On Sunday morning, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir will present its 3,910th broadcast from "the Crossroads of the West," marking its 75th anniversary of the continuous airing of Music and the Spoken Word.

No other radio or television program has come close to that milestone, notes Heidi S. Swinton in "America's Choir: A Commemorative Portrait of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir," published along with a companion CD and DVD by Deseret Book and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir record label, in honor of that event. (A companion documentary written by Swinton and filmed by Lee Groberg will air on PBS stations this fall.)

President Ronald Reagan dubbed it "America's Choir" when it sang at his presidential inauguration, but during its 150-year-history, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has also sung for other presidents, as well as kings and queens around the world. It has appeared in 64 different countries and also sung at the 2002 Olympics.

It's easy for Utahns to take the choir for granted, says Swinton, who spent about 1 1/2 years singing with it in rehearsals, attending concerts and broadcasts, touring and "doing whatever they were doing." It gave her both an insider's and an outsider's perspective, she says. She came to appreciate the hours and hours of work that go into making the all-volunteer choir work. And she also saw what the choir means on a broader stage.

"We in Utah grew up listening to the choir. They are the backdrop to conference. They do broadcasts and Christmas concerts. And we say, 'Aren't they good!' But you have to get outside our community to recognize just what we have. There's nothing like it."

She has seen people line up for hours to talk to choir members and get autographs. "They see people with countenances different from other choirs," she says. They feel the spirit and experience the joy that comes from the choir's music. "When you see the choir as the world sees it," Swinton says, you realize it is on a whole other plane. "Oh, my, they are good."

Plus, the choir, with its hours of practice and miles of travel, "captures the essence of religious service," she says. They do what they do humbly, not for the recognition, but for the joy of making music. "People recognize that."