The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will be singing at Donald J. Trump’s presidential inauguration. Yes, that Donald J. Trump. The one that not too long ago, The Deseret News (the news organization owned by the church) was disavowing.

Our choir is singing at his inauguration.  Does it matter?


Think of it—six decades without an interruption of singing as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
-President Gordon B. Hinckley

A Word of Benediction, October 1989, General Conference

We are thrilled with its continued prosperity. People still love the music—it’s a vibrant force for good in the world today.

-Scott Barrick, MoTab General Manager

Choir Honored for Broadcast 4,000 of Music and The Spoken Word, September 2006, Liahona

Since the Tabernacle Choir performs an important missionary service

-Richard P. Condie, MoTab Director

I Have a Question, April 1974, Ensign

The Tabernacle Choir, identified by the name of this building, has been a voice of the Church for many years,
-President Boyd K. Packer

The Spirit of the Tabernacle, April 2007, General Conference

I realize that there are members of the Church who do not understand that the Choir has a specific mission to the world, nor do they comprehend the enormous good the Choir does out there for the reputation of the Church. The Choir works under the direct supervision of the First Presidency, and our repertoire and daily operations keep pace with that direction.”

-Jerold D. Ottley, MoTab director

The Tabernacle Choir–Beyond the “Crossroads of the West” by Renon Klossner Hulet, September 1989, Ensign

As an ambassador for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this unique musical organization transcends cultural and generational boundaries, uniting people worldwide through music.

-Mormon Newsroom

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Inducted Into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, 27 February 2015

They of this choir are a part, a segment, of this remarkable thing which the world calls “Mormonism” and which we call the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

Mormon Should Mean “More Good,” October 1990, General Conference

…when people were asked what they thought of when they heard the word Mormon, answers included the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Salt Lake City…

News of the Church, December 1993, Ensign

The choir is often called the “greatest missionary tool of the Church.” Brother Ottley would agree for he sees the choir’s major role as being “an ambassador for the Church on all fronts—both within the Church and outside the Church. Our primary responsibility is not to the internal church, however. It is to the external world.

We are a missionary arm of the Church. While we don’t make a big fuss about our missionary work, it is missionary work nonetheless…”

-Janet Peterson

The Tabernacle Choir: 300 Testimonies in Harmony, August 1986, Liahona

All choir and orchestra members have been set apart as “music missionaries”; they represent the Church wherever they go.

Small and Simple Things, June 2012, Ensign


If you do not want the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to represent you, your Church, or your Church leadership at Donald J. Trump’s presidential inauguration, please call the public affairs department at 801-240-1000

or contact the Tabernacle at 801-240-4150 

or email suggestions@ldschurch.org.


Leah Marie earned a BA in Political Science, and a Masters in Public Administration. She is currently working towards her PhD in Public Policy. She is wife to an English professor, and mother to 3 beautiful boys.

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