The rumor mill told me that the word "Mormon" was inserted by Ruben J. Clark when the choir recorded music for a United States film project. Rumor says that he insisted they put "Mormon" in the name of the film to help others identify the choir as there were many Tabernacle Choirs already in existence. There still are various Tabernacle Choirs that exist. From there, the name stuck. Whether this is true or not is still uncertain but for decades the name, "Mormon Tabernacle Choir" was a trademarked name that became world famous.

The Deseret News reported the following about the history of the choir name.

The choir has had multiple names in its 171-year history, historians say. It began three weeks after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 and soon established itself in a bowery on Temple Square. It became the Tabernacle Choir in 1867, when the Salt Lake Tabernacle was completed. No other designator was necessary."The church was very parochial then," Jarrett said. "It was just right here in Salt Lake City."As the church grew and spread and new tabernacles were built in other Utah cities like Provo and Brigham City, the name necessarily became the Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir by 1869."Mormon was added at some point," Jarrett said, "and it was the Salt Lake Mormon Tabernacle Choir," to help identify it for audiences outside Utah. "Then Salt Lake dropped off and it became the Mormon Tabernacle Choir," a term more consistently used beginning in 1929 with the launch of the choir's weekly radio program "Music and the Spoken Word."

Upon reflection on the name change, I do have to say that I feel very blessed to have had the chance to be a member of the "Mormon Tabernacle Choir" and to now be a member of "The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square." In fact, choir members right now are the last class of #MOTAB as we transition now to be called #TabChoir or #TCATS. (I'm personally not a fan of TCATS but it is what it is.)

I listen to the older albums and think about those choir members going about their lives not knowing that decades later, I would be listening to them as a new member of the choir. I'm sure the same will be done in the future with recordings we now make with a future choir member.

I do want to say how grateful I am to those who came before me. I'm grateful for the work they performed and the sacrifices they made for the choir to grow to prominence the way it has. I'm also grateful for a living prophet who understands that change is needed to progress and grow.

I was able to participate in all the sessions of General Conference where the choir sang.

General Conference

Witnessing General Conference from the choir loft is a unique experience. I have participated in 10 General Conferences since joining the choir and I continue to be amazed by how unique the experience is every time.

The Conference Center was full for all three of the sessions. I think much of the excitement stems from all of the announcements and changes happening in the church. The church announced an adjusted Sunday meeting schedule. Instead of the three-hour block (three hours of church on Sunday), we would change to only two hours of Sunday church. This change will be in effect beginning in January. This change is meant to support worship at home as families. 12 new temples were also announced.

The choir sang two interesting songs during the Sunday morning session: "His Voice As The Sound" and "It Is Well With My Soul." During rehearsal, Mack said he was surprised when he learned President Nelson wanted that particular song to be sung before his talk. I was shocked too when I saw it. It's not really an LDS hymnbook piece but it is beautiful.  Both songs, I noticed, fit nicely with the messages shared by President Nelson during that session.




In my short time, I have witnessed the first general conference talks given in different languages, temple announcements (including a Temple in my mission area), changes in leadership, changes in policy, etc. What I know for a fact, in witnessing all these changes, is that the church is a dynamic entity. It moves forward, it adjusts, it progresses in helping the people move closer to Christ. It is remarkable to have a seat to watch it all unfold.

I walked above ground after the sessions and watched the different groups of people on Temple Square, etc. So many members of the church. People who believe what I believe. It reminded me of what it was like to be a missionary, a lone missionary, in a foreign land where the church is still in its infancy. In those parts, the church is still 1830. The work moves on. Truly a marvelous work.