In February 2024, The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square continued its “Hope” world tour with concerts and events in the Philippines. This second stop on the multiyear, multination tour is the first for “Asia’s Pearl.”
This episode of the Church News podcast explores this musical expedition with choir leaders and members, special guest performers and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — including Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, choir President Michael O. Leavitt, choir musical director Mack Wilberg
Listen to this episode of the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, bookshelf PLUS, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
Michael O. Leavitt: This is a worldwide tour, and a primary objective of ours is to carry a message of hope in Jesus Christ. And I don’t know many countries around the world where that is a more important — or, may I add, more welcomed — message than the Philippines. The story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Philippines is a miracle. And I think what we came away from this experience understanding is that the miracle is just beginning. And having the capacity now for the choir to join in that miracle and help propel it into a new orbit so that people will look back and say, “That was a milestone on the history of a miracle in the Philippines.”
1:06
Sarah Jane Weaver: This is Sarah Jane Weaver, executive editor of the Church News, welcoming you to the Church News podcast. We are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In February of 2024, The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square continued their “Hope” world tour with concerts and events in the Philippines. This is the second stop on the multiyear, multination tour and the first time the historic choir has visited “Asia’s pearl.” Over the nine-day stay, 323 choir members and 60-plus orchestra members held four concerts, met with political and civic leaders, visited with members of the Filipino community and did exactly what they set out to do: They spread the hope made possible by the Savior of the world.
On this episode of the Church News podcast, we explore this musical expedition with choir leaders and members, special guests and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We begin this episode with words from Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaking on the power of music.
2:27
Elder Neil L. Andersen: Well, what an amazing, beautiful experience to be here, and to be here with the choir; but of course, more than anything, to be with these very humble yet very spiritual people of the Philippines. I loved being with them. It is something that they will not only be blessed by the choir, but the choir will be blessed by them. And that will bring out a music that is very, very special.
And the significance of having the choir here in the Philippines is almost as a new chapter for the Church. It is saying there are hundreds of thousands of members who want to see the choir, and there are tens of thousands who will come with the members to see the choir. And to transport this hundreds of people over here for this experience means the Church is coming of age. And what a blessing to see this new chapter emerging.
One of the beauties of this country is that almost everyone has faith, and they are not afraid to talk about it. Miracles are happening. You don’t even have to say it. Miracles are happening because the Lord’s hand is upon it. And amazingly, they have established a licensing agreement so we can use this through the next months. And this will be used to share the gospel, to let the people see the choir everywhere in the Philippines. And they love the choir’s music. It is not just a small segment who love the choir, it is a large segment. And music lets us know we have so much more in common than we have that divides us.
And though we realize the unique and special and true nature of the restored gospel, we can embrace all good people — and all of those, especially, who believe in Jesus Christ — but all good people. And in fact, music speaks to all of us. The choir brings to the Church a clarity of our faith in Jesus Christ. When they sing about Jesus Christ, no one in their right mind could say, “These people don’t believe in Jesus Christ.” They believe in Him totally and fully. That is very important. And they can feel the Spirit of the Lord, that comes from this beautiful choir. It will be a great, great blessing to our members here and to all the country.
5:19
Sarah Jane Weaver: Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt serves as president of the Tabernacle Choir, and he emphasizes that the choir’s mission is to convey a message of hope in Christ.
Michael O. Leavitt: This is a worldwide tour, and a primary objective of ours is to carry a message of hope in Jesus Christ. And I don’t know many countries around the world where that is a more important — or, may I add, more welcomed — message than the Philippines. This is a country that’s 97% Christian, and they’re willing to talk about it, and they want to talk about it. And I believe we reached them speaking a language that they understood; not just in the music, but I think those who planned the program took enough time to understand the cultural nuances that would speak to them. And it was a message that they resonated deeply with.
Our mission is to carry a message of hope in Christ. But it’s also to raise the profile of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And I believe we achieved that. We had remarkable interactions with leaders of their government, of their various faiths, of their cities, their towns, their communities and their people. We had a very wide conversation with essentially the whole country. And I think we developed very important relationships going forward. The leaders of the Church in Philippines met with the president. They were honored by the Philippines Senate — I might add, the first choir outside of Asia ever for that to occur. So we’ve been embraced, and we have communicated and had a dialogue that will be ongoing.
