5,000 episodes: The power and reach of ‘Music & the Spoken Word’

Rabbi Jarrod Grover could never have imagined that a visit to the Latter-day Saint meetinghouse across the street from his synagogue in Toronto, Canada, would one day lead him to Salt Lake City to witness a major milestone for the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square — 5,000 episodes of the “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast.

His initial visit to the church three years ago was part of an interfaith community outreach effort. But as Grover met with two missionaries, their discussion shifted more to faith. They invited the rabbi to church the following Sunday.

During that service on Mother’s Day 2022, Grover immediately hit it off with Tyson Taylor, a missionary from Centerville, Utah, who unbeknownst to the rabbi was dealing with a bout of homesickness.

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When the congregation began to sing the hymn “Love At Home,” Grover was taken aback.

He had lost his mother at a young age, something that was especially weighing on his mind that Mother’s Day, and Taylor, the homesick missionary next to him, was singing with an earnestness that touched his heart.

That hymn, in fact, was one Taylor’s mom would often point her children to, whether it was to smooth out a fight between siblings or provide comfort following the passing of a loved one.

Richard P. Condie directs The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during its birthday celebration in Mexico on Sunday, Aug. 27, 1972. They sang at the Area General Conference for Mexico and Central America in the National Auditorium in Mexico City, Mexico, Aug. 25-27, 1972. The choir performed “Music & the Spoken Word” and also a concert on Monday, Aug. 28, 1972. | Deseret News

“The song was the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard,” Grover told the Deseret News backstage at the Conference Center during the choir’s Thursday night rehearsal, with Taylor once again by his side.

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The returned missionary was overcome with emotion as Grover shared the story, reflecting on the power the two had found in that hymn that Sunday morning.

“I asked myself after the church service that day,” Grover continued, “‘Are all the hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this gorgeous?’”

That question soon led him to the Tabernacle Choir and “Music & the Spoken Word.”

And he got his answer.

“I’ve been hooked ever since,” he said, noting that he has regularly listened to the program for three years. “I would say it’s one of the best parts of my week. This broadcast fills up my tank every week.”

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A few months ago, “Music & the Spoken Word” presenter Derrick Porter invited listeners to reach out and share their feelings about the long-running program that started a few months before the Great Depression and has remained a stable broadcast even through wars and a pandemic.

Sister Rios of Peru passes out "Music & the Spoken Word" programs prior to the morning session of the 195th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 6, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Grover didn’t hesitate.

“I bet you nobody would think that a rabbi in Canada is watching this broadcast as part of his ritual every week. I’m going to write an email and shock them,” he recalled thinking.

But it was Grover who got the bigger shock when he received an email from Porter on Easter Sunday, inviting him to Salt Lake City for the 5,000th episode on July 13.

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“I fell off my chair,” Grover said.

The rabbi’s email is just one of nearly 1,200 that came in from listeners throughout the world, Porter told the Deseret News, noting that he has read every single one.

Mack Wilberg, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square music director, Derrick Porter, “Music & the Spoken Word” executive producer and host, and Michael O. Leavitt, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square president, talk during a press conference about an upcoming milestone as "Music & the Spoken Word" prepares to air its 5,000th episode, at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 11, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

And while the listeners come from different walks of life, the stories all have a common thread, Porter said: “Because of a song, or at times, a message, someone’s heart was touched and it gave them a feeling, and that feeling translated into action, giving them the ability to go out and do something hard, or to endure to the end, or to carry on.”

I would say it’s one of the best parts of my week. This broadcast fills up my tank every week.

Rabbi Jarrod Grover

Now, these stories from listeners have helped to craft the choir’s milestone 5,000th episode on Sunday — a program that will honor the nearly 100-year history of “Music & the Spoken Word” while also looking forward to the next 5,000 episodes.

‘It never gets old’

Mack Wilberg, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square music director, smiles after an interview during a press conference about an upcoming milestone as "Music & the Spoken Word" prepares to air its 5,000th episode, at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 11, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Late Thursday afternoon, a few hours before the 360 members of the Tabernacle Choir would file into their seats at the Conference Center for their weekly rehearsal, Mack Wilberg was sitting backstage with a palpable excitement.

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“It never gets old,” he said with a wide smile.

Wilberg has been the choir’s music director since 2008, and was the associate director for the previous nine years, which puts his own involvement with “Music & the Spoken Word” at over 1,600 episodes.

He was here for the memorable broadcast that came just a few days after 9/11. He gets a little emotional as he reflects on the first live broadcast after the COVID pandemic kept the choir apart for 18 months. That program, he says, was a “red letter day” in his time as director.

During the unprecedented downtime the pandemic brought, Wilberg found himself watching and studying the rebroadcasted episodes of “Music & the Spoken Word” while their live performances were on hiatus. As he watched, he had what he described as a major aha moment.

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“The choir could communicate with the listener much better if the viewer could see their face, and particularly their eyes,” he said.

So coming out of the pandemic, he had a new directive for his choir members: Put away the music and sing everything from memory.

It’s not an easy feat — the choir sings anywhere from 300-400 pieces a year — but Wilberg believes it has been a significant step forward for “Music & the Spoken Word” and the choir at large.

For Leslie Darcas, who has been part of the choir for five years, the change reminds her of the purpose of a program like “Music & the Spoken Word.”

