The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will perform a free concert at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 11, alongside the glee clubs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges.
The concert is the third stop in Georgia in the choir's "Hope" tour, meant to bring diversity and harmony to the world through unity through music.
"There's nothing like music to unify and bring people together if it's used in the right way," said Tabernacle Choir Music Director Mack Wilbert at a Tuesday press conference.
The three choirs previously performed at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel on the Morehouse campus on Monday, Sept. 9.
The collaboration between the Utah-based world-renowned choir and the glee clubs of two of Georgia's most prominent HBCUs began in October 2023 when the Spelman and Morehouse clubs came to Salt Lake City to perform with the choir for a weekend.
"That was a remarkable experience, I think, for everyone," Wilberg said. "We've been looking forward to coming to Atlanta and continuing that relationship, and last evening's concert and the upcoming concert certainly met our expectations."
The tour hopes to inspire unity across cultures through music in a time of heightened division throughout the country, as Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discussed.
"Statistics show that this is among the most divided of times in the United States in the country's history, and this is not political; it's not even related to the election, although that exacerbates it," he said.
"This what we see here is a powerful force that can ameliorate that," Elder Corbitt said of the unity of the three choirs. "That can send a spirit of peace and unity that's apolitical throughout the nation, and I feel it doing that. A mighty oak starts with an acorn; this is beyond an acorn; it's growing. I feel a power of unity, sisterhood and brotherhood that maybe the country hasn't seen for a long time growing out of this collaboration."
Morehouse College Glee Club Director Dr. David Morrow, expressed that unity is possible in "whatever way you can make it."
He hopes that the long-term effects of the tour and three-choir performances can show how unity in music can create an opportunity for it beyond music.
"[Unity] is possible in music. We do this all the time; we do everybody's music, and everybody does everybody's music," he said. "We just need to let people see that you can create unity with music, with people who are different, and then translate that into other avenues and other things that they can do."
Spelman and Morehouse students have spent the summer and past few weeks rehearsing for the year's first performance for both glee clubs.
Nathaniel Cangé is a sophomore Morehouse student and the glee club's public relations manager. He recalls the "exhilarating" experience of performing with the choirs.
"I wasn't able to go to Salt Lake last year, so this was my moment," Cangé said. "At first, it was excitement, but then it grew into appreciation because performing with the Tabernacle Choir and seeing everybody living in their music and having their music live through them and be conveyed to a larger audience was beautiful. The experience is something that I definitely want to be able to have again."
Spelman Glee Club co-public relations manager and junior student Ava Challenger explained that though she is a little introverted, the experience has allowed her to learn more about people and have people learn about her.
"There was a quote they said at the concert last night talking about reuniting the broken body of Christ, and I thought that was so moving," she said. "It's an amazing way to put into perspective the unity we're trying to express through these concerts. Seeing these different choirs of different demographics and backgrounds being able to come together and sing with one voice and make one sound has been a beautiful experience."
"I think that making music is probably the No. 1 way that you can reunite."
The Tabernacle Choir joins Spelman and Morehouse for a performance at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday morning as part of a ceremony commemorating 9/11.
State Farm Arena opens its doors to the public at 6 p.m. for the concert and final performance between the choir and collegiate glee clubs, which will start around 7 p.m.