It’s important to say that this was not just a concert in Manila. This performance and the performances we did were done in a way as to reach literally every island. We had our major performance streamed to Church buildings, to theaters. There were more than a dozen communities, large communities, that put the concert up on big screens in their town square and then put search lights up so that people could see it for miles around and come to see the Tabernacle Choir. This was countrywide. This was a very deep reach into the culture and the population of the Philippines.
8:19
Well, it’s important to the choir long term that we cultivate new audiences. And one that we want to focus on are those who are younger, who have not known the Tabernacle Choir throughout their life. We need to perform for them in a way that speaks their language too, and they like hearing it from those who speak it the way they do. And there were parts of the performance done by young people speaking a message of belief. And they performed it so well. And when they came on the stage, the arena just lit up with excitement and with passion.
I suspect my reaction was like that of almost every choir member. We were just put back in our chairs with surprise. We expected a nice musical number. What we got was this passionate program from a couple hundred Filipino youth, and they were very good. They danced, they sang, they performed. And most of all, they welcomed us with their heart. Afterward, none of us wanted to leave. We all wanted to just have one big embrace. We were there to celebrate the same thing, and it was about the common feeling we have in our hearts for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for what that means for the future.
The story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Philippines is a miracle. 1961, there was one native member of the Church in all of Philippines. At that point, Gordon B. Hinckley brought four missionaries from the Hong Kong Mission to begin serving in Philippines. I became curious about those four, and I was able to find two of the four. And I had lovely conversations with them. I wanted them to know that we knew that we were going to the Philippines and we were going to build on their work. They told me that when they first began their work, they didn’t have literature that had been translated, they didn’t have the Book of Mormon that had been translated, they just started knocking on doors. One of them said, “We weren’t even sure where we were.”
But they succeeded. The Spirit led them to people who were prepared. And within a few months, there were 10. And then there were 20. When we came 63 years later, we arrived to a place where there’s 850,000 Latter-day Saints, with stakes and missions and temples. Sixty-three years; that’s a very short period of time. And I think what we came away from this experience understanding is that the miracle is just beginning. And having the capacity now for the choir to join in that miracle and help propel it into a new orbit so that another decade or two decades from now, people will look back and say, “That was a milestone on the history of a miracle in the Philippines.”
12:21
Sarah Jane Weaver: Tabernacle Choir music director Mack Wilberg shares the reception the choir received after traveling across the globe.
Mack Wilberg: Well, it’s been a real pleasure to be here in the Philippines and presenting four concerts in three different venues and three somewhat different programs. And I think that I could speak for everyone in saying that we’ve been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response and particularly the warmth we’ve felt from the great Filipino people. I have to say that the choir usually elicits very enthusiastic response from any audiences that we’ve performed for, whether it be in the United States or Europe. We had very enthusiastic audiences in Mexico last year. And while I was told to expect a very warm reception, so I was somewhat expecting that, but you still are not quite prepared for the warmth, really, and the beauty of the people in this beautiful country and culture.
And we were asked for some recommendations of what might be some possible Filipino music that we could sing. And we always like to do that somewhat as a surprise, as an encore. And of the things that were suggested, “Bahay Kubo” I thought was perhaps one that might be best for us to learn and to learn quickly. Luckily, I found that at least the pronunciation of the Tagalog wasn’t too complicated. And so, I set about doing an arrangement of it and wanted to include the audience in singing with the choir in the last section, and came to find out that this is probably as well known of a folk song as any here in the Philippines. And so the response has been really pleasing to see the response when we started to sing the song.
And it’s rare that we’re reunited with our guest artists. And so, when it was decided that we were coming to the Philippines, it just seemed like a perfect fit to invite Lea Salonga to join us. And we were grateful that her schedule allowed not only for her to be here, but her willingness to be here. And it’s just been a great time being with her again and reacquainting ourselves with each other and making music together. And the thing about Lea is she is such a wonderful, disciplined singer. She always delivers. It’s just — you never have to worry about Lea, her vocalism and her pitch center and all those sorts of things. So it’s very easy working with Lea. And we’re so grateful that she was able to join us.
