ATLANTA, Georgia — A Georgia state senator publicly recognized The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during a legislative session at the Georgia Capitol on Feb. 22.
Sen. Sonya Halpern from Atlanta recognized local Church leaders in attendance and announced the Tabernacle Choir’s concerts in Atlanta in September as part of its world tour “Hope.”
Halpern and four other senators co-sponsored a bipartisan Senate resolution commending the Tabernacle Choir and the Church for 95 years of “Music & the Spoken Word” and recent collaboration with the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs.
“For over a century, the Tabernacle Choir has resonated with audiences worldwide, giving voice to hopes, joys, trials and triumphs through their music,” Halpern said on the Senate floor. “With 360 talented members, they grace concert halls across the globe, from Australia and Europe to Asia and the Middle East. They have even performed at presidential inaugurations, World’s Fairs and expositions.
“This is a unique opportunity to experience their legendary performances right here in Georgia,” she continued, referring to the upcoming concerts. “So I urge all of you to go out and enjoy the Tabernacle Choir. Let’s celebrate the joy and the power of music.”
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra will perform at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College on Sept. 9 and at the State Farm Arena on Sept. 11. Concerts are free to the public though tickets are required.
Why the Senate resolution is significant
The Senate resolution honoring the Tabernacle Choir, titled SR 701 on the Georgia General Assembly’s website, praises the collaboration between the Tabernacle Choir and the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs for fostering “artistic collaboration, cultural exchange and mutual respect.”
Senators Jason Esteves, Emanuel Jones, Brandon Beach and Ben Watson co-sponsored the resolution with Halpern.
Elder M. Andrew Galt, Area Seventy, told the Church News why the resolution is significant: “I think it’s recognition that the Church is doing good in Georgia. We are known, but we’re not widely known, and sometimes what we’re known for isn’t what we want to be known for.
“When we can bring something together with music and do it together with our friends at Morehouse and Spelman, it’s a big deal. And I think it’s good for the community. It heals hearts. It brings people with diverse backgrounds together so that we can all love each other and love music.”
How the Senate resolution came to be
When the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs sang in Salt Lake City with the Tabernacle Choir for “Music & the Spoken Word” in October 2023, the performance was broadcast in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College.
Diana Hardy, Atlanta Georgia Stake communication director, attended the broadcast at Morehouse with her daughter. There she met Halpern, who also attended with her daughter. Hardy invited Halpern to the broadcast but had not previously met her in person.
“It was amazing because she and I got a chance to visit afterward without any interruption,” Hardy said. “She said she really enjoyed the program and was inspired by the message of unity.” Halpern was impressed the broadcast was in its 95th year and expressed interest in doing a resolution.
“It was her idea to do it, and she didn’t know at the time that the Tabernacle Choir was coming in September,” Hardy said.
Hardy told Halpern about plans for Latter-day Saints to do an open-house breakfast at the Georgia Capitol in February, and the two maintained contact over the next few months. The resolution fell into place as the open house happened the day after the Tabernacle Choir announced upcoming concerts in Georgia and Florida.
Elder Galt said of how the resolution came to be: “It was Diana being there at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at the right time to meet Senator Halpern. I love that story.”
See the Church News’ archive of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’ messages
Strengthening relationships with government officials
During the open-house breakfast at the Capitol on Feb. 22, elected officials had the opportunity to engage with local Church leaders from their districts and learn about various community-building activities around the state.
“There were a lot of senators and representatives that came through or sent people from their staff,” Elder Galt said. “Then stake presidents went around to offices and met dozens of our Georgia representatives. They were all friendly conversations. I think the thing that impressed the legislators is we weren’t there to ask for anything — we were there to offer help.”
Posters on display featured information about Church resources and programs including FamilySearch, JustServe, Relief Society, disaster recovery assistance, humanitarian partnerships and educational tools such as EnglishConnect and BYU-Pathway Worldwide.
