Adam Ward fulfilled a dream by singing for three years with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and then fulfilled another dream by leaving.

The 36-year-old Hyrum native and Salt Lake City resident earlier this year released his first solo album, "The Door," after recording 11 CDs and DVDs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

After three years, his departure from the choir was amicable. Ward, whose day job is working as vice-president of a software company, said he loved being part of the world-famous choral group, but singing his part made him realize he had another ambition. He wanted to put himself out there as a solo musicians, and see what the world thought of his songs. "Before this, I didn't know what my voice was," Ward said.

"The Door," available on CD Baby and iTunes, demonstrates an impressive voice. Ward's work isn't a choral album, but rather finely crafted jazz-inflected songs of primarily piano, guitar and Ward's otherworldly vocals: a gorgeous tenor so high that it should be compared to romantic female contraltos, such as Cher, rather than a man's voice. "My wife jokes that I have a higher voice than she does," he said.

His Utah-centric lyrics contain the kind of details that make artists like Lucinda Williams so memorable. For example, he wrote an entire song, "Street Cellist," about the busker who performs outside the Broadway Centre Theatres.

Being married, working in the corporate world and practicing with the choir left no time for Ward to focus on his own music, so he made the tough decision to leave the choir. As a singer-songwriter, he has no delusions of performing in front of Mormon Tabernacle Choir-sized audiences, but still wanted to fulfill his ambition to release an album of his own music.

Ward always had an aptitude for making music: at the age of 9, he had already been a guest presenter at a college composition class and performed his own work at the Cache Valley Composers' Festival. At age 15, after many years of attending Utah State University's Youth Conservatory, he began teaching piano.

Several years ago, Ward's uncle, who had sung in the choir for 20 years, suggested Ward audition. "He has a creative, new, original voice," said Craig Jessop, former musical director of the choir who now heads the music department at Utah State University. "I was struck by his wonderful musicianship."

Jessop underscored the Utah-centric details in Ward's songs this way: "The best vegetables grow in your own backyard."