Mormon Tabernacle Choir to dedicate Sunday program to Newtown shooting victims

SALT LAKE CITY — Under the baton of a Newtown, Conn., native, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square will dedicate this Sunday’s “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast to the memory of the victims of the recent school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Ryan Murphy, associate choir music director who attended Sandy Hook as a boy, will lead the choir and orchestra in a program that will include his own arrangements of “’Give,’ Said the Little Stream” and “I Am a Child of God.”

“One of the great roles of the choir is to bring peace and hope through music,” Murphy said, adding that the Jan. 6 “Music and the Spoken Word” program is filled with poignant music that is “hopeful and encouraging.”

“That’s a great tone to set at the start of a new year, especially for those who are healing,” he said.

In addition to Murphy’s two arrangements, the Sunday program will include “Sweet Peace,” “Children of the Heavenly Father,” “Jesus Loves Me” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” At the end of the program it will be noted that “this week’s broadcast is being dedicated to the memory of the students and staff taken from us too soon at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.”

"Music and the Spoken Word" is broadcast live locally at 9:30 a.m. MST on KSL-TV and KSL Radio. Nationally, the program is carried live by BYUtv. The broadcast is available live online at BYUtv's website and KSL Radio's website. Links to both can be found at the choir's website, http://fans.musicandthespokenword.org.

The show also is carried by more than 2,000 local, regional and national radio and television stations and cable and satellite systems. A full list is available here on the choir's website.