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SALT LAKE CITY — There is a new man in charge, but the Mormon Tabernacle Choir isn't missing a beat. Ron Jarrett has recently become the choir's new president.
With the new position, Jarrett has also made history. He is the first former choir member to become the president. He hopes that under his direction the choir will have other 'firsts' as he aims to broaden this organization's appeal and audience.
"So, when the call came it was a little bit of a surprise, no, it was a big surprise," Jarret said.
Jarrett had previously sung for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for nine years, during which he was an elementary school principal.
"It's been the most exciting experience I've ever had," he had said in 2003 when he was in the choir. "This is just beyond words. This is just the greatest."
Jarrett had decided to officially retire from the choir after serving three years as assistant to the president.
"It was goodbye and it was hard and I was basically through," he said. "That chapter of my life was over."
[I want] to bring us into a broader scope of people we can appeal to. So, yes I'm on Facebook, the Choir's on Facebook. We all look for the new things to take us to the world.
–Ron Jarrett, new Choir president
He and his wife, Lucie, became public affairs missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Germany. But after 10 months, their mission was cut short.
"The call came from President Monson who spoke and I cried and Lucie couldn't speak," Jarrett said. "We were finally able to get out, 'Yes we would be happy to serve.'"
After President Monson extended the position of choir president to Jarrett, they left Germany to accept the calling. The couple said that they had grown to love the people of Germany and found it hard to leave them.
President Monson told them, "I know it's hard to leave Germany, ask Elder Uchtdorf how hard it is to leave Germany."
The choir has made those digital connections across the world, and Jarrett wants to broaden the fan base to reach all generations and even more people beyond the faith.
"[I want] to bring us into a broader scope of people we can appeal to," he said. "So, yes I'm on Facebook, the Choir's on Facebook. We all look for the new things to take us to the world."
The big announcement from Jarrett will come October 11 when he will announce who the Choir has planned for the guest performance in the upcoming Christmas concerts.
