Plans for the first tour by the Tabernacle Choir to the Holy Land were announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley at the choir's weekly Thursday evening rehearsal, April 9.

President Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, announced to the 325 musicians approval for the tour from Dec. 25, 1992, to Jan. 6, 1993.The tour will include concerts in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa, President Hinckley said. Precise concert dates and details of the tour will be announced later.

President Hinckley said Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek extended the invitation during a visit to Jerusalem by President Howard W. Hunter and Elder James E. Faust of the Council of the Twelve. They were accompanied by Truman G. Madsen, director of the BYU Center for Near Eastern Studies in Jerusalem.

While in Jerusalem, the choir and director Jerold D. Ottley will appear with the Jerusalem Symphony, conducted by David Shallon. The choir will appear as part of the orchestra's traditional liturgical series, Dec. 2-Jan. 5. It is the only time during the year when the orchestra features Jewish and Christian music.

Choir president Wendell M. Smoot Jr. said, "This is the first time in 145 years of the choir's history that it has gone to the Holy Land. It is a great tribute to the choir to be invited to come by the mayor of Jerusalem. Each year, some well-known organization is invited to perform with the Jerusalem Symphony's liturgical series. Last year, the invitation went to the London Symphony Chorale. We feel quite honored that we would be invited."

Pres. Smoot said plans for the tour include a CBS Network broadcast from the Holy Land of the choir's weekly Sunday program, "Music and the Spoken Word."

The concerts in Israel will round out an already busy year for the choir, which will participate in a two-week, nine-performance tour of the United States and Canada in July.

The U.S.-Canada tour is to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. That concert schedule is:

July 20 - Richmond, Va., the Mosque Theatre.

July 21 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Roy Thomson Hall.

July 22 - Detroit, Mich., the Pavilion at the Meadowbrook Music Festival.

July 23 - Columbus, Ohio, Franklin County Veterans Memorial.

July 25 - Milwaukee, Wis., with the Milwaukee Symphony, Marcus Amphitheater.

July 27 - Minneapolis-St. Paul, Target Center.

July 28 - Ames, Iowa, Hilton Coliseum on Iowa State University campus.

July 29 - Nauvoo, Ill., outdoor amphitheater adjacent to LDS Visitors Center.

July 30 - Springfield, Ill., Prairie Capital Convention Center.

The Sunday, July 26, radio and television broadcast of the weekly program, "Music and the Spoken Word," will originate in Milwaukee.