We just really had very few rehearsals. But she’s always so well prepared, and we were well prepared. So it was really a pretty easy process of putting this all together. And I think that this is something that the members of the choir and the orchestra, the choir organization in general, we will remember this tour and these concerts in the Philippines for many, many years.
16:11
Sarah Jane Weaver: After first performing with the choir during their 2022 Christmas concert, Lea Salonga — Broadway singer and Disney legend — again joined the Tabernacle Choir during the Philippines 2024 “Hope” tour.
16:24
Lea Salonga: And it’s so great to have you in the Philippines.
It certainly was a very special experience, performing with the choir in December of 2022, to go to Salt Lake and to perform at Temple Square and to get to experience how wonderful even the folks behind the scenes of the choir, the music team, you know, and everyone that handles everything. And everybody was not just nice but very kind to us while we were over there. So I guess I knew that it was going to be something that I would not ever mind repeating; I just didn’t think the second invitation would come so soon.
I am hoping that every member of the choir and orchestra that have come to the Philippines will experience the warmth of the people, the hospitality, that everyone from the Philippines is known for, and that the time here, you know, will be a positive experience. It’s, you know, my country is known for its musicians and for music and for the high quality of performers that have come out of the country. So, hopefully that is something that is felt as well by the choir, that the appreciation for music is at a very high level.
Filipinos are very spiritual; not necessarily religious, per se, but definitely have a very strong faith and strong spirituality. So I think that it isn’t just something that the ears will appreciate. I mean, we appreciate music from the heart, and we all sing from the gut. That, I think, is a hallmark of a lot of Filipino singers, where it’s this otherworldly quality. And I’m hoping that the choir feels that when they work with other Filipino vocalists. I mean, there’s Ysabelle Cuevas is going to be performing as well, as well as there are Filipino, I think, members of the choir who are here. So there is that.
And the thing about music is there’s just something about music that, you know, the cerebral cannot always put into words. You know, like listening to a Beethoven symphony or even listening to, you know, secular pop music, there is something in the spirit — even if you don’t always acknowledge it — there is something in the spirit that is moved, something in your soul, whether the intent of the music is to, you know, rile you up and get you active about a particular cause, or to help calm you down, or to be, you know, an addition to prayer tradition. There is just — it’s almost like music is a beeline to the divine. And I think every person of faith recognizes that, which is why music is such a big part of many religious ceremonies and traditions.
19:27
Sarah Jane Weaver: A new member of the Tabernacle Choir and a Filipino native, Leo Marcelo, spoke of his experiences in the Philippines with the choir.
Suzi Entrata-Abrera: Mr. Leo Marcelo, where are you? Where are you?
19:45
Leo Marcelo: Yeah, with me being a new member of the choir and my first tour was the Philippines, that’s just amazing. Amazing. It’s funny because they’ve been teasing us that we’re going to Southeast Asia, but they never gave the real, like, they never finalized what the country is. But we were all hoping, the whole choir was hoping, it’s the Philippines. And when they finally officially announced it, that we would have our concerts in the Philippines, like, oh wow, it was amazing. It was a dream come true, for sure. And me being as a new member and the first tour that I’m going to is the Philippines, that’s just divine intervention across the board. It was awesome.
When I was invited in, you know, to stand up, because I’m the only Filipino member of the choir, it was surprising. I mean, we’re a group of people, no individuals there. So when that happened, I was very, very surprised. But I think it’s perfectly fine, because it is my country. And of course, we do have those two participants that joined us, Sundae [Mae Indino] and Ronald [Baa], I mean, we are so proud. We are so proud to be in the Philippines, bringing this magnificent choir in our country. It’s an honor.
Yeah, the music really bridges gaps with regards of what race, nationality, religion, anything; music is just a universal language. And the Filipinos are very musical people. I can tell that they felt the Spirit, you know, in union with everybody. And it was just amazing. Even after the encores, they started to sing again. They sang the “Bahay Kubo” again. We can feel the love. And, like Mack mentioned in the press conference, they’ve been to so many countries before; this is different. The warmth is just astronomical. It’s really great.
