Choir, Cincinnati Pops perform

CINCINNATI — Near the end of its two-week tour, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir joined musical forces with the Cincinnati Pops at a sold-out concert at Riverbend Music Center.

The program was a crowd pleaser, with Cincinnati Pops conductor Erich Kunzel sharing directing of the choir and pops orchestra with Craig Jessop and Mack Wilberg at Riverbend Music Center Friday evening.

Kunzel told the Deseret Morning News that while his orchestra and the Tabernacle Choir had made a recording together — with the Cincinnati symphony recording in Ohio and the choir overdubbing in Utah — the first time he had heard the choir in person was when he stood before the group on the conductor's podium during the rehearsal Friday afternoon.

"It was overpowering," he said of the experience. "I've never conducted anything this beautiful. It was unbelievable, that sound. It was such a joy."

He called the Mormon Tabernacle Choir "the most magnificent choir in all the world."

He said that the fact that the concert was "completely sold out to the rafters is a testament to their fame, their beauty, their sound, their history."

Estimates put attendance at the Cincinnati concert at more than 10,000.

The choir continued its concert tour with a performance in Nashville Saturday evening. The final performance on the tour will be in Memphis on Monday evening.

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E-mail: gerry@desnews.com