Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s concert at the Mall of Asia Arena celebrates hope, ‘Filipino heart’
Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra’s ‘Himig ng Pag-asa’ concert at the Mall of Asia Arena on the Philippines tour featured Lea Salonga, Ysabella Cuevas and Suzi Entrata-Abrera and Paolo Abrera. Audience members called it a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity
By Christine Rappleye27 Feb 2024, 7:22 PM MST
Singer-songwriter Ysabelle Cuevas and youth and young adults from metro Manila perform during The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s world tour in the Philippines continues with a concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Manila on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
PASAY CITY, Philippines - Voices filled the The SM Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 27 - the combined voices of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square with the music of the Orchestra at Temple Square, the soaring vocals of Broadway singer and actress Lea Salonga, also those of singer Ysabella Cuevas and of TV personalities and concert hosts Suzi Entrata-Abrera and Paolo Abrera.
Also filling the arena were the applause, cheers and singing of nearly 10,000 people - many who were hearing the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra live and in-person for the first time. They cheered when the choir and orchestra sang two Filipino songs - “Hawak Kamay”(or “Holding Hands”) during the program and “Bahay Kubo,” a Filipino folk song, as an encore. And sang “Bahay Kubo” back to the choir at the end, cheering and waving as the choir and orchestra left the stage.
The all-volunteer Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square were performing in the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City in metro Manilla as part of the multiyear, multicity tour to share hope. In the Philippines, it’s the “Himig ng Pag-asa” tour or “melody of hope” tour.
Jose Manuel Romualdez, ambassador from the Philippines to the U.S., said after the concert as people were still in the arena cheering on the choir that “as you see very well, Filipinos love the Tabernacle Choir” and the hope the musicians shared.
Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of America, Jose Manuel del Gallego Romualdez, left, joins with Choir President Michael O. Leavitt, and the rest of the crowd in waving their cellphones during Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s world tour in the Philippines at a concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in metro Manila on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
A welcome was offered by Elder Carlos G. Revillo Jr., a General Authority Seventy and counselor in the Philippines Area presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the choir and orchestra’s sponsoring organization. Also in attendance were the rest of the Church’s Philippines Area presidency - Elder Steven R. Bangerter, area president, and counselors Elder Yoon Hwan Choi, all General Authority Seventies - and their wives.
This stop of the choir and orchestra’s “Hope” tour is their debut visit to the Philippines. The choir and orchestra previously performed a sacred music concert at the University of Santo Tomas and for a group of invited guests at the Shangri-la Hotel: the Fort. Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of The Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen, attended those two concerts and spoke in the choir and orchestra’s sacrament meeting as they completed a nine-day ministry in the country.
The choir performs again in the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m., Philippine time, and it will be livestreamed on the choir’s RU-vid channel.
The Philippines is the second stop on the multicity, multiyear “Hope” tour. Rhe choir and orchestra’s first stop was in Mexico last year. Choir officials announced on Wednesday, Feb. 21, that the fall tour Sept. 5-12 will be to Florida and Georgia in the southeastern United States.
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