USUO Playbill - April and May 2026

TRUST IN POSSIBILITY

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, MUSICIANS, ARTISTS, AND STAFF OF UTAH SYMPHONY | UTAH OPERA, it is our pleasure to welcome you to today’s performance. We conclude this exceptional season of great live music with four classical orchestral programs, a beloved opera, and several non-traditional performances that invite a broader audience to experience the thrill of live music performed by our renowned professional orchestra—Utah’s first major league team.

The final two months of our 2025–26 Season in Maurice Abravanel Hall include orchestral works led by world-class conductors and feature extraordinary soloists with the outstanding musicians of our orchestra and chorus. April begins with the widely-popular Carmina Burana, greatest Latin Pop hits of the ‘90s and ‘00s, and a program designed with families in mind—The Magical Music of Harry Potter. Next, conductor Andrew Manze makes his Utah Symphony debut with a program featuring Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Simon Trpčeski and Creative Partner David Robertson returns to lead a program of American music by Copland, Ives, and Steven Mackey.

The season crescendo builds in May as we close the Utah Opera season with Verdi’s venerated La traviata at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre. Rounding out Verdi’s iconic music performed by our exceptional musicians and guest artists, our production includes richly detailed costumes brought to life by the artisans in our in-house costume studio and thoughtful staging by Garnett Bruce (learn about his concept on pp. 58–59) detailed with choreography by Daniel Charon (read more about Charon’s collaborations with Utah Opera on pp. 60–61). Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter-composer Ben Folds joins the Utah Symphony for a special one-night-only concert on Tuesday, May 12 and the finale of the Utah Symphony Masterworks season features Music Director Designate Markus Poschner (learn more about his background and goals for our future on pp. 68–70) along with 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition Winner Youl Sun performing Piano Concerto No. 5 “The Egyptian” by Saint-Saëns and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 “Romantic.”

This summer we will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary at outdoor community venues throughout our breathtaking state during our Music Elevated Tour, June 30 to July 10—learn more about the locations, concert programs, and how to request your FREE tickets at USUO.org/tour. Directly following the tour, we will return to our annual summer home in the cool mountain air of Park City for the 2026 Deer Valley® Music Festival. Markus Poschner will conduct the opening of this year’s five-week festival—visit deervalleymusicfestival.org for details and the full line-up of concerts.

We thank you for the energy you bring to our performances, inspiring our artists to create the best symphonic and operatic experiences for and with you. Your presence matters and we look forward to seeing you outdoors this summer and once again in the marvelous settings of Maurice Abravanel Hall and the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre for our 2026–27 season! Please visit USUO.org/schedule for more information about all upcoming performances.

Steven Brosvik President & CEO

The O.C. Tanner Chair

Annette W. Jarvis Chair, Board of Trustees

ELECTED BOARD

Annette W. Jarvis* Chair

Judy Moreton* Vice Chair

Joanne F. Shiebler* Vice Chair

Thomas Wright* Vice Chair

Jason Englund* Secretary

Steven Brosvik*

President & CEO

The O.C. Tanner Chair

Dr. Stewart E. Barlow

Larry Brownstein

Paul E. Burdiss

George Cardon-Bystry

Gary L. Crocker

John D’Arcy*

David L. Dee

Barry L. Eden*

Senator Luz Escamilla

Jonathan Freedman

Brandon Fugal

Marie Gochnour Gardner

Dennis H. Hranitzky

Stephen Tanner Irish*

Thomas N. Jacobson

Abigail E. Lowder

Derek B. Miller

Dr. Dinesh C. Patel

Frank R. Pignanelli*

Gary B. Porter

Jennifer Price-Wallin

Shari H. Quinney

Miguel R. Rovira

Stan Sorensen

Aaron Starks

Clint Stone

Dr. Shane D. Stowell

Thomas Thatcher

W. James Tozer

David Utrilla

Sharlene Wells

Don Willie

Kim R. Wilson

Henry C. Wurts*

MUSICIAN REPRESENTATIVES

Andrew Keller*

Lissa Stolz*

EX OFFICIO REPRESENTATIVES

Christina Myers Onstage Odgen

Curtis Woodbury Associate Board

LIFETIME BOARD

Kem C. Gardner

Brian Greeff*

Jon Huntsman, Jr.

G. Frank Joklik

Thomas M. Love*

David T. Mortensen

Scott S. Parker

David A. Petersen

Patricia A. Richards* Harris Simmons

HONORARY & TRUSTEES EMERITI

Carolyn Abravanel

Jesselie B. Anderson

Howard S. Clark

Geralyn Dreyfous

Lisa Eccles

Spencer F. Eccles

* Executive Committee Member

Kristen Fletcher

Julie Aiken Hansen

Richard G. Horne

Ronald W. Jibson

Dr. Anthony W. Middleton, Jr.

Edward Moreton

Marilyn H. Neilson

Stanley B. Parrish

Marcia Price

Jeffrey W. Shields, Esq. E. Jeffery Smith

Markus Poschner

Music Director Designate

The Maurice Abravanel Chair, endowed by the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation

Thierry Fischer

Music Director Emeritus

David Robertson

Creative Partner

Jessica Rivero Altarriba Assistant Conductor

Austin McWilliams

Chorus Director & Opera

Assistant Conductor

The Sandefur Schmidt Chair

VIOLIN*

Madeline Adkins

Concertmaster

The Jon M. & Karen Huntsman Chair, in honor of Wendell J. & Belva B. Ashton

Kathryn Eberle

Associate Concertmaster

The Richard K. & Shirley S. Hemingway Chair

Laura Ha 2nd Associate Concertmaster

Claude Halter

Principal Second

Evgenia Zharzhavskaya

Acting Associate Principal Second

Karen Wyatt

Acting Assistant Principal Second

Sara Bauman~

Erin David

Emily Day-Shumway~ Joseph Evans

Wen Flatt

Lun Jiang

Rebekah Johnson

Tina Johnson~

Alison Kim

Amanda Kofoed~

Jennifer Kozbial Posadas~

David Langr

Hannah Linz

Yuki MacQueen

Alexander Martin

Rebecca Moench

Suni Norman~

Hugh Palmer

David Porter

Lynn Maxine Rosen#

Elina Rubio

Barbara Ann Scowcroft

Ju Hyung Shin

Bonnie Terry

Julie Wunderle

VIOLA*

Brant Bayless

Principal

The John C. Kish Chair

Yuan Qi

Associate Principal

Julie Edwards

Joel Gibbs

Carl Johansen

Scott Lewis

John Posadas

Leslie Richards~ Whittney Sjogren

CELLO*

Matthew Johnson

Acting Principal

The J. Ryan Selberg Memorial Chair

Andrew Larson

Acting Associate Principal

John Eckstein

Walter Haman

Anne Lee

Louis-Philippe Robillard

Kevin Shumway

Hannah Thomas-Hollands~ Pegsoon Whang

BASS*

David Yavornitzky

Principal

Corbin Johnston** Associate Principal

Andrew Keller

Edward Merritt

Masaru Podgorny~ James Stroup~

Jens Tenbroek

Thomas Zera

HARP

Louise Vickerman** Principal

FLUTE

Mercedes Smith

Principal

The Val A. Browning Chair

Lisa Byrnes Associate Principal

Caitlyn Valovick Moore

PICCOLO

Caitlyn Valovick Moore

OBOE

Zachary Hammond

Principal

The Gerald B. & Barbara F. Stringfellow Chair

James Hall

Associate Principal

Lissa Stolz

ENGLISH HORN

Lissa Stolz

CLARINET

Tad Calcara

Principal

The Norman C. & Barbara Lindquist Tanner Chair, in memory of Jean Lindquist Pell

Erin Svoboda-Scott

Associate Principal

The Shane & Stacey Stowell Chair

Lee Livengood

BASS CLARINET

Lee Livengood

E-FLAT CLARINET

Erin Svoboda-Scott

BASSOON

Lori Wike

Principal

The Edward & Barbara Moreton Chair

Leon Chodos# Associate Principal

Jennifer Rhodes

Acting Associate Principal

Jaquain Sloan~

CONTRABASSOON

Leon Chodos#

Jaquain Sloan~

HORN

Jessica Danz

Principal

The Marcia JS Richards Chair

Edmund Rollett** Associate Principal

Lauren Robinson~ Acting Associate Principal

Jonathan Chiou

Julia Pilant~ Stephen Proser

TRUMPET

Travis Peterson** Principal

Alex Mayon~ Acting Principal

Jeff Luke

Associate Principal

Seretta Hart~ Paul Torrisi

TROMBONE

Mark Davidson

Principal

The Nathan & Shannon Savage Chair

In Memory of Neal Savage

Sam Elliot

Associate Principal/Second Trombone

BASS TROMBONE

Graeme Mutchler

TUBA

Alexander Purdy Principal

TIMPANI

Micah Harrow~ Acting Principal

Eric Hopkins

Associate Principal

The Theodore & Elizabeth Schmidt Family Foundation Chair

PERCUSSION

Keith Carrick

Principal

Eric Hopkins

Michael Pape

KEYBOARD

Jason Hardink Principal

LIBRARIANS

Clovis Lark Principal

Anna Thompson~ Acting Associate Principal Librarian

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL

Ebner Sobalvarro Director of Orchestra Personnel

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UTAH SYMPHONY | UTAH OPERA SEASON SPONSOR

MASTERWORKS SERIES SPONSOR

FAMILY SERIES SPONSOR

UTAH OPERA ARTISTIC DIRECTOR SPONSOR

EMMA ECCLES JONES FOUNDATION

CONCERT SERIES AT THE NOORDA SPONSOR

POPS SERIES SPONSOR

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR SPONSOR

CREATIVE PARTNER SPONSOR

OFFICIAL VOICE CARE PROVIDER OF USUO

2025-26 Utah Symphony | Utah Opera Season Sponsor

Enriching excellence in the arts in Utah for more than half a century

Bass clarinet and clarinet player Lee Livengood answers questions from audience members before a performance of Debussy’s La mer.

2. Associate Concertmaster Kathryn Eberle congratulates Concertmaster Madeline Adkins after her performance of John Adams’ Violin Concerto.

3. Young adventurers pose for photos with Carl and Russell before Disney-Pixar’s “Up” in Concert.

4. Audience members pause for a guided moment of reflection at a Well-Being Concert Series performance in the lobby of Abravanel Hall last winter.

5. Second Associate Concertmaster Laura Ha plays violin at the Hogle Zoo as part of a social media video to promote The Carnival of the Animals family concert.

6. Leonore (Wendy Bryn Harmer) and Florestan (Thomas Kinch) celebrate the power of love in Beethoven’s Fidelio in January.

7. The Tooth Fairy (Redge Palmer) speaks during our family holiday concert in December.

8. Sign language interpreters Amelia Williams and Emily Longshore assist during our annual Access to Music concert at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre.

ADMINISTRATION

Steven Brosvik

President & CEO

The O.C. Tanner Chair

David Green

Senior Vice President & COO

Micah Luce

Director of Human Resources & Organizational Culture

Julie McBeth

Executive Assistant to the CEO

Natty Taylor

Human Resources Manager

Farrah Valdez

Executive Assistant to the Senior VP & COO

SYMPHONY ARTISTIC

Kerry Smith

Vice President of Artistic Planning

Ebner Sobalvarro

Director of Orchestra Personnel

Morgan Moulton

Artistic Planning Manager

Jessica Rivero Altarriba

Assistant Conductor

Guillermo Sanchez

Artistic Planning Coordinator & Assistant to the Music Director

OPERA ARTISTIC

Christopher McBeth

Opera Artistic Director

Austin McWilliams

Chorus Director & Opera Assistant

Conductor

Deborah Robertson

Principal Coach

Michelle Peterson

Director of Production

Ashley Tingey

Production Coordinator

Stephanie Chee, Soprano

Julia Holoman, Mezzo-Soprano

Aaron McKone, Tenor

Rodney Sharp II, Baritone

Jie Fang Goh, Piano

Resident Artists

SYMPHONY OPERATIONS

Jen Shark

Director of Orchestra Operations

Melissa Robison

Front of House Director

Chip Dance Director of Production

Fiona McGowan

Operations Manager

Sarah Madany

Stage Manager

Garrett Vargo

Assistant Stage Manager

OPERA TECHNICAL

Kelly Nickle

Properties Master

Dusty Terrell

Scenic Charge Artist

JR Orr

Head Carpenter/Shop Foreman

COSTUMES

Carol Wood

Costume Director

Marcos Ambriz

Cutter/Draper & Costume Manager

Abby Gehring

First Hand

Mallory Goodman

Costume Rentals & Collection Manager

Spencer Smith

Costume Rentals & Collection Assistant Manager

Milivoj Poletan

Master Tailor

Kathryn Wieland

Assistant Tailor

Julie Porter

Crafts Artisan/Milliner

Amy Fernelius

Lee Sego

Stitchers

DEVELOPMENT

Leslie Peterson

Vice President of Development

Garrett Murphy

Director of Development

David Hodges

Director of Development, Institutional Giving

Calli Forsyth

Assistant Director of Institutional

Sponsorships and Engagement

Katie Swainston

Assistant Director of Individual Giving

Lisa Poppleton

Grants Manager

Dallin Mills

Development

Database Manager

Ellesse Hargreaves

VIP and Sponsorship Benefits Manager

Chloe Toyn

Development Coordinator

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Meredith Kimball Laing

Vice President of Marketing & Communications

Amelia England

Director of Marketing

Emma Price

Marketing Manager

Nina Starling

Website Manager

Camila Baltazar

Communications Manager

PATRON SERVICES

Toby Simmons

Patron Services Manager

Caitlin Marshall

Sales & Engagement Manager

Michael Gibson

Patron Services Assistant Manager

Genevieve Gannon

Group Sales Associate

True Moore

Patron Services Specialists

Ananda Spike

Val Tholen

Kjelbi Elassali

Tanush Saran

Beverly Storrs

Cynthia Harris

Patron Services Associates

ACCOUNTING & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Jeffrey Andreasen

CFO

Mike Lund

Director of Information Technologies

Melanie Giles Controller

Bobby Alger

Accounts Payable Specialist

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Ben Kipp

Vice President of Education & Community

Engagement

Kevin Nakatani

Opera Education Manager

James Wesson

Symphony Education Manager

Beth Foley

Education Coordinator

We would also like to recognize our volunteers, interns, and temporary and contracted staff for their work and dedication to the success of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera.

