SALT LAKE CITY — The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square released a new logo on Thursday, while the choir’s leaders said they are unsure when the coronavirus pandemic will allow the 360 singers to practice and perform together again.
They unveiled the new logo during a Zoom video news conference with reporters.
The logo includes the name of the choir and seven gold-colored organ pipes representing the famed organ in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, the choir’s home for 153 years. It also honors the choir’s 173-year history, said Ron Jarrett, president of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
The logo was designed with the choir’s digital strategy in mind. The choir’s social media accounts and website have been updated with the new look.
“The look is more relevant to our listeners and adapts to the changes in the media environment,” Jarrett said.
“The logo’s pipes rest on a firm foundation,” said Mack Wilberg, who is celebrating his 20th years as the choir’s music director.
The gold pipes update the look of the choir’s five previous logos, several of which have included black organ pipes. An animated version of the logo for broadcast and video shows the seven pipes descending to the foundation.
The seven pipes are biblically symbolic. The number seven in the Bible means whole or complete.
“It is the unification of sound,” Wilberg said. “It allows people to add their own feeling to it. The new digital efforts bring hope, joy and comfort. It has the power to touch people in digital space.”
The pandemic has disrupted the Tabernacle Choir’s rhythms.
The choir had performed every Sunday with few interruptions since July 15, 1929, in the radio and television broadcast “Music and the Spoken Word,” a nondenominational program that includes the choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, accompanied by the tabernacle organ and a short inspirational message.
In its 92nd year, it has been the longest-running continuous network broadcast in history, but the pandemic has precluded original broadcasts and choir practices for the past six weeks.
The pandemic also threatens to disrupt this summer’s choir tour scheduled to run June 25-July 14 with seven performances in five countries — Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Scotland. The choir began selling tickets before the pandemic spread widely.
“The choir continues to analyze the situation worldwide, and we hope to make an announcement as soon as we can,” choir spokesman Daniel Woodruff said.
The pandemic precluded the 360-member choir’s traditional appearance at the church’s international general conference earlier this month. Instead, the church broadcast contingency performances the choir recorded as the pandemic began to spread, as well as past recorded performances.
“It was quite unique,” Wilberg said. “It was different. I personally missed being there, but at the same time it was also great to not only experience those things we had recorded several weeks before but to see the wonderful musicians from as long as 20 years ago who were part of that. Some of the folks we saw have passed a way and others I had not seen for many, many years. So I would say it was just mixed emotions. In its own way, it was really quite wonderful.”
Jarrett announced the choir will release a new CD of music in May, with more details to come next week. The logo will be part of the packaging for the CD, he said.
The choir formed one month after pioneers reached the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 and gained international fame as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, a name it used for more than 100 years.
Choir members are volunteer ambassadors of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church President Russell M. Nelson announced in August 2018 that the church would no longer use the nickname “Mormon” but instead focus on the full name of the church.
The choir officially became The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in October 2018.
Work on the new logo began soon after, Jarrett said. The choir used two partners on the brand strategy, one an internal church team and the other Boncom (Bonneville Communications), a marketing and advertising agency in Salt Lake City. Boncom is part of Deseret Management Corp., which also owns the Deseret News.
The message in “Music and the Spoken Word” is broadcast in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.
“We are trying to expand that to more languages,” Jarrett said.
The choir has won a Grammy and an Emmy and has produced two platinum records and five gold records.
“Music and the Spoken Word” has been inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame.
The show has been carried on radio, television and cable networks across the United States and around the world. The choir also has a YouTube channel.
The Tabernacle Choir has continued to perform in the historic tabernacle at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, its home since 1867. It also performs in the Conference Center across the street. It has used both venues for broadcasts of “Music and the Spoken Word.”
Wilberg said auditions for the choir will begin in July and run through November. A new class of choir members will start their service in January. Choir membership is a church calling and members serve for 20 years.