Over a decade ago, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, in remarks at the 75^th anniversary of the Choir’s weekly Music & the Spoken Word broadcast, said that the Choir was only at the foothills at what it could accomplish.  These many years later, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is climbing mountains, according to Ron Jarrett, Mormon Tabernacle Choir president.  After three years at the helm, Jarrett looks back at the growth and trajectory of the organization of more than 600 volunteers including the Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, Bells on Temple Square, and staff, and says, “We are out of the foothills and starting to climb mountains. But, we have yet to reach our potential.”

In 2015, the Choir marched up four mountains, each of which would have been daunting in and of itself. The first of these was performing in concert for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in February with a challenging classical program that was very well received by professionals from all over North America and around the world. The second was a highly successful two-week tour to the Atlantic Coast that included exciting venues like Carnegie Hall and Yankee Stadium. The third was reaching social media milestones of 500,000 Facebook fans and nearly 40 million YouTube views. And the fourth mountain was the completion of two years’ work on Handel’s Messiah which included a stunning segment in the recent Christmas concert and a landmark recording coming out in March 2016. All the time the Choir organization has sustained its busy schedule of broadcasts, concerts, and special programs.

How has it happened? “The organization is made up of great people devoted to what we are doing,” Jarrett is quick to explain. “We never wear down and we maximize every rehearsal, every guest artist connection, every opportunity to sing music for millions of listeners who share our love of music.”