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CARMINA BURANA

Innovation in Concert: Aerospace and Defense Industry Night

FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

TIANYI LU, conductor*

JENI HOUSER, soprano*

RICARDO JOSÉ RIVERA, baritone*

RYAN BELONGIE, countertenor

CHORISTERS OF THE MADELEINE CHOIR SCHOOL

MELANIE MALINKA, director of music

UTAH SYMPHONY CHORUS

AUSTIN MCWILLIAMS, chorus director

UTAH SYMPHONY

DEBUSSY

IMAN HABIBI

ORFF

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (10’)

Zhiân (2023) (13’)

INTERMISSION

Carmina Burana (60’)

Fortuna imperatrix mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World)

I. Primo vere (In Springtime)

Uf dem Anger (On the Green)

II. In taberna (In the Tavern)

III. Cour d’amours (The Court of Love)

Blanziflor et Helena (Blanziflor and Helena) Fortuna imperatrix mundi

*Utah Symphony debut

CONCERT SPONSOR INNOVATION IN CONCERT: AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE INDUSTRY NIGHT

Carmina Burana reflects the spirit driving Utah’s aerospace and defense industry. Innovation in Concert reminds us that progress is powerful and shaped by forces larger than any one organization. Just as a symphony unites individual musicians in precise coordination to create something bold and consequential, aerospace and defense innovation depends on industry, academic institutions, affiliates, and state and federal government working in harmony. Through 47G, innovation happens not in isolation— but in concert.

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR HER THRILLING ENERGY ON THE PODIUM, deeply creative interpretation, and open-hearted leadership, Chinese-born New Zealander Tianyi Lu collaborates with leading orchestras and opera houses around the world. Her work is driven by an ethos of empowerment, creating connection, and compassion across diverse communities through music.

After winning first prize in 2020 at both the Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition and the International Conducting Competition ‘Guido Cantelli’ in Italy, Tianyi Lu was appointed Conductor-in-Residence with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway, a position she held until the end of the 2023-24 season. She served as Principal Conductor of the St Woolos Sinfonia in the UK until 2024 and was Assistant Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2019.

OPERA NEWS LAUDS JENI HOUSER’S PERFORMANCES as “commanding and duplicitous, yet also vulnerable.” She is a celebrated interpreter of the Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, having sung the work at the Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, The Dallas Opera, Minnesota Opera, Grand Teton Music Festival, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Central City Opera—she will return to The Metropolitan Opera next season to reprise the role. She has also sung Lucia di Lammermoor (Madison Opera, Seoul Arts Center); Zerbinetta in Ariadne of Naxos (Austin Opera, Minnesota Opera); Fritzi in Staud’s Die Weiden (Wiener Staatsoper - world premiere); and Cunegonde in Candide, Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann (Madison Opera). Her numerous concert performances include Carmina Burana (previously with Madison Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Florida Orchestra, Atlanta Ballet); Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Madison Symphony Orchestra); and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, and Mozart’s Requiem (Abendmusik: Lincoln).

LAUDED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES FOR “THE EVENING’S RICHEST INSTRUMENT — powerful yet capable of softness,” Ricardo José Rivera’s 2025-26 season includes Riccardo Forth in I puritani and Graf Dominik in Arabella (Metropolitan Opera), Conte di Luna in Il trovatore (Sarasota Opera), Don Giovanni (Teatro Nuovo), and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte (Opera San José). Recent performances: Macbeth (Teatro Nuovo); Miller in Luisa Miller (Washington Concert Opera, Sarasota Opera); Stankar in Stiffelio, Don Carlo in Ernani (Sarasota Opera); Conte di Luna in Il trovatore (Opera Colorado); Silvano in Un ballo in maschera (Chicago Symphony Orchestra); Severo in Poliuto, Norcesto in Anna di Resburgo (Teatro Nuovo); Nottingham in Roberto Devereux (Washington Concert Opera); Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Schaunard in La bohème (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas (Opera San José); Silvio in Pagliacci (Opera San Antonio); and Schaunard in La bohème, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana (CulturArte). He has previously sung Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic.

AN ACCOMPLISHED ORATORIO SOLOIST, Brian Stucki has performed in Haydn’s Creation with Boston Baroque and Utah Symphony, Mozart’s Mass in C, Requiem, and Mass in C minor with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Handel’s Messiah with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston’s Symphony Hall. He sang Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Minnesota Symphony and Honolulu Symphony. He also provided the tenor solos for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s historic Easter weekend performances of Handel’s complete Messiah. He made his Avery Fisher Hall debut as Achicham in Hiller’s The Destruction of Jerusalem and his Carnegie Hall debut in Spohr’s Die letzten Dinge with the American Symphony Orchestra.

Stucki holds a Master of Music from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music from Brigham Young University. Additionally, he is a former member of the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program. Also an accomplished cellist, he has released a recording of Rachmaninoff works on the Tantara label.

MELANIE MALINKA IS A NATIVE OF STUTTGART, GERMANY and has served as Director of Music at The Madeleine Choir School in Salt Lake City since 2001. In this position she oversees the school’s rigorous choral program and leads preparations of the choristers for their extensive concert season, regular service commitments, international tours, and engagements with leading local arts organizations including Utah Symphony | Utah Opera. She regularly conducts the Cathedral Choir of The Cathedral of the Madeleine and has served as interim chorus master for several opera productions of the Utah Opera. In addition, she also maintains a private voice studio focusing on boy sopranos and young adolescent voices. Malinka received a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Utah where she studied with Dr. Barlow Bradford.

AUSTIN MCWILLIAMS IS A CONDUCTOR AND COUNTERTENOR who specializes in contemporary vocal music. He strives to present compelling, intriguing art that is directly relevant to the communities in which it is performed. This season marks his second as Chorus Director & Opera Assistant Conductor at Utah Symphony | Utah Opera. Previously, McWilliams was Associate Conductor and Chorus Master at Opera Grand Rapids, Head of Music at West Michigan Opera Project, and Co-Artistic Director at Ad Astra Music Festival. In Grand Rapids, he was the choir director at Fountain Street Church, a non-denominational, noncreedal institution that serves as a venue for heterodox speakers and ideologies. A dedicated conductor and educator, McWilliams has served as Director of Choral Activities at Aquinas College and as adjunct faculty at Western Michigan University. He is also a faculty member at Missouri Scholars Academy, a governor’s school for gifted high school juniors in his native state.

Choristers of

THE MADELEINE CHOIR SCHOOL, founded in 1996 as a mission of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salt Lake City, serves students from Pre-K through Grade Eight in downtown Salt Lake City. Inspired by historic European cathedral schools, it forms engaged scholars, effective communicators, dedicated liturgical musicians, and responsible world citizens. Its unmatched music curriculum includes vocal training, music theory and history, and violin study. Students also receive exceptional instruction in the humanities, sciences, math, languages, visual arts, theology, and athletics, with a strong emphasis on character formation. Choristers in Grades 5–8 assist in Cathedral liturgies and concerts, including Monday–Thursday evening masses and Sunday morning services at The Cathedral of the Madeleine. They tour annually, recently performing in Italy and singing at a Papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. The school regularly collaborates with Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, Ballet West, and Grand Teton Music Festival. Visit utmcs.org or contact admissions@utmcs. org for more information.

Choristers

of The

Anaya Alt

Sophia Borup

Vivien Browning

Lillian Hanley

Luca Hesse

Noah Hesse

Tala Hobson

Alejandra Hernandez

Benjamin Just

Rosalila Lowe

Gabriel Motschiedler

Eva Peterson

Yu-Jin Song

Lisha Tathireddy

Roshni Tathireddy

Camila Trousdale

Cruz Warren

Luke Williams

Sam Williams

Catherine Zidow

Eleanor Zidow

Musical Preparation

Melanie Malinka, Director of Music, The Madeleine Choir School

Utah Symphony Chorus

Soprano

Jenny Andrus

Cydnee Barnum Farmer

Rebekah Barton Stockton

Abigail Bendixsen

Julia Bigelow

Erin Bramscher

Christina Brandt

Anadine Burrell

Jana Conrad

A. Elizabeth Davis

Julie Fleming

Emelia Hartford

Kaily Jacobs

Macy Kelson

Rachel Kibler

Isabelle Knowles

Sarah Mair

Alexandra Montoya

Michelle Reid Quinn

Natalie Sandberg

Michaela Shelton

Cherry Stewart

Margaret Straw

Carolyn Talboys-Klassen

Hannah VonHatten

Jennifer Way Zemp

Breanne White

Lindsay Whitney

THE UTAH SYMPHONY CHORUS IS COMPOSED OF VOLUNTEER SINGERS from the Salt Lake City area who come from all walks of life. The chorus typically performs three concerts each season with the Utah Symphony in Abravanel Hall, which may include choral masterworks, pops concerts, and the annual Messiah Sing-In. Singers have performed under the baton of Utah Symphony Music Directors Maurice Abravanel, Varujan Kojian, Joseph Silverstein, Keith Lockhart, Thierry Fischer, and Music Director Designate Markus Poschner, as well as numerous guest conductors including Robert Shaw, Margaret Hillis, Roger Wagner, Peter Eros, Bernard Labadie, Andrew Litton, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, and many others. The Utah Symphony Chorus rehearses Tuesday evenings for several weeks before each concert and most evenings the week of a performance. Visit usuo.org/Choruses to learn more about joining the chorus.

Alto

Christine Anderson

Sara Bayler

Caite Beck

Joan Jensen Bowles

Nelya Coomans

Chelsea Cummins

Jennifer Dearinger

Sylvia Fisk

Kate Fitzgerald

Kyra Furman

Kate Garney Dickerman

Gabriella Gonzales

Erika Gray

Jennifer Hancock

Annette W. Jarvis

Raenell Jones

Samantha Lange

Julie McBeth

Kate Olsen

Heather Perry

Belinda Purdum

Ruth Rogers

Anastasia Romanovskaya

Jenica Sedgwick

Sue Sohm

Jennifer Taylor

Maizie Toland

Sammie Tollestrup

Margaret Toney

Dawn Veree

Valerie Wadsworth

Kathy Wight

Ruth Wortley

Tenor

Stephen Anderson

Peter Asplund

Matt Balcells

Drake Bennion

Geordie Burdick

Holden Deitsch

Dyson Ford

Garv Gianchetta

Orion Gray

Samuel Hancock

Tim Hanna

Connor Hansen

Hayden Höglund

Nate Kemp

Matthew Koster

Isaac Lee

Jeanne Leigh-Goldstein

James Miller

David Mitchell

Dale C. Nielsen

Zachary Payne

Alan Robertson

Sean Robison

Kevin Rowe

Dan Smith

Hugh Strike

Scott Tarbet

Carl Wadsworth

John Woeste

Edgar Zúñiga

Bass

Julio Cesar Alejos Ibarra

George Angerbauer

Aaron Asay

Olivier Bauer Simon

Colton Butler

Richard Butler

Roger Cox

Paul Dixon

Nolan Fontaine

Jarren Hancock

Jim Hardwick

Derek Hayashi

Michael Hurst

Stephen Jackson

Camden Lawrence

Tom McFarland

Steven McGregor

Lyman Moulton

Michael Moyes

Richard Olsen

Chris Patch

Dwight Perry

Gabriel Poulson

Say-Eow Quah

Michael Rasmussen

Bryce Robinson

Bryan Romney

Karol Runge

Carlos Salazar

Nathan Scott

Kaden Smith

Jay Sweet

Marc Titcomb

Matthew Toone

Hobie Willis

Kevin Wolford

BY NOEL MORRIS

Key Notes

Carmina Burana is a go-to “musical steroid” in popular culture, appearing across TikTok, film, hiphop, television, and video games.

Claude Debussy was a maverick who broke with conventions of form, meter, and harmony to create his own musical language.

