The organ staff and guest organists perform 30-minute recitals in the Tabernacle from 12:00 noon to 12:30 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Sunday recitals will be performed from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Tabernacle.
The impressive pipe organ symbolizes the importance Latter-day Saints place on worshipping God through music. The Tabernacle organ has an interesting history. President Brigham Young asked Joseph Harris Ridges, who was born and raised near an organ factory in England, to build the first Tabernacle organ. Suitable timber was located and brought by volunteers from the Parowan and Pine Valley mountains, 300 miles south of Salt Lake City. In the beginning, the organ was powered by hand-pumped bellows, later by water power, and today by electricity. With improved techniques in organ construction, the instrument has been renovated and enlarged several times. Now comprising 11,623 pipes, the organ has 206 sets of pipes (ranks) of voices, and the console has 5 manuals or keyboards. The Tabernacle organ is considered to be one of the finest organs in the world.
The organ in the Conference Center was built in 2000-2003 by Schoenstein & Co. of San Francisco. This organ of the American Romantic style employs a symphonic tonal approach with the richness and warmth characteristic of English instruments. Although designed primarily to provide colorful and varied accompaniment, the organ also renders the solo repertoire beautifully. A five-manual console controls the 7,708 pipes of its 130 ranks, which are spread across seven divisions.
Monday–Saturday 12 Noon
Sunday 2 pm
Tabernacle Organ Recitals
Temple Square
50 N Temple, Salt Lake City
