Jerold Ottley

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Jerold Ottley
Born
Jerold Don Ottley

(1934-04-07)April 7, 1934
Murray, Utah, U.S.
DiedFebruary 19, 2021(2021-02-19) (aged 86)
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Utah
University of Oregon
Occupations
  • Music director
  • Conductor

Jerold Don Ottley

Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Choir) from 1974 to 1999. During his tenure, Ottley established the Choir's annual Christmas concert and appointed its first female organist. Prior to that, he was assistant chair of the University of Utah
's Music Department.

Early life

Ottley was born in Murray, Utah, on April 7, 1934, to Sidney and Alice Ottley.[2] He studied choral conducting at the University of Utah, where he earned a master's degree. He was subsequently granted a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Academy of Music in Cologne. He later earned a doctorate from the University of Oregon. He became a faculty member at the University of Utah's Music Department and served as its assistant department chair.[3]

Career

Ottley first worked with the Choir as assistant director on a part-time basis.

branch). This is recognized as giving the group a more religious direction. An attendance policy was also instituted and auditions came to be more formal and organized.[4]

Ottley's duties with the Choir included the preparation and performance of nearly thirteen hundred weekly radio and television broadcasts of

Music and the Spoken Word. He also led the choir in more than thirty commercial recordings and more than twenty major tours, in addition to regular concerts in the Choir's home in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.[3] The group sang at the inaugural march of the 1981 inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who labelled them "America’s Choir".[3][4] Eight years later, they performed at the inauguration of George H. W. Bush, who described them as "a national treasure".[4] Ottley appointed Bonnie Goodliffe as one of the Choir's organists in 1988. She was its first female organist; Goodliffe later described Ottley as being "very forward-thinking".[4] He also established the group's annual Christmas concert.[4]

After Ottley retired in 1999, he was involved in volunteer work for four years as administrator and teacher for the Choir's Training School at

Laie, on Oahu's north shore.[4]

Personal life and death

Ottley married JoAnn South in 1956,[5] and they remained married until his death.[4] She was an accomplished soprano who, like her husband, was a Fulbright scholar at Cologne's Academy of Music.[6] Together, they had two children, Brent and Allison.

Ottley and his wife were diagnosed with COVID-19 in November 2020 amid the pandemic in Utah. He died from complications of the virus in Salt Lake City, on February 19, 2021, at age 86.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ "Historical Roster". Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Archived from the original on March 6, 2005. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  2. ^ "Former Tabernacle Choir director Jerold Ottley dies at age 86". www.ksl.com. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Owusu, Mercy (February 19, 2021). "Jerold Ottley, former Tabernacle Choir director passes away at 86". KTVX. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tabin, Sara (February 19, 2021). "Jerold Ottley, who led the famed Tabernacle Choir to even greater heights, dies of COVID-19". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  5. ^ Taylor, Scott (February 19, 2021). "Jerold Ottley, longtime Tabernacle Choir director, passes at age 86 from COVID-19-related illness". Church News.
  6. ^ Fredde, Ashley (February 19, 2021). "Former Tabernacle Choir director Jerold Ottley dies at age 86". KSL-TV. Retrieved February 20, 2021.

External links

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