Carl Orff was a groundbreaking educator. The Orff Approach is used worldwide.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

born August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France died March 25, 1918, in Paris

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

composed in 1894 premiered in Paris, in 1894 last performed by the Utah Symphony in April 2022 with conductor Thierry Fischer

The Backstory

In 1889, an astonishing 32 million visitors traveled to Paris to attend a world’s fair. The Exposition Universelle celebrated advancements in science, culture, and technology. There were pavilions dedicated to machines, electricity, and the telephone. A new tower, constructed by Gustave Eiffel, offered unprecedented views aided by a lift designed by the American company Otis Elevator. Countries from around the world came together, although there were conspicuous absences. Because the exposition celebrated the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and Russia boycotted the fair—they still had functioning monarchies. In essence, they represented the “old,” while the Expo represented the “new.”

Debussy had entered the Paris Conservatory at age 10 and stayed for 11 years, thus beginning a sometimes bumpy relationship with formal music education. He, too, clashed with the old guard. When he won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1884, he faced a similar problem in Italy. Traveling to Rome for further studies, he couldn’t find it within himself to get excited about Italian opera—much

to his teachers’ frustration. Ultimately, he found the home he’d been searching for in the creative hothouse of Paris, alongside Claude Monet, Victor Hugo, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, Camille Saint-Saëns, and more.

The Music

During the 1889 Exposition Universelle, the 27-year-old composer spent time in the Javanese pavilion, where he fell under the spell of the gamelan, a percussion ensemble in which performers drum on a battery of pitched, bell-like instruments. As the gamelan does not adhere to Western scales, structures, or principles of tuning, the experience proved liberating for Debussy and had a lasting influence on his music.

After his return from Rome, he fell into a group of intellectuals who gathered on Tuesday evenings at the home of Stéphane Mallarmé. Self-titled Les Mardistes, this group included W. B. Yeats, Paul Verlaine, and Rainer Maria Rilke.

In 1894, Debussy completed his masterpiece Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) based on a poem of the same name by Mallarmé. Unlike earlier 19th-century composers, Debussy’s piece is not so much storytelling as an impression of the mythical faun (a half-human, half-goat), as depicted in the dream-like language of the Symbolist poem.

“The majority of his compositions are symbols of symbols,” wrote his longtime friend Paul Dukas in 1901, “expressed in a language so rich and so persuasive that it attains the eloquence of a new word, with its own laws, and often much more intelligible than the language of the poems on which it is based. Such is the case, for example, with Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.”

Debussy’s Prelude is deliciously appealing which, perhaps, obscures the radical nature of its being. Some argue this work signaled the dawn of the modern era. For sure, the composer sidestepped tonality. In its place, he shifts from one sinuous harmony to another without the traditional tug of a tonal center. Instead, the mythical faun emerges from his gauzy world, lazily playing his flute, to then envelop us in a dreamscape.

Before the 1894 premiere of his Prelude, Debussy attended the rehearsals and made adjustments to his score through trial and error. The musicians happily played along, and that spirit of generosity spilled into the first performance.

A Tribute TO DAYNES MUSIC

Mills Publishing would like to thank Daynes Music, their families, and associates for 45 years of advertising support of the playbills and arts programs. Their dedication to the arts and music communities, as well as their continued support for local performing arts groups and outreach programs over so many years, will always be appreciated. Utah will long remember their generosity and involvement in our community.

“All at once I felt behind me, as some conductors can, an audience that was totally spellbound,” wrote the first conductor Gustave Doret. “It was a complete triumph, and I had no hesitation in breaking the rule forbidding encores. The orchestra was delighted to repeat this work, which it had come to love and which, thanks to them, the audience had now accepted.”

IMAN HABIBI

born September 10, 1985, in Tehran, Iran

Zhiân composed in 2023 premiered at Tanglewood, in 2023 Utah Symphony premiere

Two notes from the composer

While originally written in solidarity with the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement, this piece resonates with renewed urgency in the wake of the 2026 protests and the subsequent massacre—now one of the deepest wounds in Iran’s millennia-old memory. I am humbled by the courage and strength of my compatriots, beholden to their sacrifice, and stand firmly with them in their quest for a free, just and green future. —Iman Habibi

2023 marks 20 years since I left my birth country, Iran, to start a new life in North America. Still, I feel deeply connected to and pained by the struggles and suffering of my fellow Iranians. For decades, Iranians have been kept hostage, continually fighting to retrieve their most basic human rights, their freedom, justice, and their environmental and ecological health. Over the past several months, a new wave of protests (which has resembled a revolution) began following the death of Mahsa (Zhina or Jina) Amini, and several other young women. Inspired by Mahsa’s Kurdish name, Zhina, “Woman, Life, Freedom” (Zhen, Zhiân, Âzâdi), has become the main slogan of these protests, and the basic spoken rhythm of this slogan forms the main motivic element of this piece. The title, Zhiân, translates to “life” in Kurdish, and to “indignant” or “formidable” in Persian. The music carries us through darkness and light, but resolves in the end with a determination to continue striving towards a just, sustainable, and vibrant future. In the months I spent writing this piece, I was surrounded by images and videos of Iranian protesters inside and outside of Iran, many of whom lost their loved ones, lost their own lives, or are currently

imprisoned or on death row. This piece is my humble attempt to stand in solidarity with them, and I dedicate it to the brave people of Iran, in the hope of better days ahead.

—Iman Habibi

CARL ORFF

born July 10, 1895, in Munich, Bavaria died March 29, 1982, in Munich

Carmina Burana

composed 1935–1936 premiered in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1937 last performed by the Utah Symphony in January 2023 with conductor Fawzi Haimor

What to Listen for

In Carmina Burana, listen for the way the composer uses music to create a sense of theater, whether it’s a dying swan, a drunken abbot, or a libidinous soprano.

The Backstory

“Why do I love the ancient world?” asked Orff. “[It’s] because we are so close to the ancient world intellectually and spiritually….There’s a spiritual energy behind it, a binding energy.”

Well into middle age, no one thought of Carl Orff as a composer, though he’d been writing music since childhood. In 1934, he shuffled into a rare bookshop in Würzburg, where he picked up a volume of poetry. It had a curious title: Carmina Burana, Latin for “Songs of Beuern” (Beuern is a monastery outside Munich). On the first page, he admired the illuminated manuscript, which pictured a Wheel of Fortune. (Not to be confused with game shows, the medieval Wheel of Fortune rotates, elevating one man to prosperity as his predecessor topples into oblivion.)

Orff delighted at what he’d found: “Fortune meant well with me,” he mused, “when she guided the catalog…into my hands.”

Indeed. In Orff’s hands, the book lit a fire that keeps on burning. The New York Times observed that Carmina Burana “defines the sound of the pop Gothic.” Not quite ancient, yet primal and far away, his 1937 score captures an ethos similar to that of Westeros or Middle Earth. Its chant-like melodies and bare-bones harmonies conjure the Gothic soul as it emerges from the rhythms and opulent percussion writing.

The Music

Pulsing with supernatural rage, the Wheel of Fortune starts to churn in the opening music of Carmina Burana. “O, Fortune, you are changeable like the moon,” proclaims the chorus (notice the wheel’s trundling in the two pianos). Essentially, its message is this: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” While much of Orff’s Carmina Burana is a lusty celebration of earthly delights, “O, Fortuna” casts a pall of frantic despair. (Consider the fact that the life expectancy of a 13th-century nobleman was 31.3 years; this is to say nothing of women or peasants.)

While Orff channeled his passion for ancient music into his vocal writing, the solo parts are deceptively difficult. For example, “Olim lacus colueram” pushes the tenor to the top of his range. It’s an aural effect used to depict a swan roasting on a spit—from the swan’s perspective. “O Fortuna” bookends the piece, as the turning of the wheel reminds us that everyone—great or ordinary—eventually comes to ruin.

Carmina’s lyrics likely came from sources across Europe. Long associated with the 13th-century monks who copied them, the poems remained at the Benedictine abbey of Benediktbeuern, founded around 742. With the suppression of religious houses in 1803, a librarian transferred the manuscripts to the State Library in Munich. In 1847, the scholar Johann Andreas Schmeller compiled and published the poems. Schmeller chose the name Carmina Burana in honor of the monks.

With some 250 works, the book Carmina Burana is the most significant anthology of medieval Latin poems. In addition to Latin, some verses are in Middle-High German and Old French. Orff selected 24 for his oratorio. Originally intending the music to be performed with dance, he included the subtitle: “Profane songs to be sung by soloists and chorus with an accompaniment of instruments and magic tableaux.”

LA VIDA LOCA: LATIN POP HITS

THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2026 / 7:30 PM / BROWNING CENTER AT WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY, AUSTAD AUDITORIUM

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

ENRICO LOPEZ-YAÑEZ, conductor

ENDER THOMAS, vocals

JACKIE MENDEZ, vocals

JOSÉ SIBAJA, trumpet

LUISITO QUINTERO, percussion

UTAH SYMPHONY

CASAS, OSTWALD, & DEFARIA

“Get on Your Feet”

CONCERT SPONSOR

AS RECORDED BY GLORIA ESTEFAN

ESTEFAN & SANTANDER

AS RECORDED BY JENNIFER LOPEZ

TAYLOR & BARRY

AS RECORDED BY ENRIQUE IGLESIAS

TAYLOR, IGLESIAS, & BARRY

AS RECORDED BY ENRIQUE IGLESIAS

GARDEL & LE PERA

AS RECORDED BY LUIS MIGUEL

MARTÍ, DIAZ, CEPEDA, & DANIEL

AS RECORDED BY CELIA CRUZ

ROONEY, ANTHONY, JANNUSI, et al. AS RECORDED BY MARC ANTHONY

MUÑIZ, DELGADO, MONGE, et al.

AS RECORDED BY LOS DEL RIO

SHAKIRA, MITCHELL, & ESTEFAN

AS RECORDED BY SHAKIRA

PAUL JABARA & PAUL SHAFER

AS RECORDED BY CARLOS SANTANA

ASTUDILLO & QUINTANILLA

AS RECORDED BY SELENA RIO

AS RECORDED BY THE CHAMPS

ENDER, AYALA, & FONSI

AS RECORDED BY LUIS FONSI

ROSA, AFANASIEFF, CHILD, ESCOLAR, & PORTER

AS RECORDED BY RICKY MARTIN

“Let’s Get Loud”

“Bailamos”

“Hero”

“El Día Que Me Quieras”

“Celia Cruz Medley”

“I Need to Vivir”

“Mas Macarena”

INTERMISSION

“Whenever Wherever”

“Symphonic Santana”

“Como La Flor”

“Tequila”

“Despacito”

“Ricky Martin Medley”

CONDUCTOR SPONSOR

ENRICO LOPEZ-YAÑEZ HAS QUICKLY ESTABLISHED HIMSELF as one of the nation’s leading conductors of popular music and become known for his unique style of audience engagement. Lopez-Yañez holds the titled positions of Principal Pops Conductor of the Detroit and Pacific Symphonies, Principal Conductor of Dallas Symphony Presents, and Principal Guest Conductor of Pops at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He previously served as Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony for eight seasons.

Lopez-Yañez was the recipient of the 2023 “Mexicanos Distinguidos” Award by the Mexican government, an award granted to Mexican citizens living abroad for outstanding career accomplishments in their field. As an advocate for Latin music, he has arranged and produced shows for Latin Fire, Mariachi Los Camperos, The Three Mexican Tenors, and collaborated with artists including Aida Cuevas, Arturo Sandoval and Lila Downs.

ENDER THOMAS IS A VENEZUELAN VOCALIST RENOWNED FOR HIS POWERFUL VOICE and dynamic stage presence. Born in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, he developed a passion for music at a young age, influenced by his Latin roots and the rich cultural traditions of his homeland. Thomas’ vocal style is characterized by its emotional depth and versatility, allowing him to seamlessly blend genres such as Latin pop, rock, and world music.

Thomas’ career is marked by collaborations with various artists, as well as his solo work, where he continues to explore new musical horizons. His performances are noted for their intensity and his ability to convey deep emotion, making him a standout figure in the world of Latin and world music. With a career that continues to evolve, Ender Thomas remains a captivating and influential voice in the music industry.

JACKIE MENDEZ IS A NATIVE MIAMI SINGER-SONGWRITER AND PRODUCER of Cuban and Lebanese descent. She started singing professionally at the young age of 17 when she was signed to Warner Brothers’ Electra Records her senior year of high school back in 2001. She began writing with the music industry’s top artists and songwriters as well as joining several world tours and special appearances throughout the years with artists like Ricky Martin, J. Lo, Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Ricardo Montaner, and more recently on Camila Cabello’s “Tiny Desk” performance. As an accredited artist with the Latin Grammy Recording Association, you can find her on five Latin Grammy-winning albums singing along with Franco de Vita, Ricky Martin, David Bisbal, and Alejandro Sanz. Mendez’s voice is a layered sound full of texture, rasp, and soul. She captures all the emotions in the world of funk, soul, rock, and pop.

JOSÉ SIBAJA IS ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY ACCLAIMED COSTA RICAN TRUMPET PLAYERS of his generation with worldwide audiences and broadcast media in the classical, Latin, jazz, and pop musical genres. His career ranges from international appearances as an orchestral soloist with Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, to worldwide tours with Ricky Martin for the Vuelve and Living la Vida Loca tours. Currently, Sibaja plays lead trumpet with the world renowned Boston Brass.

Receiving his musical training at the New World School of the Arts and the University of Miami, Sibaja’s vast musical repertoire and his masterful artistry make him a prominent figure in a new generation of musicians. He has held positions as principal trumpet with the Miami Symphony, the Sinfonieta de Caracas and Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, as well as a position with the Dallas Brass.

