For the first time in its 100-year history, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s flagship broadcast, “Music and the Spoken Word,” will premiere in Spanish on June 25, 2023. The weekly Spanish broadcast, which will be available on a Spanish YouTube channel, is one of the Choir’s new pilot programs to increase its influence and worldwide visibility. Another pilot invited global participants to sing with the Choir in April’s general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Choir President Michael O. Leavitt said, “People around the world hear ‘Music and the Spoken Word’ each week. There are millions more that would listen if it were available in their language rather than a dubbed voice-over of the English-language version. Likewise, we want the visuals which accompany our music to be more relatable to our audience. These changes will also motivate more television and radio stations to carry our program.”
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The initial pilot of “Music and the Spoken Word” in Spanish will feature a rotation of four narrators: Alex Melecio, Ana Yslas, Pepe Valle, and Garna Mejia.
Mejia will narrate the “Spoken Word” in the debut broadcast. In addition to being the first Spanish narrator for the pilot, she will also be the first woman given this honor. Mejia is of Mexican descent and a television journalist who worked in Spanish- and English-language news stations throughout the western United States before joining the Newsroom team of the Communication Department for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I am thrilled that viewers, like my mother, will soon hear ‘Music and the Spoken Word’s’ inspiring messages in their own language. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in this wonderful effort,” said Mejia. “Since its beginning, women have lent their voices to the Choir and been a driving force in the program’s success. I feel humbled to know that I am building on their legacy as a female narrator.”
You can read the entire article about the Choir’s new pilot program on Church Newsroom.