Orchestra at Temple Square Fall Concert 2026

The Orchestra at Temple Square returns to the Tabernacle on Temple Square for its annual fall concert on Friday, October 23, at 7:30 PM. It's a symphonic night that runs about 90 minutes, and it's free, though tickets are limited and required for entry.

Associate Music Director Ryan Murphy is leading the program, which pulls from three very different corners of the orchestral repertoire. It opens with Franz von Suppé's Poet and Peasant: Overture, a light, spirited piece that sets the tone. The center of the evening is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36, a heavy-hitting Romantic work known for its dramatic brass and driving energy. And then there's the movie side of things: John Williams' Star Wars: Main Title, the fanfare that almost everyone recognizes from the first time they saw the credits roll.

If you're not familiar with the group, it's a bit of a local institution. The Orchestra at Temple Square was announced by then-Church President Gordon B. Hinckley in October 1999 as a symphonic companion to the Tabernacle Choir, and it officially organized on October 16 that same year, giving its first concert with the choir on October 29. It draws around 200 volunteers who audition, are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and live within 100 miles of Salt Lake City, serving as musical missionaries.

Since 2005, the orchestra has gone on biennial concert tours with the choir and plays on the weekly Music & the Spoken Word and Bells at Temple Square programs. It also performs at the choir's annual Christmas and Pioneer Day celebrations and has released more than 36 recordings with them. Its fall and spring symphonic concerts have become Temple Square traditions, and the ensemble has played at the Hollywood Bowl and toured the world as part of the multiyear, multicity Songs of Hope tour. This fall concert is one of those two annual symphonic dates. It's on Friday, October 23, at 7:30 PM at the Tabernacle on Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City, and admission is free with a ticket.