LUIS ERNESTO QUINTERO VEGAS, KNOWN AS LUISITO QUINTERO, was born in the populous Caracas, Venezuela neighborhood of San Agustín on August 24, 1967. Quintero, a child music prodigy, hails from a lineage of distinguished musicians and singers.

Quintero brings technical wizardry and musicality to every performance and recording. He has participated in more than 700 musical productions spanning a variety of music genres and between Grammys and Latin Grammys, Quintero has more than 60 Grammy Awards to his credit. His most recent Grammys were in 2019 with Chick Corea & The Spanish Heart Band for the Best Latin Jazz Album and in 2018 with Spanish Harlem Orchestra for the Best Tropical Latin Album. In August 2020, Quintero released the second production of his Grammynominated band (co-founded with his cousin, percussionist Roberto Quintero), Quintero’s Salsa Project, Tributo a La Dimensión Latina

THE MAGICAL MUSIC OF HARRY POTTER

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2026 / 7:00 PM / BROWNING CENTER AT WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY, AUSTAD AUDITORIUM

SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2026 / 11 AM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2026 / 12:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

ENRICO LOPEZ-YAÑEZ, conductor UTAH SYMPHONY

WILLIAMS

HOOPER

ARR. JERRY BRUBAKER

WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS

WILLIAMS

DOYLE

WILLIAMS

Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“The Weasley Stomp” from Concert Suite from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

“Nimbus 2000” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“Witches, Wands and Wizards” from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

“Children’s Suite” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“Aunt Marge’s Waltz” from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Concert Suite

“Harry’s Wondrous World” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

CONDUCTOR SPONSOR

Please see Enrico Lopez-Yañez’s bio on page 32.

HVAC AND TEMPERATURE INFORMATION

Have you ever felt a sudden chill or a burst of heat while enjoying a performance? You’re not imagining things!

Here’s an overview of why this occurs and the enhancements we’re implementing to improve your comfort.

Why Does This Happen?

The entire theatre - stage, orchestra level, and balcony - is served by a single air handler and it is a delicate balance to keep temperatures just right for the audience and the performers on stage. This means some areas may be a little warmer and other areas may be a little colder.

How Do We Compensate?

We monitor temperatures in real-time using the IMonnit App, allowing us to respond to temperature fluctuations quickly. Backstage, we can deploy portable heaters for localized temperature adjustments. We work hard to find ideal temperatures in all areas of the auditorium

and stage, but because of the historical design of the systems we are not always able to reach perfect temperatures in every area.

When Will This Be Fixed?

Our long-term goal is to design and install an HVAC system with independent temperature control for different zones. This multi-year project begins in 2026 with a feasibility study to determine the best options for optimizing temperatures and associated costs, while preserving the historical nature of Capitol Theatre. From there, we will seek funding and develop a construction timeline. Because of the scope of this project, it is expected to take several years.

Thank you for your continued patience as we work to make the Capitol Theatre a more comfortable experience for everyone.

PROKOFIEV’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2026 / 7:30 PM / BROWNING CENTER AT WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY, AUSTAD AUDITORIUM

FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2026 / 5:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

ANDREW MANZE, conductor* SIMON TRPČESKI, piano UTAH SYMPHONY

PROKOFIEV

Concerto No. 3 in C Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 26 (28’)

I. Andante - Allegro

II. Andantino

III. Allegro ma non troppo

INTERMISSION

ELGAR

Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 63 (54’)

I. Allegro vivace e nobilmente

II. Larghetto

III. Rondo

IV. Moderato e maestoso

CONCERT SPONSOR

NORA ECCLES TREADWELL FOUNDATION

*Utah Symphony debut

ORCHESTRA SPONSOR

HEALTHCARE NIGHT

SPECIAL DEDICATION IN MEMORY OF

DR. RICHARD BARINGER HEALTHCARE NIGHT CO-FOUNDER

ANDREW MANZE IS WIDELY CELEBRATED AS ONE OF THE MOST STIMULATING and inspirational conductors of his generation. His extensive and scholarly knowledge of the repertoire, together with his boundless energy and warmth, mark him out. He held the position of Chief Conductor of the NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hannover from 2014 until 2023. Since 2018, he has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In April 2024, he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, starting in September of that year.

Manze is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, Visiting Professor at the Oslo Academy, and has contributed to new editions of sonatas and concerti by Bach and Mozart, published by Bärenreiter and Breitkopf & Härtel. He also teaches, writes about, and edits music, as well as broadcasting regularly on radio and television. In November 2011, Andrew Manze received the prestigious Rolf Schock Prize in Stockholm.

PRAISED AS MUCH FOR HIS POWERFUL VIRTUOSITY AND DEEPLY EXPRESSIVE approach as for his charismatic stage presence, Simon Trpčeski has captivated audiences worldwide for over two decades. Launched onto the international scene as a BBC New Generation Artist, he has collaborated with more than 100 orchestras across four continents, including the London Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras; Orchestre National de France; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich; Royal Stockholm, Oslo, and Helsinki Philharmonics; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin; NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra; the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics; and The Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras; as well as the Seoul Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Sydney and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. A much sought-after soloist, he has worked with many of today’s most prominent conductors, earning a reputation as one of the most distinctive and compelling pianists of his generation.

BY NOEL MORRIS

Key Notes

Like the vivid character portraits of his famous Enigma Variations, Edward Elgar associated people, places, and ideas with music and drew on those associations to fuel his Second Symphony.

Elgar was a self-taught musician and composer.

Sergei Prokofiev was a monster pianist who wrote concertos for his own (very long!) fingers to play.

What to Listen for

Prokofiev shared a love of machines with his friend Cyrus McCormick (inventor of the mechanical reaper) and incorporated machine-like propulsion into his Third Piano Concerto.

SERGEI PROKOFIEV

born April 23, 1891, in Sontsivka, Ukraine died March 5, 1953, in Moscow, USSR

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26

composed 1917–1921

premiered in Chicago, Illinois, in 1921 last performed by the Utah Symphony in June 2024 with conductor Conner Gray Covington and pianist Youl Sun as part of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation’s 2024 International Artists Competition

The Backstory

1917 proved to be among the most consequential years of the 20th century. As the Russian people rang in the new year, the Tsar’s empire spanned nearly 9,000,000 square miles. His armed forces racked up terrible losses in World War I, and bread and coal were scarce in the cities. In the ensuing months, demonstrations and work stoppages became daily occurrences. Workers organized into soviets. In March, the Romanov dynasty fell, ceding power to a provisional government. In April, Vladimir Lenin returned from exile to build a coalition among workers, leading to a second revolution in October that established the Soviet Union.

Not a political creature, Sergei Prokofiev went on with his life. In early 1917, his new opera The Gambler went into

rehearsal at the famed Mariinsky Theater in Petrograd. For much of that year, he avoided the unrest and retreated into nature. He took a river cruise and made an extended stay at a resort town in the Caucasus Mountains (in fact, he got stranded there as the ravages of war and revolution made returning to the city untenable). Throughout that historic year, new works poured out of him.

In June 1917, the Chicago industrialist Cyrus McCormick joined a diplomatic delegation to Russia, where he befriended the 26-year-old Prokofiev. McCormick had made his fortune through International Harvester, but served on the board of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He and the composer shared an endless fascination for both music and machinery, prompting McCormick to invite Prokofiev to Chicago.

History gave the composer a nudge. With violence erupting within Russian cities, concerts became impossible, if not inappropriate. And Russia hemorrhaged its greatest talent, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Wassily Kandinsky, and Vladimir Horowitz. Like many, Prokofiev packed his bags, thinking he’d be gone a few months, and boarded one of the last trains of the Trans-Siberian railway to journey toward America.

The Music

As promised, McCormick introduced Prokofiev to Frederick Stock of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the composer performed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1918. One reviewer wrote, “Russian Genius Displays Weird Harmonies,” but went on to describe a “thunderous ovation.” Still in exile, Prokofiev returned to Chicago to debut his Piano Concerto No. 3 in 1921.

According to the composer, he wrote some of the material as early as 1911, while a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. But for all practical purposes, he composed the piece in St. Brevin, France, where the Loire Valley meets the Atlantic. Although he was on vacation, he kept a strict schedule: hot chocolate, composition, lunch, chess, swimming, newspapers and tea, piano practice, etc.

“My Third Concerto has turned out to be devilishly difficult,” he wrote. “I’m nervous, and I’m practicing hard three hours a day.” After a 1922 Paris performance, the work entered the repertoire and became one of the most popular piano concertos of the 20th century.

The Prokofiev Third opens with a poignant clarinet melody that quickly turns backwards in the hands of the pianist.

Motoric rhythms undergird this piece, pointing to the composer’s love of machines and futurism. Yet he still wrote melodies that put a catch in your throat.

The middle movement is a Baroque dance called a gavotte, which conjures images of chandeliers and ball gowns. But Prokofiev perverts his gavotte in a set of variations, making it piquant, like a strong cheese. In the finale, he whips up a battle between piano and orchestra until sweeping melodies and red-hot virtuosity win the day.

SIR EDWARD ELGAR

born June 2, 1857, in Broadheath, United Kingdom died February 23, 1924, in Worcester

Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 63

composed 1909–1911

premiered in London, in 1911 last performed by the Utah Symphony in March 2010 with conductor Christopher Seaman

The Backstory

Sir Edward Elgar was one of seven children born to a multitalented father who was a violinist, shopkeeper, and piano tuner. His father couldn’t afford music lessons, let alone a conservatory. So little Edward taught himself the various instruments in his father’s music shop.

Living in Victorian England, Edward’s talent took him far beyond his station in society, but he never forgot where he came from. As late as 1897, he declined a luncheon, stating, “You would not wish your board to be disgraced by the presence of a piano-tuner’s son and his wife.”

In his uneasy way, Elgar rose among the ranks to become the most sought-after composer in England, until he knelt before Edward VII to receive a knighthood.

When it comes to writing symphonies, Elgar bloomed later than most. He issued his first in 1908 at 51, but its success is legendary. In its first year, Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 received more than 100 performances worldwide. Naturally, he started his Symphony No. 2 almost immediately.

The Music

The United Kingdom had settled into a new age after the 1901 death of Queen Victoria. Unlike his stolid mom, King

Edward VII was charming and outgoing. He loved the arts and relaxed the moral codes that had constrained Victorian creatives, leading to a flowering of theater and literature. He also saw the rise of suffragettes, Irish separatists, and a liberal social agenda.

When Elgar began his Symphony No. 2, he had the king in mind, turbulence and all. According to the composer, the symphony evolved alongside the people and places that touched his life during its composition.

Indeed, it is a deeply personal piece, filled with private references. For example, a descending passage at the end echoes music that Elgar wrote as a child. An inscription on the last page, “Venice and Tintagel,” points to his travels and a bountiful inner life.

Across the top of the first page, the composer quoted lines from a poem by Percy Shelley: “Rarely, rarely, comest thou, Spirit of Delight,” leading scholars to identify the opening theme as the Spirit of Delight motive. From there, Elgar spun the opening movement with widely contrasting gestures, from joy to sadness, serenity to violence.

Inspiration for the second movement came from three events: the deaths of the composer’s friend Alfred Rodewald and King Edward VII (1910), and a trip to Italy in 1909. The Larghetto takes us inside St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, where a solemn scene gives way to an impressive funeral march.

For the third movement, Elgar takes us outside St. Mark’s to the sun-baked Piazza San Marco. To teleport his audience to the 16th-century arcades, he copied out a rhythm from “some itinerant musicians who seemed to take a grave satisfaction in the broken accents of the first four bars.” Once again, Elgar hints at past compositions, adding enigma to this personal flight of fancy.

The meaning of the inscription “Tintagel,” written on the last page of his manuscript, is not so concrete (to us). But the Strauss-like opulence of the symphony suggests a woman. Here’s what we know: Elgar maintained an intimate relationship with a beautiful young pianist who served as his muse for several works, including the Violin Concerto. He gave her a pet name, “Windflower,” and maintained a correspondence with her for the rest of his life, including many letters with windflowers pressed into them. Her daughter, Clare, destroyed her mother’s letters to the composer.

Alice “Windflower” Stuart-Wortley and her husband liked to vacation in Cornwall, near the dramatic, seaside ruins of Tintagel Castle. Elgar and his wife, also named Alice, visited them there in April 1910 while he was working on the Second Symphony.

Edward Elgar conducted the premiere on May 24, 1911, with the following lines:

Dedicated to the memory of His late Majesty King Edward VII. This Symphony, designed early in 1910 to

be a loyal tribute, bears its present dedication with the gracious approval of His Majesty the King.

By this time, Edward VII lay in his tomb, and the national mood looked toward the coronation of George V. The symphony’s lack of timeliness, coupled with the quietude of its final pages, couldn’t deliver the riotous ovations of the First Symphony, prompting a mixed reception.

Yet it’s said that Elgar had a very different perspective, describing the work as “the passionate pilgrimage of a soul.”

