The 2026 Church Music Festival, “Love Without End,” was a celebration of music of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a variety of ways.
The concert Saturday, Nov. 7, in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square included more than 300 singers and musicians — many traveled from across the country to be in the Tabernacle or performed via submitted videos. Songs were performed by choirs, soloists, duets and small groups. Styles included contemporary, strings, gospel, jazz and Latin.
More than half the program featured new hymns that have been published digitally in the Church’s new hymnbook, “Hymns for Home and Church.”
Singing in the festival allowed Maddy Cook, a Utah State University student who sang in a combined institute choir, to worship Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ with hundreds of other people.
“I feel like the Spirit was really strong,” she said afterward. “It’s one of those moments when we get to be representative of the worldwide Church because I think music is a universal language. The gospel is joy, and music is full of joy, and so getting to represent that was really special.”
Alan Baker, who also sang in the institute choir, agreed with Cook.
“I just think it was cool to be able to share our testimonies through music and just the joy that comes with us. And it’s brought me a lot of joy tonight,” he said.
Both said they enjoyed all the songs they sang in the choir but felt a special love for “Fight the Good Fight,” calling it a powerful arrangement, by Sam Fleming of Liberty, Missouri. This new hymn, sung for the first time in a large Church setting at the 2026 festival, was added to the new hymnbook earlier this year and was recently featured in the Church News.
The annual Church Music Festival features original Church music and lyrics submitted by members throughout the world through the Church Music Submission. The submission program encourages development of musical talent and brings new musical works to light by inviting Latter-day Saints to submit original music for consideration, including hymns and children’s songs, hymn arrangements for choirs, soloists and instrumentalists, and choir anthems.
At the beginning of the 2026 program on Saturday evening, writers, composers and arrangers were asked to stand and be recognized in the audience. Submission finalists were also pointed out. Jesse Ellsworth, from Knoxville, Tennessee, arranged “Look Unto Christ,” which was added to “Hymns for Home and Church” in June 2025.
The arrangement came to him as he was driving to and from work as he listened to the song by Sherrie Manwill Boren on repeat.
“This was her song, and I wanted to give respect to it because of the way it made me feel about the Savior. Hopefully other people could feel that,” Ellsworth told the Church News in the Tabernacle. “That’s what you hope for as a musician; you want to create something that is impacting the way it has impacted you.”
Hearing his arrangement performed by the orchestra and sung by Spencer Stevens during the festival was surreal, Ellsworth said.
His wife, Lindsey Ellsworth, said the evening “was an opportunity to feel connected through music and feel everyone’s individual testimony of the Savior. It was so awe-inspiring.”
Songwriter Janice Kapp Perry, who has written numerous songs and hymns, was in the audience as well.
“Hearing it all was wonderful. I enjoyed every minute of it,” she said, adding how she loved the different styles and influences featured in the festival and in the new hymnbook.
Perry said her ward sings two or three of the new hymns every Sunday. “And the people are loving it. I hope all the wards are doing it.”
The 90-minute event was recorded for on-demand viewing and will be published later on the Church Music Festival page, Gospel Library and Gospel Media and the Church’s “Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ” YouTube channel.
Sheet music from this concert will be made available to download for free at ChurchofJesusChrist.org/music/library/submitted-music-2012-present.
New hymns and Christmas songs
In a video presentation, Axa Zárate Maquera sang “Jesus Is My Shepherd” both in English and Spanish, with a percussion band accompanying her. The song was written and composed by Tammy Simister Robinson and added to the new hymnbook in February 2026.
Children sang the first Christmas song of the program. Soloist Allie Smith’s voice soared along with the Kings Music Foundation Children’s Choir for “Little Baby in a Manger,” which was written by Traci S. Law and added to the new hymnbook in September 2025.
In a video, Aubrey and Alex Woods played a violin duet of “He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child,” a popular Christmas carol that originated in France in the 19th century. It is one of the most popular Christmas carols in France and has been included in the Church’s French and Tahitian hymnbooks before being released in the first batch of new hymns for the global hymnbook in May 2024.
“What Child Is This?” was also included in that first batch and is another popular Christmas carol. During the festival, it was performed by the group Sound of Ages, a choral ensemble described as bridging old and new, sacred and secular.
The Debra Bonner Unity Gospel Choir sang “Were You There?,” an African American spiritual from the 19th century, in a video presentation. This was added to the new hymnbook in February 2025.
Other new hymns from “Hymns for Home and Church” performed in the festival included “As I Keep the Sabbath Day,” added to the new global hymnbook in June 2025; “Stand by Me,” added in September 2025; and “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” which was included in the first batch of new hymns in May 2024.
The 2026 Church Music Festival’s full program was:
- “On This Day of Joy and Gladness” — combined institute choir, directed by Matt Johnson
- “Look Unto Christ” — Spencer Stevens
- “Where Can I Turn for Peace?” — Sydney Strong
- “Jesus Is My Shepherd” — Roy Bosch, percussion; Axa Zárate Maquera, soloist; Naomi Bosch, cello; Enzo Villabaredes, fluegelhorn; Jeison Noguera, bass, guitar
- “Little Baby in a Manger” — Allie Smith, Kings Music Foundation Children’s Choir
- “Jesus Once of Humble Birth” — Jeralee Johnson, oboe
- “He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child” — Aubrey and Alex Woods, violin
- “What Child Is This?” — Sound of Ages
- “How Great the Wisdom and the Love” — orchestra
- “What Wondrous Love Is This” — combined institute women’s choir directed by Eric Stauffer
- “As I Keep the Sabbath Day” — Bryson and Tierra Jones
- “Were You There?” — The Debra Bonner Unity Gospel Choir
- “Stand By Me” — Aurora Sage, lead vocals; Laura Raty, backup vocals; Cale Jensen, acoustic guitar; Kyle LeBaron, drums; Joseph Raty, piano; Bryan Hughes, bass
- “How Can I Keep From Singing?” — Melissa Heath
- “Fight the Good Fight” — combined institute choir, directed by Will Hatch, with Joseph Peeples and Alena Hall on organ
- “Teach Me To Walk in the Light” — Synthesis
- “Our Savior’s Love” — Synthesis
- “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” — Synthesis
- “Popcorn Popping” — Synthesis
