Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. has been a dean at Morehouse College since 1979, and he told associates this week the Tabernacle Choir's visit has been the pinnacle.
Carter, dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, said he has visited Salt Lake City four times. One of those visits happened in 2015 for the Parliament of the World's Religions. While spending time at Temple Square, Carter was impressed with the kindness of people he met.
That experience eventually led Carter to forge a bond with President Russell M. Nelson and to host the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square for a series of concerts with the student glee clubs of Morehouse and Spelman, historically Black colleges in the heart of Atlanta.
"It is more than I envisioned," Carter told reporters after the concert, which featured individual performances by the Tabernacle Choir, Spelman Glee Club and Morehouse Glee Club as well as four combined numbers and two encores.
Carter was recruited to Morehouse by King himself in 1958. King understood the power of music to unite people, said David E. Morrow, the conductor of the Morehouse Glee Club. Martin Luther King III joined other dignitaries Monday night for the combined concert. King III spoke at a BYU forum in 2021 about his father's vision to create the beloved community.
"We all want the same thing," Carter said Monday night. "We can have the beloved community. But you can't give away what you don't possess."
The musical program was titled “Songs of Hope," featuring messages of praise, peace and belief. The program also featured the world premiere of a new work by Dr. Kevin Phillip Johnson, director of the Spelman College Glee Club. Arranged by Mack Wilberg, “Songs for the People” features poetry from Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
Tabernacle Choir President and former Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt credited Carter with the vision, which Carter called "healing the body of Christ," to bring the choirs together.
The choirs previously performed together at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City in October 2023. Preston Darger, one of the hosts for the Atlanta show, discussed the powerful effect of the choirs joining forces.
“By the power of their singing they reminded us that music is not just a universal language but also a universal hand of fellowship,” Darger told the audience.
The hand of fellowship was extended again this week, but this time in a very different venue. The unification of the choirs aimed to bridge cultural, religious and racial differences.
The Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College is dedicated to service and change through nonviolence and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Hall of Honor features portraits of men and women who are internationally recognized for their dedication to peace and nonviolence. President Nelson is among those honored by having his portrait there.
Carter's pre-recorded message wishing happy 100th birthday to President Nelson was among those played in a celebration hosted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on the same night as the Morehouse concert.
Henry M. Goodgame, Morehouse vice president of external relations, said the Monday concert had a unifying effect.
“Music is a healer, and it really doesn't matter the color, it really doesn't matter the religion," he said. "It's something that permeates through all of those.”
For an encore, the Tabernacle Choir sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic, a song with great significance in the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. quoted this hymn in several of his most well-known sermons, including the last one he gave in April 1968 in Memphis just before his assassination. The hymn, penned by Julia Ward Howe during the Civil War, provided an appropriate ending to the historic concert.