COPLAND, IVES, & A GUITAR CONCERTO

FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

DAVID ROBERTSON, conductor

GRETCHEN MENN, guitar

UTAH SYMPHONY

COPLAND

STEVEN MACKEY

Danzón Cubano (5’)

Aluminum Flowers for guitar and orchestra (25’)

I. Introduction

II. Echo

III. Canción

IV. Fantasia

V. Loop

INTERMISSION

IVES

Symphony No. 2 (37’)

I. Andante moderato

II. Allegro

III. Adagio cantabile

IV. Lento maestoso

V. Allegro molto vivace

CONCERT SPONSOR

SPONSOR

GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR

DAVID ROBERTSON – CONDUCTOR, ARTIST, COMPOSER, THINKER, American musical visionary – occupies the most prominent podiums in orchestral and new music, and opera. He is a champion of contemporary composers, and an ingenious programmer. Robertson has served in numerous leadership positions, including Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a transformative 13-year tenure as St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Music Director, with Orchestre National de Lyon, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and, as protégé of Pierre Boulez, Ensemble InterContemporain. In the 2024-25 season, Robertson celebrated the Boulez Centennial on four musical occasions, with The Juilliard Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, at the Aspen Music Festival and Lucerne Festival. He appears with the world’s great orchestras such as those of New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cleveland; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester; and major ensembles and festivals on five continents. Since his 1996 Metropolitan Opera debut, Robertson has conducted a breathtaking range of Met projects, including the 2019 production premiere of Porgy and Bess, winning the Grammy Award, Best Opera Recording. In 2022, he conducted its Met revival, and made his Rome Opera debut. In the 2025-26 season, he returns to the St. Louis and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, to the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, HR-Sinfonieorchester, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, to the orchestras of Dallas, Leipzig, and Vancouver, and will conduct in Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. Robertson is The Juilliard School’s Director of Conducting Studies, Distinguished Visiting Faculty, and serves on the Tianjin Juilliard Advisory Council. He concludes his three-year term this season as the inaugural Utah Symphony and Opera’s Creative Partner. Robertson is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.

GRETCHEN MENN BRINGS A MUSICAL VOICE SHAPED BY FORMAL TRAINING and a variety of musical pursuits. She earned a B.A. in Music from Smith College, where she studied classical guitar with Phillip de Fremery. Her career and interests include rock, metal, jazz, classical, and fingerstyle.

She tours extensively with her original trio and Zepparella, the latter honoring the music of Led Zeppelin. As the winner of Guitar World’s No Limits Challenge, she appeared on the September 2022 cover, and has been featured in guitar magazines: Guitar Player, Guitar World, Vintage Guitar, Premier Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, and others, celebrated for her versatility, virtuosity, and depth of original compositions.

In 2024, Menn premiered Steven Mackey’s Aluminum Flowers with Utah Symphony, a piece showcasing both classical and electric guitar and an extensive array of extended techniques.

Her original music blends modern and classical instruments: Hale Souls (2011), Abandon All Hope (2016).

BY NOEL MORRIS

Key Notes

All the works on this program come from composers reflecting on the sound of popular music.

Aaron Copland was a Brooklyn native who wrote iconic musical portraits of the Wild West.

Charles Ives could afford to be a musical maverick because he worked as an insurance executive.

AARON COPLAND

born November 14, 1900, in Brooklyn, New York died December 2, 1990, in Peekskill, New York

Danzón Cubano

composed in 1942 premiered in New York City, in 1942 Utah Symphony premiere

The Backstory

In 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his inaugural address from the steps of the U. S. Capitol—just as Adolph Hitler unleashed paramilitaries across Germany to intimidate voters and assure his electoral advantage. Already, Roosevelt perceived the threat and alluded to it in his speech.

“In the field of world policy, I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor— the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others,” said the new president.

With these words, he not only advanced American values but also pragmatism. America necessarily needed to counter Nazi propaganda in Latin America. And with a hellish storm on the horizon, the U.S. couldn’t go it alone.

That same year, 1933, Roosevelt established the Good Neighbor Policy toward Latin America based

on mutual respect and economic cooperation. To extend American “soft power” to the south, the Office of Inter-American Affairs chose Aaron Copland, among others, as a cultural ambassador.

Copland fit the bill for several reasons: he had a kind demeanor. He wrote folkish and accessible music based on American themes, such as Billy the Kid. He spoke Spanish and had already shown his affection for Latin America with his popular showpiece El Salón México

As the State Department’s OIAA sought to promote PanAmericanism through commercial and cultural initiatives, what they called a “fresh” or “American” take on the arts, they dispatched Copland to grease the wheels. He was obviously good at the job.

From 1941 to 1978, the composer made 13 diplomatic tours for the State Department.

The Music

“Folklore, identity, musical modernism surface in Copland’s 1941 goodwill tour,” said Copland scholar Carol Hess. Making a nine-country tour from Mexico to Chile, Copland gave concerts and met with prominent Latin American composers. In Havana, he settled into local dance halls to watch and listen.

With the outbreak of war, Copland spent the fall of 1942 in Oakland, New Jersey, working on his patriotic Fanfare for the Common Man. He also wrote a playful piece for two pianos that evoked the rhythms and melodies remembered from the Cuban dance halls.

It “is in no sense intended to be an authentic danzón, but only an American tourist’s impression,” said the composer.

On December 9, 1942, pianists Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein played the world premiere of “Birthday Piece (On Cuban Themes),” celebrating the 20th anniversary of the League of American Composers, as well as the birthday of the photographer and filmmaker Rudy Burckhardt. Copland orchestrated the piece in 1946 with a large battery of percussion instruments including claves, güiro, and maracas and settled on the title Danzón Cubano.

STEVEN MACKEY

born February 14, 1956, in Frankfurt, Germany

Aluminum Flowers composed in 2024

premiered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2024 last performed by Utah Symphony in April 2024 with conductor David Robertson and guitarist Gretchen Menn

Aluminum Flowers celebrates the variety of musical modes that “polymath” guitarists practice regularly, ranging from delicate, intimate tones emanating from flesh on nylon strings to the grand orchestral textures possible with the electric guitar wired to a bank of effects pedals. From the 600-year-old tradition of the Spanish vihuela to contemporary pop, rock, blues, and jazz, guitarists are conversant in a wide range of styles, all of them, ironically, on the fringe of mainstream classical music.

The movements contrast sharply with each other as each movement is cast for a different instrument. The first movement is a nylon string “classical” or “Spanish” guitar. The second movement runs the electric guitar through a delay pedal, requiring impeccable timing to produce a rapid moto perpetuo texture. The third movement, somewhat paradoxically, uses overdrive/distortion to create a sustained, lyrical, singing tone. The fourth movement is for prepared guitar—a guitar pick threaded through the strings to create a gong-like sound—and a bottleneck which slides up and down the string unencumbered by the frets. The last movement uses a looper to layer several polyphonic strands, creating an orchestral texture.

Within each movement, one thing leads to the next naturally, without jagged edges or willfully discursive digressions, one might say “organically.” This organicism, combined with the image of metal wires carrying current from the guitar to its pedals like veins to petals, conjured the image of metal flowers—Aluminum Flowers because the pitches A-F have an important structural role in the piece, beginning with the introduction, which is made up entirely of a bass line that alternates between A and F.

CHARLES IVES

born October 20, 1874, in Danbury, Connecticut died May 19, 1954, in New York City

Symphony No. 2

composed in 1897–1909 premiered in New York City, in 1951 last performed by Utah Symphony in November 2022 with conductor Ludovic Morlot

What to listen for?

Ives used popular melodies throughout his Second Symphony. How many do you recognize?

The Backstory

“Yankee maverick.” That’s how biographer Jan Swafford describes Charles Ives. Ives’ music is “as familiar as a tune whistled in childhood, music that can conjure up the pandemonium of a small-town Fourth of July or the quiet of a New England church.” At the same time, his music was decades ahead of its time.

Ives’ connection to old-time American music ran deep. His father, George Ives, had been a bandmaster in the Union Army during the Civil War. George was 20 when the war ended and went home to Danbury to make a living as a jack-of-all-trades musician. George was a great experimenter: he once set two bands marching toward one another while playing different music to see how it sounded. George taught young Charles all the rules of melody and harmony—and encouraged him to break them.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Charles became a professional musician at 14, serving as the organist in a local church. As a freshman at Yale, Charles became the organist at the prestigious Center Church. At the same time, he played sports, joined various clubs, and was always willing to bang out a ragtime tune on the piano. He had a keen sense of popular music and probably could have been a bandleader and songwriter, but his muse tugged him in a different direction.

After graduation, Charles Ives made a decision that would forever impact the music he wrote. In 1898, he moved to New York City to clerk for Mutual Life Insurance Company.

“Father felt that a man could keep his music interest stronger, cleaner, bigger, and freer, if he didn’t try to make a living out of it,” wrote Ives. “Assuming a man lived by himself

. . . [he] might write music that no one would play, listen to, or buy. But—if he has a nice wife and some nice children, how can he let the children starve on his own dissonances?”

Over the years, Ives rose through the ranks of the insurance industry to sit in the executive’s chair, all the while writing music that was at once familiar and radical.

The Music

Ives wrote his First Symphony under the supervision of Horatio Parker at Yale. He followed with his Second Symphony shortly after moving to New York. The Second Symphony is an amalgam of the music that had filled his head until that point. It is jam-packed with musical references to well-known songs including “Camptown Races,” “America the Beautiful,” and “Turkey in the Straw.” Some are direct quotes, while others carry just a whiff of something familiar, encouraging fans to dissect the piece to discover them.

“Every one of his themes paraphrases an American vernacular tune,” wrote biographer J. Peter Burkholder. “At the same time, many transitional sections... paraphrase transitions or episodes in the music of Bach, Brahms, or Wagner. The American sources, then, are identified with the thematic

material, the European sources with non-thematic episodes and transitions.” There are fiddle tunes, hymns, marches, Civil War songs, a student song, an abolitionist song, and bits from Ives’ own compositions. And he set these tunes in an elaborate dialogue with the European classical music as if to represent the whole musical firmament as he knew it.

Ives revised the Second Symphony as late as 1910 and completed the Third Symphony that same year. For years, both sat on a shelf. Ives moved on, venturing into an experimental sound world until he wrote his last piece in 1926.

Twenty years later, Lou Harrison conducted the premiere of the Third Symphony, which earned the composer some surprising, if delayed, recognition—Ives received the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Suddenly, the music world was looking again at the “Yankee maverick” and marveling at the daring inventiveness of his works. With Ives on the brain, Leonard Bernstein conducted the premiere of the Second Symphony in 1951—50 years after the composer had completed its first draft. Ives declined to attend the performance but listened to it on a small radio. It’s said that Ives’ reaction was “ambivalent.” The performance included many unauthorized changes and errors. But the audience loved it and gave Bernstein a resounding ovation.

FROM YOUNG ARTISTS TO ARTS PARTNERS

By Julia Lyon

If you’ve read your playbill closely recently, you might have noticed some new names listed under musicians in our roster. These aren’t new members of Utah Symphony–though many of them have a strong music background–they’re sponsors supporting our principal musicians.

Over the last two years, the number of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera named chairs has doubled to 15. Known as the Partner with a Player program, it allows donors to support USUO in a personalized way.

Musician and sponsor often connect over a shared love of a particular instrument or voice type, as was the case for Melina Nicolatus.

The Park City resident heard a symphony for the first time in Vienna at age 15, leaving her “profoundly moved.” The musicians were performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major.

“This particular piece is the one I listen to when I need to escape from stress and feel like all is right with the world,” she said.

Over time, her favorite section of the orchestra would grow to be the strings.

“I especially love the viola, and its rich harmonious sound,” she said. “It’s the center of gravity for the string section.”

Now sponsor of the viola principal chair, she’s gotten to know Brant Bayless and has “the greatest respect for his musical path from childhood and his expertise and love for the viola and Utah Symphony,” she said. “We are blessed to have the passion of this organization in our lives.”

Her sponsorship comes through The John C. Kish Foundation where Nicolatus is a trustee. Other newcomers to the Partner with a Player program include Sandefur Schmidt, who is sponsoring Austin McWilliams, Chorus Director and Opera Assistant Conductor.

Schmidt started singing in choirs in elementary school and never really stopped.

“I have always thought the best people sang in choirs,” the Provo resident said. “I’ve made hundreds of lifelong friends in all the BYU choirs I either sang in or conducted.”

After graduating from BYU with a Master of Music in choral conducting, she continues to keep track of decades of alumni, organizing reunions and many special projects.

“I now do more photography than singing, but in between looking for wildlife and unique landscapes I photograph concerts and choral tours.”

She’s impressed by the performances she’s heard under McWilliams’ direction.

“I’ve seen a lot of artistic growth in the chorus under Austin,” Schmidt said. “I’m looking forward to his future with the choir.”

**

The Partner with a Player program creates a unique bond between musician and benefactor, signifying their shared love for music. Named chairs help ensure the future of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera stays strong while more deeply connecting our musicians with members of the community.

To learn more, contact Garrett Murphy, Director of Development, at (801) 869-9016.