21:27
Sarah Jane Weaver: Eric Schetselaar, a choir member for 17 years, and Krista Paulson, a choir member for four years, also shared their experiences in the Philippines.
Eric Schetselaar: I loved it. I loved it. I could really feel the love of the people. And that’s one of the things that I always look for when we’re singing, is how we communicate with the audience. We want them to feel what we’re feeling. And I really felt that tonight. Music is an international language, and so anybody can relate to the music that we sang. So anybody can feel the Spirit, can feel the spirit of what we’re singing, even though they might not understand the words that we’re singing. They still can feel what we’re singing to them, just through the music itself. It’s an international language.
22:18
Krista Paulson: Oh, it’s just wonderful to be here, and I feel like my favorite thing about being here is the people. It’s like you just feel their love, and I just had so much fun singing tonight and trying to connect with the audience; and especially when we are singing the song that was in Tagalog, and I was noticing that some of the women were getting out their hankies and wiping their eyes, and it just made me feel like we made them feel what we were feeling as we sang. And that’s what’s so special, is that hopefully not only can they believe what we’re singing, but that they can feel that we know, that we feel, what we’re singing, so.
23:01
Sarah Jane Weaver: Amid cheers in the background, Philippine ambassador to the United States, Jose Manuel G. Romualdez, also talked about the choir.
Ambassador Jose Manuel G. Romualdez: Well, I think as you could see with the Filipinos here, they really loved it. So that, again, touches the heart of the Filipino that way, because as you said, we’re a people that love music, and the music that the Tabernacle Choir gave out today was just absolutely fantastic. And the Tabernacle Choir is one way to express that kind of a hope and certainly ambassadors of goodwill for the Church and perhaps even for your country.
23:59
Sarah Jane Weaver: Tabernacle Choir President Mike Leavitt was sitting next to the ambassador during the performance and experienced his excitement firsthand. After the performance, he then answered one of our favorite questions: What do you know now?
24:20
Michael O. Leavitt: So, I was sitting next to the ambassador from the Philippines to the United States, and I had some others on the side. And when it was over, he had told me that he had been a Tabernacle Choir fan for a long time. He heard a particular performance that caught his interest, and so he made the decision when he heard it announced that he was going to come. This was not just a product of outreach; he wanted to come. And then there was a lady sitting next to me who stood up, and when the applause had finally died down, she said to me, “This exceeded any expectation that I could have had. It was just beyond my description.”
And I see this every week, when people come from around the world, and they hear the Tabernacle Choir. They struggle for the words. And then, ultimately, they just do this, and basically they signal “I feel all filled up.” And it was on steroids last night, 10,000 people standing, singing. There were moments in the performance, for example, when the choir began a number where they were singing in various languages, and they were moving and singing and clapping their hands in rhythm. And there was just delight. And it was delightful. And then there were moments when Lea Salonga walked out — this is their native daughter — and when she spoke to them in their language, she just melted their hearts. And then when the youth came out, the same thing.
And then, at the end, the choir sang a song that is not just native to all of them, but a song that they all knew and loved and had sang as children, and 10,000 people sang it together in their language. That’s one of the things I think we have learned, about how we need to spend the time necessary to understand their culture enough that we can speak to them, as the scriptures say, “in [their] own language” (Doctrine and Covenants 90:11). This is the kind of thing that doesn’t just change them; it changes the choir. And we’re beginning to fully appreciate and understand our mission.
We just added the words “throughout the world” to our mission. We’ve always sung for the world, but we now have a mission to deliver a message to the world, to be supportive of a global church. And we’re getting better and better at it.
27:48
Sarah Jane Weaver: You have been listening to the Church News podcast. I’m your host, Church News executive editor Sarah Jane Weaver. I hope you have learned something today about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by peering with me through the Church News window. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast so it can be accessible to more people. And if you enjoyed the messages we shared today, please make sure you share the podcast with others. Thanks to our guests; my producer, KellieAnn Halvorsen; and others who make this podcast possible. Join us every week for a new episode. Find us on your favorite podcasting channels or with other news and updates on the Church on TheChurchNews.com.