President Thomas S. Monson holds up a plaque given to him by Bonneville International after the 80th anniversary of The Tabernacle Choir's "Music & the Spoken Word" network broadcast on Sunday, July 19, 2009. | Michael Brandy

“It’s really not about the notes on the paper — it’s about the message, it’s about the spirit. It’s about really finding a way to share your testimony, as well as to feel closer to God,“ she told the Deseret News during Thursday night’s rehearsal.

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That was the purpose when “Music & the Spoken Word” made its premiere 96 years ago, and it continues to be the focus heading into the 5,000th episode, Porter said.

“It is simply about instilling and delivering feelings that come from God that then give people the power to go out and do the important things they need to do in their life,” said Porter, who marveled that he has been the host of “Music & the Spoken Word” for roughly 50 episodes, which makes up only 1% of the program’s history.

Sunday morning’s special broadcast will feature numbers that were a part of the very first “Spoken Word” broadcast on July 15, 1929, as well as some of the most referenced songs from listeners — drawing from a list that includes “God Be With You Till We Meet Again,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Consider the Lilies,” “It Is Well With My Soul” and “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” Porter said.

Wilberg will conclude the program with “High on the Mountaintop,” leading the choir with the original baton that then-conductor Anthon Lund used 96 years ago.

Lloyd Newell, Derrick Porter and President Michael O. Leavitt talk as they announce Porter as the new voice of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in Salt Lake City on Friday, June 14, 2024. Porter’s first "Music & the Spoken Word" broadcast was on Sunday, June 23, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

In addition to the regular broadcast, the choir is also putting on a pre-show and post-show to highlight stories from audiences throughout the world. Former members of the choir will also join the post-show to perform numbers that have carried so much meaning to listeners over the decades.

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Inspired in particular by a push from President Gordon B. Hinckley to be a choir that sings for people, Wilberg has dedicated himself week after week to arranging programs with a wide variety of music that can reach as many listeners as possible.

“What good is it if we have a great choir that no one wants to listen to?” he said.

The Tabernacle Choir: A dedicated group of volunteers

Wilberg’s enthusiasm has been a constant in the 13 years Kevin Gunnell has been with the choir.

“He brings that same energy every time, and that same commitment,” the choir member said during Thursday night’s rehearsal at the Conference Center. “There is never a down night or a down morning. It’s always the same dedication.”

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That was on display during Thursday’s rehearsal, as the director guided the choir through “It Is Well With My Soul.”

A lot goes through the choir members’ minds when they perform any given song — including getting the words right, looking at the audience and projecting their voices. But there are moments when the spirit of the song overpowers the logistics.

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square rehearses for "Music & the Spoken Word" and celebrates its 90th anniversary in Salt Lake City on Sunday, July 14, 2019. | Jeffrey D. Allred

For Darcas, that happens just about every time she sings “It Is Well With My Soul.”

“You just get hit with the message, with the Spirit, and it just takes over,” she said. “You don’t even remember singing the notes or the words. You just remember just being there and feeling everything in that moment.”

The hymn also happens to be a personal favorite for Rabbi Grover, who was able to join the choir in singing it during the rehearsal on the Conference Center stage. As he sang the hymn about finding peace even during times of great suffering, he observed a few members of the choir around him crying.

“I’m never going to forget this,” he told the Deseret News afterward, only somewhat joking that he’d be satisfied if his gravestone one day read, “Here lies Rabbi Grover, who once sang with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in July 2025.”

All of the choir members give up their Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings to bring “Music & the Spoken Word” to life — a volunteer effort that can extend up to 20 years.

“This is a church that teaches that giving is more important than receiving,” Grover said. “And when you have that attitude towards life, this is the masterpiece that you are able to create.”

‘Music & the Spoken Word’: A ‘recipe’ for success

The two-hour rehearsal Thursday night was open to the public, and several people entered the auditorium to watch just a small part of the effort that goes into putting “Music & the Spoken Word” together.

Michael O. Leavitt, president of the choir, said he often feels a sense of anticipation as he drives in for the program each Sunday, knowing he will soon be encompassed in a sound that has uplifted listeners for nearly a century.

“I’ve come to believe that there’s something quite heavenly about it,” Leavitt told the Deseret News backstage at the Conference Center. “I read the scriptures about concourses of angels singing, and it makes me wonder at times if there’s a wardrobe department, and who’s arranging all that music, and how that all works. But it must resemble what we do.”

Leavitt is in awe of the program’s longevity — a sustainability he believes comes from the power of the broadcast to blend songs and messages together in a way that carries personal relevance and meaning for listeners.

“It’s not just a name, it’s a recipe,” he said. “Music softens the heart and the spoken word inspires our thoughts.”

That basic format seems here to stay, but as the choir looks toward its next 5,000 episodes, Leavitt says there’s always room to evolve, including incorporating short-form content into their programming, and unlocking more language and time zone barriers.

It’s not just a name, it’s a recipe. Music softens the heart and the spoken word inspires our thoughts.

Tabernacle Choir president Michael O. Leavitt

Wilberg believes his predecessors would be “absolutely amazed” at the reach of “Music & the Spoken Word” today — even back in 1999, when he became the choir’s associate director, he couldn’t have imagined the program would reach roughly 6 million listeners weekly on all platforms.

Now, as he prepares to lead the choir in its 5000th broadcast of “Music & the Spoken Word,” he’s visibly excited.

But he’s just as excited for broadcast No. 5,001.

“Everybody’s here for a season, and you want to make the most of the season that you’re here,” he said. “You know that it’s going to move on ... and the tradition will continue. We only hope that it’ll just keep getting better and better.”