PRODUCTION SPONSOR

SET & COSTUME SPONSOR

OPERA ARTISTIC DIRECTOR SPONSOR

EMMA ECCLES JONES FOUNDATION

LEADING LADY SPONSOR

THE SCOTT & JENNIFER HUNTSMAN OPERA ENCHANCEMENT FUND

VIP INTERMISSION RECEPTION SPONSOR

VIP INTERMISSION BEVERAGE SPONSOR

FLORAL SEASON SPONSOR

CAST PARTY SPONSOR

Verdi’s

LA TRAVIATA

MAY 9 (7:30 PM), MAY 11 (7:00 PM), MAY 13 (7:00 PM), MAY 15 (7:30 PM), MAY 17 (2:00 PM) JANET QUINNEY LAWSON CAPITOL THEATRE

Composed by Giuseppe Verdi with Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave Premiere – March 6, 1853, Teatro La Fenice, Venice

Previously at Utah Opera – 2019, 2014, 2006, 1998, 1987, 1980 Performed in Italian with English Supertitles (Captions)

CAST

(in order of vocal appearance)

Violetta Valéry Lydia Katarina

Flora Bervoix Julia Holoman*

Marquis d’Obigny ..................................... Rodney Sharp II*

Baron Douphol Christopher Clayton

Doctor Grenvil Kevin Nakatani

Gastone de Letorières .................................. Aaron McKone*

Alfredo Germont Ricardo Garcia

Annina Stephanie Chee*

Giorgio Germont .......................................... Weston Hurt

Dancers

Maeve Friedman, Emily Marsh, Ruger Memmott, Madeline Nelson, Tyler Schnese, Brandin Steffensen

ARTISTIC TEAM

Conductor Robert Tweten

Stage Director ......................................... Garnett Bruce

Chorus Director & Assistant Conductor Austin McWilliams

Scenic Designer Peter Dean Beck

Costume Designer ............................... Susan Memmott Allred

Lighting Designer James Sale

Choreographer Daniel Charon

Wig & Makeup Designer Kate Casalino

Principal Coach Deborah Robertson

Rehearsal Pianist Jie Fang Goh*

Stage Manager Gina Hays

Assistant Stage Manager Mickey Acton

2nd Assistant Stage Manager Sierra Loertscher

Supertitle Musician Ashley Tingey

Set and costumes built by Utah Opera

The performance run time is approximately 2 hours 45 minutes with two intermissions

*Current Resident Artist

**Former Resident Artist

Peter Dean Beck (New York)

Scenic Designer

Most Recently at Utah Opera, La traviata

Recently:

Cendrillon, Eklund Opera

Falstaff, Eklund Opera

Dead Man Walking, Eklund Opera

Garnett Bruce (Texas)

Stage Director

Most Recently at Utah Opera, La bohème

Recently:

La fanciulla del West, Wichita Grand Opera

Le comte Ory, San Francisco Opera/Merola

Resident Stage Director, University of Texas at Austin

Upcoming:

Turandot, LA Opera

Kate Casalino (New York)

Wig & Makeup Designer

Most Recently at Utah Opera, Fidelio

Recently:

Come From Away, Pioneer Theater Company

Wilderness Generation, Philadelphia Theater Company

I & You, Olney Theater Center

Stephanie Chee (California)

Annina

Most Recently at Utah Opera, The Elixir of Love

Recently:

Utah Opera Resident Artist

Fidelio, Utah Opera

Messiah, Utah Symphony

The Shining, Utah Opera

Hansel and Gretel, Utah Opera

Christopher Clayton (Utah)

Baron Douphol

Most Recently at Utah Opera, The Shining

Recently:

Falstaff, Lyrical Opera Theatre

Il trovatore, St. Pete Opera

Ricardo Garcia (California)

Alfredo

Utah Opera debut

Recently:

Die Fledermaus, Florida Grand Opera

La traviata, Staatstheater Darmstadt

Wozzeck, Staatstheater Darmstadt

Alcina, Staatstheater Darmstadt

Maeve Friedman (Utah)

Dancer

Utah Opera debut

Recently:

Emerge, Repertory Dance Theatre

Phantom Limb, Sock Opera Dance Company

Upcoming:

Phantom Limb, Sock Opera Dance Company

Julia Holoman (North Carolina)

Flora Bervoix

Most Recently at Utah Opera, The Shining

Recently:

Utah Opera Resident Artist

Alcina, Rice University Shepherd School of Music

Dido and Aeneas, Rice University Shepherd School of Music

Upcoming:

Ariodante, Minnesota Opera

Falstaff, Minnesota Opera

Weston Hurt (Kansas)

Giorgio Germont

Utah Opera debut

Recently:

La traviata, Opera Colorado

Madama Butterfly, Fort Worth Opera

Upcoming:

The Ballad of Baby Doe, Central City Opera

Emily Marsh (Utah)

Dancer

Utah Opera debut

Recently:

Emerge, Repertory Dance Theatre

Tusitala: Loto ma le agaga, LeGrande Lolo

Meraki, Myriad Dance

History of the Hustle, Side Hustle Dance Project

What is dance? (what we leave behind), University of Utah

School of Dance

Lydia Katarina (New Mexico)

Violetta Valéry

Most Recently at Utah Opera, Pagliacci

Recently: Le trouvère, Wexford Festival Opera

Roméo et Juliette, Palm Beach Opera

The Rake’s Progress, The Glimmerglass Festival

Upcoming:

King Roger, Des Moines Metro Opera

Aaron McKone (South Carolina)

Gastone de Letorières

Most Recently at Utah Opera, Fidelio

Recently:

Utah Opera Resident Artist

The Shining, Utah Opera

Pagliacci, Utah Opera

Upcoming:

The Magic Flute, The Santa Fe Opera

Austin McWilliams (Missouri)

Chorus Director & Assistant Conductor

Most Recently at Utah Opera, The Elixir of Love

Recently:

Associate Conductor & Chorus Master, Opera Grand Rapids

Director of Choral Activities, Aquinas College

Upcoming:

Faculty, Missouri Scholars Academy

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Deer Valley Music Festival

Susan Memmott Allred (Utah)

Costume Designer

Most Recently at Utah Opera, Hansel and Gretel

Recently:

PBS Christmas Concert, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square

Stylist, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square

La traviata, Livermore Valley Opera

The Marriage of Figaro, Amarillo Opera

La bohème, Madison Opera, Pittsburgh Opera

Upcoming:

Tosca, Opera Montana

The Marriage of Figaro, Indianapolis Opera

Ruger Memmott (Utah) Dancer

Utah Opera debut

Recently:

Hello, Dolly!, Hale Center Theatre

Dancer, Odyssey Dance Theatre

Kevin Nakatani (Utah)

Doctor Grenvil

Most Recently at Utah Opera, Madame Butterfly

Recently:

The Daughter of the Regiment, Utah Opera

The Pirates of Penzance, Utah Opera

Silent Night, Utah Opera

Madeline Nelson (Utah)

Dancer

Utah Opera debut

Recently:

Alchemy, University of Utah

Outro, University of Utah

Wizard of Oz, Backstage Performing Arts Utah

Something Rotten Jr., Backstage Performing Arts Utah

Upcoming:

Alice in Wonderland Jr., Backstage Performing Arts Utah

Tyler Schnese (Utah)

Dancer

Utah Opera debut

Recently:

Artistic Associate, Gibney Dance Company

Soloist, Hessisches Staatsballett

James Sale (Colorado)

Lighting Designer

Most Recently at Utah Opera, Sweeney Todd

Recently:

Verdi Requiem, Austin Opera

Turandot, Kansas City Opera

La bohème, Austin Opera

Upcoming:

La bohème, Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Rodney Sharp II (Texas)

Marquis d’Obigny

Most Recently at Utah Opera, Fidelio

Recently:

Utah Opera Resident Artist

The Shining, Utah Opera

Madame Butterfly, Utah Opera

Brandin Steffensen (Utah)

Dancer

Utah Opera debut

Recently:

Sleep No More, Emursive Theatre Company

Life and Trust, Emursive Theatre Company

Upcoming:

The Last – Pharaoh, Stephanie Batten Bland

Robert Tweten (New Mexico)

Conductor

Most Recently at Utah Opera, Sweeney Todd

Recently:

Rigoletto, Pacific Opera Victoria Flight, New England Conservatory

Upcoming:

Eugene Onegin, The Santa Fe Opera

UTAH OPERA CHORUS

CHORUS SPONSOR

CAROLYN TALBOYS-KLASSEN & TOM KLASSEN

Soprano

Lauren Bohannan

Kahli Dalbow

Genevieve Gannon

Abigail Ketch

April Meservy

Kate Olsen

Katie Sullivan

Alto

Melissa James

Deborah Johnson

Angela Keeton

Samantha Lange

Alice Packard

Dawn Veree

Valerie Wadsworth

Tenor

Samuel Lorenzo Gilbert

Orion Gray

Brynnen Green

Elijah Hancock

Tim Hanna Layton Loucks

William Tepner

Bass

Buddy Eyre

Rodrigo Hernandez-Vazquez

Thomas Klassen

Nelson LeDuc

Oscar Safsten

Carson Smith

Daniel Tu’utau

Supernumeraries

Maxwell Caloca

Peter Gehring

Robert Payne

Sam Stuart

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

By Garnett Bruce

“One such woman experienced deep love, she suffered for it and died for it…Her history is exceptional. Had it been common, it would not have been worth writing.”

– A. Dumas-fils, The Lady of the Camellias

FRENCH AUTHOR ALEXANDRE DUMAS-FILS (son of the famous author) scandalized French society with his 1848 novel telling of the demi-monde of Paris: an opaque world of courtesans and their protectors who would lavish them with adornments for a time and then cast them aside when they became old or ill. His subject was based in reality— following the short and vibrant life of Marie Duplessis— while most of the wealthy men in the story were indicated only by their first initial, creating outrage and intrigue. The demi-monde had its own coded language, displaying camellias being one of them, letting suitors know if she was entertaining newcomers or not. The novel was also not shy about discussing the ailments, particularly consumption, that plagued these courtesans. But above all, the story of how a middle-class young man came to win the heart of a glorious (if notorious) woman honors her, reminding readers to look beneath the surface.

By 1853, Giuseppe Verdi had also witnessed the duplicity and condemnation of French society and sought to challenge the elites with this tale of his own time, naming his heroine Violetta. Premiering in Venice, La traviata (The Fallen Woman) did not immediately find its audience. Elite operagoers rejected the critique and stayed away. But soon, everyone recognized the psychological depth and emotional journey of the principal characters in Verdi’s music. Violetta has her public and private faces: “Life of the Party” in Act I, with high-notes and dazzling coloratura; “The Quiet Angel” in Act II, momentarily happy and healthy until she returns to the pressure of Paris; and “Grasping at Life” in Act III, as her breathing and her singing become labored. Through it all, she displays the “exceptional”

strength and nuance Dumas-fils describes as she wrestles with her independence and her struggles with a disease, a judgmental society, and ultimately isolation.

Verdi was quite adept at capturing the allure of movement in music, and in this opera, it’s also a gateway to the honesty, integrity, and desires of Violetta. Dance has always been part of French opera tradition, but even when writing for the Italian audiences (who didn’t require a ballet), Verdi included space for choreography. The chorus hears lively tempi in ¾ time in Act I, and they dance a Spanish pastiche at Flora’s party—Moderato for the fortune-telling ladies, Allegro Assai Mosso for the matadors. Even in the haunting prelude, we hear a gentle waltz descending into the strong melody for the cellos playing a romantic theme before it all vanishes: a life flashing before our eyes.

When creating this staging for Utah Opera, we took the opportunity to include dance throughout. Working with choreographer Daniel Charon, we not only enliven the dances written in the score but also connect them to Violetta’s world of delicacy and decadence: exchanging partners, finding momentary physicality, gestures that are boldly elegant. We expand our worldview of the excess and intrigue that Violetta might have recognized. Our corps of dancers is an extension of society couples surrounding Violetta, celebrating her in one act, moving on without her in another: a subtle reminder of the hollow friendships that will abandon a soul when she is most in need.

You will see a new costume for Act II, as I wanted to imagine a healthy Violetta riding horses across the countryside with Alfredo. The mid-19th century research reveals several independent women altering their skirts, corsets, and petticoats to allow them to ride assertively alongside the gentlemen. I appreciate showing Violetta’s practicality over the finery of the boudoir. Finding her so

relaxed, even the elder Germont has to respect Violetta’s integrity, learning she is much more than he expected. The riding costume also offers a great contrast when she has to go back to a more formal look at Flora’s party. The corset and trappings of the period now seem to overwhelm her. By the final act, she’s not even capable of dressing to go outside, with the orchestra thundering away, reflecting her frustration: “Grand Dio, non posso!” (God, it’s impossible). In some eyes, she has fallen from dramatic fashions to barely able to manage a basic housedress, but we are still able to showcase Violetta’s perseverance. The disease may be overwhelming her, the world may condemn her, but those who truly know her find the goodness no matter what she wears.

Above all, our approach relies on theatrical lighting to focus our attention and emotions beyond reality. By framing our stage with vivid color shifts outside the walls, Violetta’s challenges become exponentially bigger than the rooms she occupies. This abstraction underlines musical shifts and character, and better amplifies the complex choices Violetta must make. We have an elegant framework within the built scenery to establish a well-off world with crown

molding and faceted windows, but it is the full spectrum of color that we respond to most–colors that tie us to our protagonist’s journey. Verdi shows the way to understand her right from his prelude: dream-like delicate strings, chromatic chords which evolve with transparency and even longing for unrequited love. Here is a vibrant life, cruelly cut short just when it should be flourishing. With a commitment to explore the nuance whenever we stage her story, I hope we are able to echo Alexandre Dumas-fils in finding this woman extraordinary by every standard.

