Addasa on the Tabernacle Choir’s concerts in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — When singer Adassa was onstage with The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and the Orchestra at Temple Square at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, “there was a moment where we felt like we were just one.”

The first night of the choir and orchestra’s free concert in Mexico City on June 17, the live audience seemed like they didn’t want to leave, applauding and calling for an additional encore after the two-hour concert. The second night, the audience applauded and chanted as the choir and orchestra filed off the stage.

Singers Adassa, Alex Melecio and radio host Mariano Osorio were the guest artists during the concert that included about 385 members of the volunteer choir and orchestra.

This tour to Mexico City is the first of a multiyear global tour centered on hope. The choir and orchestra performed three concerts — one at the Toluca Cathedral on June 15 and two at Mexico City’s National Auditorium on June 17-18. The concert on June 17 was streamed via YouTube.

It’s a tour with many firsts that choir leaders are calling a success with lessons learned to implement on future tours. As part of a pilot, the June 13-19 tour was a shorter one to fewer locations. It was also the first time a tour concert was offered for free and also streamed.

The last time the choir sang in Mexico was in 1972 at an Area General Conference in the National Auditorium.

“We were embraced by Mexico, and I believe that Mexico felt embraced by us,” Choir President Michael O. Leavitt said.