Born in San Francisco, California, in 1943, Bonnie Goodliffe is one of the Salt Lake Tabernacle organists. She has been an organist on Temple Square since 1979 and has a considerable background in music theory, composition, and organ performance.
Goodliffe attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where she studied piano and organ. She also earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Brigham Young University. From 1974 to 1976 she sang with the Cleveland orchestra and Chorus.
Goodliffe regularly performs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Temple Square Chorale, and Bells on Temple Square. Goodliffe and her colleagues perform daily organ recitals in the Tabernacle and Conference Center. When she is not performing, she teaches music theory for the 16-week Mormon Tabernacle Choir training school, which is held each winter.
She is a published composer and arranger and has served in the Music Committee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She composed the music for, “We Meet Again As Sisters,” which is included in the current Church hymnbook. She said the hymn was intended to “highlight the text and be easily learned and easily sung. I used a narrow vocal range, simple rhythms, and relatively easy key. Because I’m an alto, I wanted the hymn to have an interesting alto part.”
Click the link below to view or download the biographical summary for each of the current Tabernacle Organists, or check out https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/about/organs/bios.html.