FINDING MOTION IN MUSIC

By Julia Lyon

WHEN UTAH OPERA ANNOUNCED AN OPEN CALL FOR DANCERS last year, applications—and questions—started pouring in. It seemed like dancing in La traviata was an opportunity people didn’t want to miss.

“It’s a different world,” reflected choreographer Daniel Charon. “They’re used to a lean infrastructure where dancers wear many hats. Opera, by contrast, lives within a deeply rooted tradition, often supported by a large staff.”

After 50 dancers applied, he chose six to perform in Verdi’s famous opera this spring. But, for Charon, choreographing this opera won’t be something new. He and director Garnett Bruce have collaborated with Utah Opera multiple times including La traviata in 2019—when Charon was still artistic director of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company.

Integrating dance into opera adds new layers of physicality and meaning, he explained, enriching the experience for both performers and audiences.

“It tells us more about the characters,” Charon said. “It brings it all together.”

As Charon prepared to reconstruct his choreography, he studied the archival video.

He’d created roughly 30 minutes of choreography, scattered throughout the three-hour production. Though some sections may not surprise the audience—like the party scene dancing in Acts I and II—Charon and Bruce looked for storytelling moments in less obvious places.

The dancers appear in the preludes to Acts I and III “as a way to both visualize the beautiful music with movement and also to set up some of Violetta’s storyline,” the choreographer said. Later in the opera, the dancing becomes part of Violetta’s dreamworld.

“In opera, there’s often so much opportunity musically for movement and moments that aren’t realized or taken advantage of—especially for more traditional operas like La traviata,” he said.

Leading up to rehearsals, he also studied his notes, which looked different than a traditional musical score, explained Charon, who is now retired from Ririe-Woodbury. His counts are not based on Verdi’s score and what a musician reads, but on what he hears in the music, allowing him to structure movement more easily.

With a new group of dancers performing, Charon knew his choreography was likely to evolve.

“If I find that things don’t work well on them or they have different strengths than a dancer in the original class, I’m happy to modify,” he said. “If there are other opportunities in the score that we find have possibilities for some movement, we’ll explore that, too.”

Though some members of the audience might be surprised to see dancers on stage, partnering with local artists and

arts organizations is a longstanding tradition at Utah Opera.

“One of the biggest joys of producing opera is the synergy that comes from collaborating with multiple disciplines and the artists who represent them,” said Christopher McBeth, Utah Opera Artistic Director. “The very word, ‘opera,’ derives from the concept—opera being the plural form of the Latin word for ‘work,’ opus—making productions and performances all the more meaningful and dynamic with every additional layer.”

When he and Charon first met, McBeth sensed his artistic contributions “would be a major boon to Utah Opera presentations.”

“He’s a true man of the theater,” McBeth said.

This kind of collaboration benefits everybody, Charon agreed.

“The more that arts organizations can collaborate rather than be competitive elevates the whole community,” the choreographer said. “It’s so important to work together, to brainstorm together. Hiring Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company [in 2019] gave us employment and exposure. This was great for our small nonprofit dance company.”

Though the company is not involved in this production, freelance dancers in Utah will benefit instead.

“That’s a great way of supporting the arts ecosystem in town,” Charon said.

But some of the dancing on stage won’t be by dancers. Charon works with singers in the opera, too. When he tells them he’s the choreographer, he always anticipates what they’ll say next: “I can’t dance.”

“Then they usually do a really great job,” the choreographer said, laughing.

Performing in an opera is a unique opportunity for these six dancers, said Charon, who danced in operas earlier in his career.

“We don’t often perform with live music,” he said. “The way the stage manager takes care of us—even the dressers and makeup and hair—it’s all very exciting.”

Though some opera composers set aside a section specifically for ballet, these dancers will get to perform a variety of dance styles.

“By bringing contemporary dancers to the work, there’s a human quality that can help with storytelling,” Charon said. “There’s a realistic sensibility to the way the dancers are moving.”

He hopes his dancers will make the beloved work resonate more deeply with audiences—as his choreography has so many times before.

“I hope to have him as a partner for many more projects,” McBeth said.

See Verdi’s La traviata May 9-17 at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre.

GIUSEPPE VERDI WAS BORN IN LE RONCOLE, ITALY, IN 1813 into a family of small landowners and taverners. When he was 7, he was helping the local church organist; by 12, he was studying with the organist at the main church in nearby Busseto and, in 1829, he became this organist’s assistant. It was there that he first took lessons on composition. Verdi’s first success as an opera composer came in 1841 with Nabucco. By 1851, when Rigoletto first saw the stage, Verdi had produced 18 operas. He became the most popular opera composer of his age, and every opera house in Italy sought to produce his works.

Verdi visited Paris from late 1851 through March 1852. In February he attended a performance of Alexandre Dumas Jr.’s La dame aux camélias. Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz reports that as a result of this, “the composer immediately began to compose music for what would later become La traviata.” However, Julian Budden notes that Verdi had probably read the Dumas novel some time before and, after seeing the play and returning to Italy, “he was already setting up an ideal operatic cast for it in his mind,” as shown by his dealings with La Fenice Theatre.

On his return to Italy, the composer had immediately set to work on Il trovatore for the January 1853 premiere in Rome, but at the same time seemed to have ideas for the music for La traviata in his head. Since then, La traviata has become the most popular of all Verdi’s operas, placing it first in the Operabase list of most performed operas worldwide.

Verdi spent his later years in Milan; rich, authoritarian, but charitable. He was visited often at his home there, and was much revered and honored. He died at the beginning of 1901 in Milan, and it is said that 28,000 people lined the streets for his funeral procession.

BORN IN MURANO IN 1810, FRANCESCO MARIA PIAVE WAS AN ITALIAN LIBRETTIST and composer. He abandoned an ecclesiastical career, continuing his studies in Rome, where he had moved with his family. In 1842 he became performance director at the La Fenice Theatre in Venice, where from 1848 to 1859 he was named official poet.

In 1842, he also worked with La Scala Theatre in Milan, and was official poet there from 1859 to 1867. He wrote about 60 librettos for various composers: Mercadante, Pacini, Ponchielli, and the Ricci brothers for whom he wrote the poetry for Crispino e la comare (1850).

His most important librettos, though, were those he wrote for Verdi, of whom he became an assiduous and devoted collaborator. He did 10 librettos for the Maestro of Busseto: Ernani and I due Foscari (1844), Attila (1846), Macbeth (1847), Il corsaro (1848), Stiffelio (1850), Rigoletto (1851), La traviata (1853), Simon Boccanegra (1857) and La forza del destino (1862).

Piave died in 1867 in Milan.

BY GARNETT BRUCE

FRANCE – MID-19TH CENTURY

Act One

Violetta Valéry, a courtesan, has recovered her health and Baron Douphol is throwing an extravagant party to welcome Parisian society back to her home. Flora Bervoix and the Marquis d’Obigny arrive late, followed shortly by Gaston de Letorières who brings an uninvited guest: Alfredo Germont. When the Marquis challenges the Baron to make a toast, the Baron declines and the invitation passes to Alfredo. Dance music is heard in the ballroom, but Violetta collapses momentarily and stays behind. Alfredo sneaks back in, admitting to admiring her for over a year and speaks of the pain and pleasure of unrequited love. She secretly agrees to meet Alfredo the following day, and all the guests bid Violetta farewell. Alone, she considers if falling in love will risk her liberty and independence.

Act Two, Scene One

Violetta and Alfredo, now deeply in love, have taken a country house, but costs are mounting. Violetta has secretly sent Annina, her maid, to sell off some of her possessions. When Alfredo learns of the debt, he races off to raise money to repay Violetta. Alfredo’s father, Georgio, arrives to insist Alfredo end this romance and return to Provence so that his little sister can have an honest marriage without the shadow of his affair. But, finding only Violetta, he makes the case to her to shed her tears now and return to her former life as a courtesan in Paris. Violetta agrees to this sacrifice but challenges the elder Germont to love her as a daughter and to support Alfredo, who will be brokenhearted. Before she can finish writing a note to Alfredo, he surprises her. She proclaims her love and dashes away. The gardener announces that she has left, and a messenger brings Alfredo Violetta’s note ending their relationship. Georgio reappears bringing what comfort he can to his son who storms back to Paris to find Violetta.

Act Two, Scene Two

Act Three

Some weeks later, Violetta is alone and destitute, forgotten by all except her loyal maid and Dr. Grenvil as she endures the final stages of consumption. The duel took place, leaving the Baron wounded. Alfredo has gone abroad. Violetta clings to a letter from Georgio claiming he confessed his scheme, and Alfredo will return to be at her side. All are reunited in time for Violetta to ask Alfredo to remember her, handing him a small portrait before she collapses a final time.

Flora Bervoix is amidst her Spanish-themed casino party, with several of her guests costumed as gypsies and matadors. She marvels at the news that Violetta will attend with Baron Douphol. Alfredo arrives first, announcing he is single and intends to win a fortune at cards. While the rest of the guests move off to dinner, Violetta insists Alfredo must leave or the Baron will kill him. Alfredo, in anger, condemns Violetta in front of the guests, leading the Baron to challenge Alfredo to a duel despite Violetta’s pleas and Georgio’s admonishments.

Park City Opera

Park City Opera, now entering its third season, reimagines what vocal art can be: community-driven & inspired by the spirit and natural beauty of Utah

BEN FOLDS

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2026 / 7:00 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

CHAD GOODMAN, conductor

BEN FOLDS, singer-songwriter/pianist

UTAH SYMPHONY

SELECTIONS TO BE ANNOUNCED FROM THE STAGE

CONCERT SPONSOR

NAMED CONDUCTOR OF THE YEAR BY THE ILLINOIS COUNCIL OF ORCHESTRAS in 2025, Chad Goodman has served as Music Director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra since 2023, receiving praise for taking the orchestra to new artistic heights and dramatically expanding its community impact. As a guest conductor, he has led the Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Greensboro Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony, and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra.

Goodman has previously served as the Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony and as an Assistant Conductor to the San Francisco Symphony where he worked alongside conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, EsaPekka Salonen, Herbert Blomstedt, and Elim Chan.

Highlighting his work on and off stage, Forbes hailed him as “An entrepreneur bringing innovation to classical music.” In 2022, he published the book You Earned a Music Degree. Now What?, which teaches musicians the business skills needed to successfully navigate the music world.

BEN FOLDS IS AN EMMY-NOMINATED SINGER-SONGWRITER who has created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, a holiday album, and numerous collaborative records.

He currently tours as a pop artist, while also performing for over two decades with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras.

Folds, who served for eight years as the first ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., stepped down from his post when Donald Trump announced his takeover of the center. Just days before the U.S. presidential election, Folds recorded two sold-out performances with the NSO, which he released as a live album in 2025 that debuted at the top of the Billboard classical and classical crossover charts.

A New York Times best-selling author, Ben also creates new music for film, TV and theatre, including original songs for an ongoing series of animated Peanuts specials on Apple TV.

In 2022, he launched a music education charitable initiative in his native state of North Carolina entitled “Keys For Kids,” which provides funds and keyboards to existing nonprofits that offer free or affordable piano lessons to school-age children from economically disadvantaged households. For the past 15 years, he has been an outspoken advocate for arts funding, music education, and music therapy in the U.S. as a member of Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund.

AN INTERVIEW WITH OUR MUSIC DIRECTOR DESIGNATE MARKUS POSCHNER

By Julia Lyon

Markus Poschner, our Music Director Designate, sat down with us to discuss his journey as a conductor and what might come next for the Utah Symphony.

Tell us what made you want to be a conductor. Was it your family’s influence? Or was there a particular concert or person who sparked your interest?

I had the privilege to grow up among musicians. My whole family is connected with music. My mom used to be a high school music teacher and my father was a conductor as well. So I had no chance to escape. I remember as a child being struck by the specific sound of an orchestra, the power, the energy, and then, of course, the repertoire.

I was so amazed by Beethoven’s music. By chance, my father conducted the Egmont Overture when I was around 7 or 8 years old. I listened to a recording every day, every free minute. I was so overwhelmed by the power of this piece. Egmont is about freedom. When the full orchestra plays it, it’s an outburst. It sounds like a volcano.

I started by studying piano as a child and then switched to conducting because I like to make music with other people. As a pianist, you practice hours and hours alone in a room. I realized that conducting was my way to share my enthusiasm and my ideas with other people.

But it was not a deliberate decision. Almost the opposite happened. I tried to find my own destiny. My own way. That’s why as a teenager I was very inspired by jazz music. I played and practiced much more jazz than classical music. Nobody from my family was connected with jazz. But, finally, there was no escape.

How would you describe your conducting style?

I’m the last person who can provide any information about my conducting style. You can ask everyone else! But I think that’s not the point. My job is to absorb the score and to bring everything written there back to life. And to represent an idea, the intentions of the composers. I try every day to make my orchestra, all the musicians, play the best version of themselves, to be the best version of themselves.

One of my teachers always said, “Conducting, you can just put altogether in one sentence: don’t get in the way. Don’t disturb, only help.” That’s true. The older I get and the more I’ve done, that’s exactly what it’s all about. Just help. And open doors and windows in making real music together.

How do you prepare right before a concert?

