SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Singer Fabi Bang said performing with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square was “one of the most touching experiences.”
“It really took it to the next level with music, faith and spirituality,” she said at a news conference on Friday, Feb. 27.
Bang and Myra Ruiz, both singers and stage performers known for their portrayals of Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, in “Wicked,” sang with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra during the concert on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at Sala São Paulo as part of the “Songs of Hope” tour — “Canções de Esperança” in Portuguese. Brazil is the sixth stop on the tour.
The 320 choir members and 68 orchestra musicians will also present concerts Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, and a devotional on Sunday, March 1, at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera — the same venue the choir performed at in Brazil in 1981. Tickets have been distributed for the concerts.
The concert Saturday at 6 p.m. Brasília Time, 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, will be streamed live on the Tabernacle Choir’s YouTube channel. The concert will be available for on-demand streaming after the concert.
Also at the news conference was Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder Joni L. Koch, General Authority Seventy and the Church’s Brazil Area president; Tabernacle Choir President Michael O. Leavitt; and singer Nathan Pacheco, who also performed Wednesday and is scheduled to sing in the upcoming concerts. Catia Fonseca, Brazilian television presenter, hosted the news event.
Elder Soares, who is from São Paulo, said being back in his home country is a blessing and spoke about the spiritual power of music.
“The choir’s music is a special invitation to come closer to Jesus Christ,” he said.
The choir and orchestra concerts are titled “Songs of Hope” with music that can help bring hope and peace amid the challenges of life, he said.
“The choir will help us to envision a bright future. The Savior and His atoning sacrifice brought us hope in life,” Elder Soares said. He later added, “Having faith in Jesus Christ gives us hope and helps us create a better world to live in.”
Singing in Portuguese and sharing hope
The choir on Wednesday sang several songs, whether a verse or the whole song, in Portuguese. “They sang with perfect Portuguese,” Elder Soares noted.
Mack Wilberg, the music director of the Tabernacle Choir, said the two members of the choir from Brazil who live in Utah helped coach the choir on pronunciations. There is also a member of the orchestra from Brazil who lives in Utah and two global members of the choir from Brazil.
The choir had learned songs in Spanish for the previous tour stops in Mexico, Peru and Argentina, and found how different Portuguese is from Spanish.
“To come to Brazil and sing in Portuguese is a blessing,” Wilberg said. He also answered questions about the choir and orchestra, including the choir’s rehearsal schedule — on Thursday evenings and Sundays before the weekly “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast — to how the choir and orchestra members are volunteers. The music for the program will be from the 17th century to present day and includes Brazilian popular music.
President Leavitt said the Tabernacle Choir reflects both the worldwide membership and mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are 1.6 million Church members in Brazil, the third most in any country around the world, after the United States and Mexico.
“Our mission is to convey a sense of peace, a sense of healing and hope,” he said. The concerts are to deliver a gift on behalf of the Church in celebration of 100 years of being able to convey peace, unity and hope preaching of the restored gospel in South America.
On Christmas Day 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a prayer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to dedicate the South American continent for the preaching of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
Brazil is the sixth stop on the choir and orchestra’s multicountry “Songs of Hope” tour. It is the third in South America, with stops in Lima, Peru, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2025.
The tour started in 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico, and continued in 2024 to Manila, Philippines, in February and to Florida and Georgia in the southeastern United States in September.
‘Heavenly bear hug’
Both Bang and Ruiz said they noticed how generous and welcoming people were to them, including choir and orchestra staff, singers and musicians.
Ruiz said that it’s hard to explain all of her feelings from the concert, saying it was a “magical concert.”
Fonseca said hosting the choir and orchestra concert on Wednesday and the press conference on Friday was the first time she had done either. The opportunity came at a time when she is intentionally trying new things in her life.
She said it was beautiful being on stage with the choir and orchestra, pointing out she still gets goose bumps talking about the experience. “This was life-changing for me, and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Pacheco said he has “a Brazilian heart,” as his grandfather was from Curitiba, Brazil, and he served a mission in Campinas, Brazil.
Singing with the choir and orchestra is like getting a “heavenly bear hug,” Pacheco said, adding it’s both a musical and spiritual experience. “You’re singing up there and they start singing with you, and it’s just the most glorious thing ever.”
Pacheco said he’s seen how the Lord can communicate through music and lift people. He hopes those who attend will “feel what they need to feel through the music and from the Lord so they can receive the hope and the courage to face and overcome” their challenges.
‘A dream I never had’
There are five members of the choir and orchestra who are from Brazil and were at the news conference. They answered questions from media representatives after the news conference. Alan Silva and Alvaro Martins are the two choir members from Brazil who live in Utah. Marcos Rangel, who also lives in Utah, plays cello in the Orchestra at Temple Square.
Thalita Carvalho of São Paulo and Rodrigo Domaredzky of Curitiba are global members of choir. They auditioned for the choir remotely and have joined the choir in Salt Lake City to sing for general conference. They sang during Wednesday’s concert and will also perform with the choir for the upcoming concerts.
Martins and Silva both helped with Portuguese pronunciations, which they started at the beginning of the year.
“We have so much talent in the choir that I was just impressed how quickly they got it,” Martins said.
Domaredzky said it felt surreal to sing in Portuguese with other choir members.
“Some are singing perfectly and some of them had a harder time. And I really appreciate it because it shows how much they care and how much they are willing to sacrifice and learn and do their best to perform in the best way possible,” he said.
Carvalho said this week has been “magical” to have the choir and orchestra performing in São Paulo and in Portuguese — reminding herself that this is real.
“For me, it’s wonderful,” she said. Choir members have been excited to share their Portuguese.
Rangel said he got emotional while the choir sang in Portuguese, and he was close enough to the audience to hear them start singing along. “It’s a huge blessing,” he said.
Silva said being back in Brazil felt like coming home after so many years, and singing in his native language has been a spiritual experience.
Singing with other choir members in Portuguese has been “a dream that I never had because it was impossible. And now it’s happening.”
