Event celebrates Utah's cultural diversity

The smoothly vaulted dome of the Salt Lake Tabernacle was filled with the sounds of myriad religious faiths Sunday as the annual Interfaith Roundtable week of events came to an end in an evening of musical tribute.

Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Native Americans, LDS faithful and others joined in a celebration of common ground and unity that ranged from traditional Greek Orthodox hymns to Hindu Kathak dancers. One performance by combined Muslim and Jewish children's choirs was of a song written by Salt Lake's Alan Bachman. Bachman, the chair of the Interfaith's musical program, offered this event-appropriate metaphor after Sunday's event.

"It's like a musical scale," Bachman said. "Every note must retain its identity to make a chord … when you make a chord, two or three or four notes put together can be more powerful than one note by itself. But, if any one note loses its identity, the chord falters."

No chords appeared to falter Sunday as the nearly 2,500 in attendance roared their approval to every presentation and those same voices joined with the performers in a final song, also penned by Bachman, with lyrics custom tailored to the occasion.

"I am the one … you are the ones … we are the ones … bringing peace to the earth."

The Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable began in 1999 as a coalition required by the Olympic Charter to provide for the spiritual needs of visiting athletes at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games. The group's chair, Brian Farr, said Sunday that the coalition remained in place after the games, and has since outlined three areas of focus. They include building understanding between and among faiths through education, an effort toward environmental stewardship through the sub-group, Interfaith Power and Light, and community service in providing outreach for the less fortunate. Farr said this year's week of events had been very successful and noted that the challenges people currently face as a state, and a nation, are easier met when they draw together.

"I think as things go downhill, economically, a lot of people do tend to pull together and focus on what's important in their lives," Farr said. "It's a natural time to break bread as a community."

E-MAIL: araymond@desnews.com