Concert for ‘Hope’: Lea Salonga, Tabernacle Choir wow Filipinos with praise, inspirational songs
ACCLAIMED Broadway singer and actress Lea Salonga and the equally world-renowned Utah, Usa-based Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square wowed the full-house capacity audience at SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena with their praise and inspirational songs on February 27.
The concert was the second time for Salonga singing as the featured artist of the Choir. The first was in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the “Season of Light: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square” in December 2022.
Meanwhile, it was the first time the 400-strong Choir and Orchestra performed in the Philippines. The concert was part of its four-year world tour of “Hope.”
“It’s like God absolutely exists. When you hear this kind of [music]. when you experience it...it gets to a part of you that you can’t always explain,” salonga described the Choir’s spiritual music in reply to Businessmirror during the interview with print media at a hotel in Pasay City on February 26.
The concert’s repertoire of 18 songs— including Alleluia from Psalm 150, The Spirit of God, Sephardic Wedding Song and a Nigerian Carol—were greeted with roaring applause, especially Salonga’s rendition of “Hahanapin Ko,” about Filipinos who left home to work abroad, and “The Story Goes On, from Broadway musical Baby,” about an expectant mother excited to have a baby.
The Choir’s singing “Bahay Kubo” with Salonga made the audience explode with lauder applause and cheers.
Another Filipino singer-songwriter who was featured in the concert, Ysabelle Cuevas, sang“if You Believe”with Filipino youth.
The Filipino song, “Hawak Kamay,” with the message of faith, was sang with Filipino youth as narrators.
The Choir’s Philippine concert tour on February 27 and 28 was under the direction of Mack Wilberg, music director of the Choir, and Ryan Murphy, associate music director.
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra also performed before business owners, CEOS and government officials at a hotel in Taguig City on February 23, and at the University of Santo Tomas on February 25.
The all-volunteer Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square serve as musical ambassadors for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt was part of the concert tour to the country.
A former three-time governor of Utah state, from 1993-2003, Leavitt later worked at the Environmental Protection Agency and then as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
TV personalities and news anchors. husband and wife Paolo Abrera and Suzie Entrata-abrera acted as narrators during the performances.
Besides the live performances, the concert will later be streamed online.
The speakers urged the public to listen to the Tabernacle Choir music online. “But don’t just listen with your ears, concentrate on what you feel. Thats the beauty of music; we hear it and we feel it,” Leavitt said.
Bucket list
A MULTIPLE awarded actor and singer renowned worldwide, and best known for her Tony Award–winning role in Miss Saigon, Salonga said that when she was invited to join the Choir as part of its Philippine tour she immediately said “yes.”
She said that after working and having a great experience with the Choir and its music director Wilberg in 2022, “it was memorable not only from the musical standpoint but I remember feeling this is something that I will never ever gonna forget.”
“I don’t know if there are many artists who have had the opportunity to work more than one time with the Choir. So this is a big bonus to be able to do it again. And to be able to do it in my home country is very very special .... I think the warmth of the people will definitely be felt by everyone,” she added during the news conference on February 26.
Salonga reiterated that the music the Choir produces “really gets into the heart .... There is a reason why the choir is so renowned globally.”
She explained that these factors placed the Choir on the bucket list of her manager for her to even get the first invitation.
“And then it happened [in 2022]. So the second one coming so soon after the first. ya we’ll definitely do that,”she added.
Time, patience gives excellent result
SALONGA explained that working with the Tabernacle Choir and Wilberg confirms that in order to get an amazing result, “one really have to put in time, and really put in the work.
“Nothing is instantaneous. Things do take time, and there are some things that take more time than others”she pointed out
She added:“it requires patience, not just general patience, but patience with one’s self to constantly remind oneself that this is a process. Let’s not try to make it done with breakneck speed. Let’s take time to have an excellent result.”
Salonga explained that many people “see the end without knowing the time put in it.”
“People are asking, ‘Why do you cost this much?’ It’s because of how many hours and how much hard work it takes to create that,” pointed out Salonga, who produced excellent work, for which she won the prestigious Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World Awards in the field of musical theatre.
Emmy and Grammy winner
THE Choir that was formed 177 years ago is one of the world’s most recognized and admired choirs, Leavitt said. A diverse group of people; who emigrated to US, formed the choir.
The Emmy and Grammy award-winning Choir earned worldwide acclaim for its signature sound It has also earned five gold and two platinum records in the United States.
Since its first tour to Chicago in 1893, it has traveled and performed extensively across the United States and abroad. The Choir has also performed at the inaugurations of seven US presidents.
Leavitt, who heads the Choir with his wife Jacalyn, said its mission is “to help people feel a sense of peace, healing and a sense of hope.”
He said the 400 plus Choir singers and Orchestra members “are devoted people” who are united in their faith and love of music.
They give 750,000 hours of volunteer service in their performances when they leave their jobs and families.
860,000 plus Filipino members
In choosing where the Choir will perform in its four-year “Hope” world tour, Leavitt explained that The Church of Jesus Christ chooses populations where there is a combination of concentration of its members, with an interest in the Choir and where the performance of the Choir “will bring a sense of peace, a sense of healing, and in some way spark the feeling we all have of having a bit of divinity in us.”
The Philippines, with more than 860,000 The Church of Jesus Christ members, makes it qualify as the tour’s venue.
Leavitt confirmed this: “It is very clear that we needed to be in the Philippines for all of those reasons, And we felt we are drawn here because we knew it is a place, where we would find friendship; we would find a sense of purpose.”
‘Helped her faith grow’
FOR her part, Cuevas said she grew up watching the Tabernacle Choir, which “helped her faith grow.”
On the Tabernacle’s invitation for her to perform at its Manila tour, she said: “There was no words [to describe her feelings]. I was screaming in my head.”
She added that her experience was only on Youtube filming in her bedroom.
“I know it [Tabernacle guest singing] will gonna change my life,” she said.
She added she has to get over the fear of performing before a big crowd, and let the Holy Spirit take its course, just be purposeful and enjoy the moment.
Cuevas’s original song “Daunted,” released through Warner Music Philippines, marked milestone in her career, with fans across East Asia and North America.
She has gained world acclaim for her covers, winning music contests and earning features in major publications. Her adept translations of Korean songs into Filipino and English demonstrate her unique ability to merge diverse musical traditions and appeal to a global audience.
Filipino choir members
LEADING the Choir for 25 years, Wilberg said he completely supports the concept of Choir singers coming from throughout the world.
He said two participants from the Philippines were with the Choir a year ago, and participated in the February Manila concert.
“It was so great to see them. Our global participants bring special spirit to what we do. and special enthusiasm. I think that catches on to the entire choir,” he said.
There are three other Choir members who have Filipino backgrounds.
At the same time, he said they want the Choir music to be relevant, especially to the youth, the “future listeners.”
He explained that they have“something for everyone,” with classical, folk, youth oriented. with a mix of sacred, secular and spiritual.
He explained that the disciplined and hard working Choir members are not amateur but are highly skilled, and give great sacrifice of time and their family. They have no physical reward, but with joy and love in their hearts, and produce a magnificent wall of sound.
“As one has said, it was more than a concert but more of an experience,” Wilberg said.