The Days of ’47 Pops Concert: Pioneer Courage, Live It!
Join us for the KUTV Days of 47 Pops concert with Sterling Poulson and Robert Baldwin as conductors.
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Season Opener
Mid-Valley Performing Arts CenterWe open the 22-23 Season with two rarely heard, but engaging symphonies. Sibelius’s 7th is his final symphony, a study in compact form, almost as if the entire Romantic period has collapsed on itself like a dying star. Lasting merely 20 minutes, this symphony nonetheless has 4 encapsulated movements and enough emotional sweep to take the audience on a memorable journey through the Finnish imagination. When the work was written in 1924, it was a surprise to audiences both in its brevity and depth. Similarly, Shostakovich’s 9th Symphony, written in 1945, was expected to be a grand testament of victory. What Shostakovich gave us, however, was one of his shortest symphonies, albeit a 5-movement work that expresses the happiness of a great weight being lifted, the end of WWII. It is indeed joyous, but also contains the touch of sardonic wit expected from this master’s works. Offsetting these two brief masterpieces, principal oboist Hilary Coon moves to the front of the stage to play Marcello’s endearing oboe concerto, with one of the most beautiful melodies in all the Baroque repertoire.
Anyone Out There?
Libby Gardner Concert HallAll Systems GO! T-Minus 10 … 9… 8… Get ready for an exploratory mission of our solar system as the SLS presents an out-of-this-world program! Holst’s The Planets is the main event, each movement concentrating on the astrological, rather than astronomical significance of our solar system.
7… 6…5… Complementing this massive work will be two shorter astronomical works, Haydn’s Overture toIl mondo della luna (The World of the Moon!) is perhaps the earliest example of a space opera (move over Star Wars!) This rarely heard work is full of Haydn’s wit and classical charm.
4… 3… Our own planet is not neglected either. Mason Bates Mothership will highlight the orchestra, and our home planet of Earth, with youthful and optimistic energy and some surprise solo appearances from our orchestra members.
…2… 1… Liftoff! The universe awaits you at Libby Gardner Hall!
Amahl and the Night Visitors & A Christmas Carol
The Grand TheatreThe SLS happily returns to our holiday collaboration with the UofU Opera and the SLCC Grand Theatre for 4 performances of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and Leavitt and Buck’s A Christmas Carol. A holiday tradition for the entire family!
Gloria! A Baroque Holiday Concert
Libby Gardner Concert HallThe Utah Voice choir joins us for a concert of Baroque masterpieces. Handel’s Coronation Anthem, Zadok the Priest and Vivaldi’s masterwork Gloria bookend the program. Also featured is Bach’s Orchestra Suite No. 3, containing the memorable Air, one of classical music’s most beloved tunes. Come celebrate the Glory of the Season with glorious music!
Summers Arts Piano Concerto Night
Libby Gardner Concert HallNew assistant Conductor, Brandon Horrocks will conduct this program of winners from the 2022-2023 Summer Arts Piano Competition. An important collaboration with the UofU School of Music, the SLS gladly offers our services every year to celebrate and support young Utah talent.
Vienna Ball
UU Olpin Union BallroomIt’s back! Don’t miss an evening of dancing at the UofU Olpin Ballroom. This is our only fundraiser of the year, and where else can you help a local musical ensemble by dancing the night away? The Mark Cheney Jazz Trio joins the SLS for a memorable evening of toe-tapping tunes plus a fun silent auction to help keep the music flowing!
Welcome Spring!
Mid-Valley Performing Arts CenterJust a few days early, we welcome the coming of spring with a program of joy and budding potential. Assistant conductor Brandon Horrocks will conduct William Grant Still’s Festive Overture to open the concert and announce the coming happy season. Still is an important American composer and considered the “Dean of Black Composers,” writing over 150 compositions, many premiering in major music centers. Perhaps nothing defines spring and the coming green quite like Ralph Vaughan Williams A Lark Ascending. Filled with English charm, the work depicts its title most effectively, transporting the audience to the English countryside. Local violin virtuoso Kasia Sokol-Borup joins us as soloist. The program will be conducted by longtime Utah musical leader, Barbara Scowcroft. Maestra Scowcroft has chosen Brahms' 4th Symphony as the perfect ending to our welcome to spring. Brahms’s final work is perhaps his most controlled example of musical seeds blooming into life as a complete symphony.
Deep Imagination
Libby Gardner Concert HallCome explore the limitless musical imagination of composers with our varied April program. Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, an orchestral favorite, is like a time capsule, a reimagining of modern music into old forms. We will also take a journey down the Moldau River in Smetana’s The Moldau (joined by some of Utah’s high school talent) and journey into the fantastical realms of King Solomon’s mind in Bloch’s Schelomo (with SLS principal cellist, Andrew Clement) and the entire orchestra takes us on a wild ride with a famous trickster, Til Eulenspriegel!
Family Outreach Concert: Tales from the Mist
Libby Gardner Concert HallWe celebrate the diversity of composers and our audiences with our May Family concert. Tales from the Mist will take us into magical realms and even some real places, all composed by real people. It’s a story of US, the people that make up our human community. Appropriate for the whole family, this is a concert not to be missed!