Tabernacle Choir director Mack Wilberg is a former professor and alum of the BYU School of Music
Long before he became a household name as a beloved composer, arranger and conductor and as the music director of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square

“Coming to BYU, I could have easily felt intimidated — I was surrounded by youth who had much more exposure to the things of the world than I did,” recounted Wilberg in his March 12 Oscarson Lecture. “But as soon as we began making music together, any concerns about that vanished. Music is a great equalizer. If you're willing to work at music, it works on you and everyone around you. It gives you a voice, confidence, a sense of purpose. It creates common ground, and it fosters unity with people who are different from you in a way that almost nothing else can.” Once a student — and later a professor — at BYU, Wilberg returned to the Madsen Recital Hall for a lecture that would prove to be the last in-person gathering for the School of Music