Ryan Murphy is the associate music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, a position he has held since 2009. In this role, he is responsible to assist Mack Wilberg, music director, with the Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in rehearsals, concerts, tours, and the weekly broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word. He also serves as the conductor of the Temple Square Chorale, the preparatory ensemble for new singers in Choir service.

When Murphy isn’t working with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, he teams up with his wife, Jennifer, and directs the choir at a local elementary school. The Davis Clipper, a newspaper out of northern Utah, recently chronicled the Murphys' elementary school choir. An excerpt from the article is below:

Students at Orchard Elementary School have at least one thing in common with members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:

Their rehearsals are conducted, in part, by Ryan Murphy.

Murphy, the assistant director for the Tabernacle Choir, is also co-director, with his wife, Jennifer Murphy, of the Orchard Concert Choir Singers.

The two meet with students before school twice a week to prepare a Christmas concert and then, again for a spring performance.

But the students have even more in common with members from the larger choir, said Ryan Murphy.

“These kids have such a dedication and a commitment,” he said. “They really want to be excellent.”

Murphy is quick to defer to his wife, who co-leads the rehearsals and leads the performances while he’s at the piano.

The two met in a concert choir class under the direction of Mack Wilberg at BYU, one of several choir romances that resulted in marriages, according to Jennifer.

Jennifer got a dual degree in elementary education and music education, and believes strongly in the value of music education at school.

“It reaches the kids that sometimes don’t get reached,” she said. “It gives them a sense of accomplishment, a sense of pride. It helps build confidence.”