I don’t have any rituals or voodoo techniques. For me, it’s maybe 10 minutes of silence and focus, right before entering the stage. That’s what I need. No tricks.

Most of your conducting career has taken place in Europe. Are there any differences between conducting in Europe and the United States?

I want to say there are always differences between orchestras. That could be just the orchestra next to you in the next city, the next village, or the next country. It’s not so much about the differences between America, Asia, or Europe. I think sound and phrasing, listening, is the result of the personalities of the musicians. The way they grew up. It’s a lot about their social environment, cultural links and connections ... it’s about the people.

What are some of your goals for the Utah Symphony over the next few years?

I’d like to help point out and sharpen our musical narrative, our profile, which is grounded and rooted here in Utah, in

Utah’s geography. With all the history here, the spirit of pioneers, this pioneer heritage, the tradition of innovation, that’s a very strong link. And of course we have the legacy of Abravanel here. That legacy leads directly to the music of Mahler and Tchaikovsky. There’s a tradition of approach to that specific music. I’d like to underline this and to discover: what does it mean?

So that’s the very first step. Second, I’d like to make the orchestra globally recognized. I always say: locally beloved and internationally recognized. This is a unique ensemble, such a capable and well-trained orchestra. It’s a high-class orchestra. It’s a jewel we have in our hands here in Utah and we should teach the world to know about us.

You’ve now been to Utah multiple times. What are some of your favorite places in Salt Lake City or other places you’ve visited?

We are here in one of my favorite places. I love this hall, the acoustics, and the lobby here; this artwork, it’s really great. I like the downtown district here very much. Last time I was

here, it was in May—so it was quite warm out there—we took a trip to Antelope Island. I was really impressed. I’m a passionate hiker and skier. I’m Bavarian, from Munich, so I grew up in the middle of the Alps. I’m sure I’ll have more free time in the future to go up to the mountains, skiing or hiking. There’s a lot to experience here in Utah. I’ve never skied here before.

I know you’re a big soccer fan. What’s your favorite soccer team?

My older son knows every player here in Utah in the Real Salt Lake club—even the Royals. Last time my son came with me to Salt Lake City, he bought a ticket for a match in the stadium. I had rehearsals and couldn’t go with him. He told me, “Next time, dad, we have to go together.” I promised him we would.

I love sports and especially, as a European, I love soccer. I played a lot when I was young. When I have time, at least with my boys, we’re always kicking around a ball.

As a guy from Munich, my favorite team is Bayern München. I grew up with that fußball club – it’s almost like a religion. You cannot choose. It depends on where you grew up.

What else would you want the audience to know?

I’m here to share my love of music, because I deeply believe in the secret of music, in the power of music, to bring people together in harmony. This creates community. It seems more important today than ever before to bring people together. Let them experience what it means to be connected with each other and also connected with their inner world, their inner self.

What is inside of us is not possible to talk about with our daily language. You need the language of art, of poems, of paintings, and the language of music to express what is inside of you. We are very complex human beings. It’s so important that we never forget to listen to each other and to respect each other.

Wherever you come from, whatever kind of passport, or skin color, or god you have, that’s what music can teach us. It’s something bigger than we are. It’s what we need. Even if you don’t speak the same tongue, music makes us feel like a community.

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BRUCKNER’S SYMPHONY NO. 4

FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2026 / 10:00 AM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL (FINISHING TOUCHES)

FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2026 / 7:30 PM / MAURICE ABRAVANEL HALL

MARKUS POSCHNER, conductor

YOUL SUN, piano*

UTAH SYMPHONY

SAINT-SAËNS

Concerto No. 5 in F Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 103

“The Egyptian” (29’)

I. Allegro animato

II. Andante

III. Molto allegro

INTERMISSION

BRUCKNER

Symphony No. 4 “Romantic” (64’)

Bewegt: nicht zu schnell Andante, quasi allegretto Scherzo: bewegt - Trio Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell

CONCERT SPONSOR

*Utah Symphony debut

ORCHESTRA SPONSOR

MARKUS POSCHNER IS MUSIC DIRECTOR DESIGNATE OF THE UTAH SYMPHONY, assuming full duties as Music Director beginning in the 2027–28 season. This season, Poschner begins his tenure as Chief Conductor of Sinfonieorchester Basel and, in 2026–27, he becomes Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.

He was Chief Conductor of the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana from 2015 to 2025, leading the orchestra in two International Classical Music Award-winning recordings: the complete Brahms symphonies in 2018 and a Hindemith/ Schnittke recording in 2025. His recording of Offenbach’s Maître Péronilla with the Orchestre National de France was honored with the German Record Critics’ Award 2021. In 2024, Poschner received the Special Achievement Award from the ICMA jury for the complete recording of all Bruckner symphonies with the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, of which he has been Chief Conductor since 2017, and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Together with Bruckner Orchestra Linz, he was given the Orchestra of the Year and Conductor of the Year prizes at the Austrian Music Theatre Awards 2020.

PIANIST YOUL SUN ACHIEVED A REMARKABLE TRIPLE VICTORY at the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, winning the Gold Medal, the Audience Choice Prize, and the Student Jury Prize. Known for his exceptional technique and musicality, he also garnered attention on the European stage by winning second prize and the Audience Prize at the 2023 Viseu International Piano Competition in Portugal.

Sun graduated from Yewon School, and while attending Seoul Arts High School was admitted to and graduated from the Korea National University of Arts as an artistic prodigy. Since 2022, he has been continuing his musical studies in France. After graduating from the Schola Cantorum de Paris in 2023, he is currently enrolled at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. He has studied under professors Yoojung Yoon, Daejin Kim, and Olivier Gardon, and is currently receiving artistic support from the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation.

BY NOEL MORRIS

Key Notes

Anton Bruckner and Camille Saint-Saëns were two of the top organists on the planet.

Saint-Saëns played the solo part at the premiere of his Fifth Piano Concerto.

From the time he started issuing symphonies, Bruckner developed a cult following that continues to this day, through various online forums and Bruckner societies.

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS

born October 9, 1835, in Paris, France died December 16, 1921, in Algiers

Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103

“The Egyptian” composed in 1896 premiered in Paris, in 1896 last performed by Utah Symphony in March 2015 with conductor Matthias Pintscher and pianist Teo Gheorghiu

The Backstory

Camille Saint-Saëns seemed to have twice as many hours in a day as the rest of us. For sure, he had a head start. He was a dazzling prodigy, prompting Hector Berlioz to quip, “He knows everything, but lacks inexperience.” Saint-Saëns made notable contributions in mathematics, astronomy, poetry, theater, and acoustics. Born two years before Brahms, he lived long enough to write one of the first film scores. And Franz Liszt declared him “the greatest organist in the world.”

With celebrity came money, and Saint-Saëns became a snowbird, traveling as far as Uruguay, Saigon, North Africa, and Spain. Funnily enough, he preferred to go incognito, traveling under the name “Charles Sannois.” As a rule, he pretended to be a merchant but wasn’t very convincing. He once got himself thrown out of a concert hall for loudly criticizing the conductor. In the Spanish Canary Islands, locals whispered about the foreigner’s odd behavior and began to suspect he was a spy. After they alerted the police, Saint-Saëns changed hotels. Back in Paris, people wondered about his whereabouts and his picture appeared

in a French paper. With that, the canarios recognized the itinerant celebrity and hounded him for concerts, auditions, and new works.

The Music

In January 1896, the composer attended a production of his opera Henry VIII in Milan before heading to Egypt, where he took a boat ride on the Nile. Boarding a small sailing vessel called a felucca, he savored the Nile’s winding ribbon of greenery flanked by towering dunes. And he listened to the boatmen’s song. In Cairo, he enjoyed the company of friends and tossed off a couple of miniatures for local performances. He then wrote a violin sonata before going into seclusion to write a new piano concerto.

In just a few weeks, Saint-Saëns composed his Piano Concerto No. 5. Although it earned the nickname “The Egyptian,” its flavor is more global. For example, it’s hard to miss the Spanish guitar-like strumming of the middle movement.

Although modernism had begun to overtake the music world, the concerto’s opening has Brahmsian zest coupled with staggering pianism, underscoring the composer’s skill as a player. The middle movement looks eastward, with the Hijaz scale underpinning dramatic piano flourishes. SaintSaëns quotes the Nile River boatman’s song—a Nubian love song—before moving into the pentatonic scale colored by the exotic sound of the tam-tam (gong). In the finale, the composer shifts gears again to depict what he likened to the “joy of a sea crossing, a joy that not everyone shares.” Listen for the thrum of the ship’s engines in its opening bars, followed by the play of light on the water.

ANTON BRUCKNER

born September 4, 1824, in Ansfelden, Upper Austria died October 11, 1896, in Vienna

Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major, WAB

104 “Romantic” composed 1873–1880 premiered in Vienna, in 1881 last performed by Utah Symphony in February 2012 with conductor Thierry Fischer

What to Listen for

Bruckner conjured a rural world in his Fourth Symphony that includes birds, horn calls, and a hunting scene.

The Backstory

“Medieval city—Daybreak—Morning calls sound from the city towers—the gates open—On proud horses the knights burst out into the open, the magic of nature envelops them—forest murmurs—bird song—and so the Romantic picture develops further…”

Bruckner didn’t usually tell stories with his symphonies, but years after writing the Fourth, he supplied those lines—not to stage a drama but to bring you into his world. One might imagine the boy Bruckner climbing around castle ruins in Upper Austria, and the quote as an invitation to walk around and see the place through the Fourth Symphony.

Bruckner was the proverbial country mouse. From age 13, he sang in the choir at the St. Florian monastery, a celebrated ensemble founded in 1071. Through his 20s, he served as an instructor and organist. In fact, he was a phenomenal organist, which fed into another feature of his symphonies: Bruckner obsessively revised them.

As a master improviser, Bruckner had a gift that, perhaps, worked against him when writing symphonies. He spent hours at the keyboard, spinning a yarn, cranking out endless variations on ideas. When working on symphonies, he necessarily had to pare down his ideas and commit them to paper. As it happened, his works proved too visionary for most people, and he grew painfully sensitive to criticism; multiple revisions followed.

Bruckner’s decision to move from writing church music to symphonies was calculated—some might say excessively so. He found composition teachers who guided his studies by correspondence, and he took lessons until middle age. In the end, he didn’t feel ready to write a symphony until he’d passed the final exams at the Vienna Conservatory (though he’d never enrolled there).

Bruckner left the organ loft for the city in 1868, taking a teaching job at the conservatory. The move proved jarring. Bruckner’s clothes, his country accent, and his strange manner provoked whispers and ridicule, leading to social isolation. Over the coming years, the local critic and much of musical society savaged his early symphonies, and he suffered for it.

The Music

Of his 11 symphonies, the Fourth is the only one with a title. Calling it “Romantic,” the composer suggested the image of a medieval city for the first movement (a more

rural setting than what we might imagine as a city). It opens with a lonely horn call over a tremolo in the strings as if he’s cracked a door into a distant world. He includes a bird call, the European tit (a bird that resembles a chickadee). To lend an air of nobility, he unleashes the brass section with a rhythmic figure (1-2, 1-2-3) that came to be known as the Bruckner rhythm.

The second movement feels like a solemn procession, another familiar scene for a man who spent more than half his life in the church. The scherzo evokes a merry hunting scene with a little midday country dance in the woods before Bruckner pulls out all the stops for a heroic finale.

He completed the Fourth Symphony in November 1874, but the Vienna Philharmonic declined to perform it. In 1878, he composed a new scherzo and finale, then rewrote the finale between 1879 and 1880. Finally, on February 20, 1881, Hans Richter led the Vienna Philharmonic in the symphony’s world premiere. For the first time as a symphonist, Bruckner received a thundering ovation.

The St. Florian Monastery was home to Anton Bruckner starting at age of 13. A paragon of Baroque splendor, the basilica’s vaulted nave and dome are a riot of exquisitely appointed frescoes, flanked by gold-and-marble Corinthian columns. The 7,343pipe organ soars overhead, like the crown jewels of the sanctuary. In the 1840s, the famous instrument was the personal playground of young Bruckner, as he developed into one of the greatest organists alive. The gold and frescoed St. Florian’s library is equally stunning and includes some 1,000 medieval handscripts among its 130,000 volumes.

Founded in the early 9th century, the Augustinian order rebuilt the St. Florian’s structure in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is the largest monastery in Upper Austria. The monks founded the St. Florian’s choir, where young Bruckner sang treble, in 1071. The choristers continue to lead services today.

Even after moving to Vienna, Bruckner often returned to St. Florian’s, where he gave popular recitals. After he died in 1896, the monks laid him to rest beneath the organ, now called the “Bruckner Organ.”

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Clayton & Julia Anderson

Dr. Ann Berghout & Dennis Austin

Dr. Peter & Rosemary Beck

Philip Bienert

C. Kim & Jane Blair

Mr. & Mrs. William D. Callister

Helen & Jeff Cardon

Kenneth Colen

Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth R. Cutler

Dr. Thomas D. & Joanne A. Coppin

Michael Brent Davies

Matt & Nancy Dorny

Linda Francis

Mr. & Mrs. Eric Garen*

Barbara Greenlee

Dr. & Mrs. John Greenlee

Kenneth & Kate Handley

Brad Hare MD & Akiko Okifuji PhD

Jeff & Peggy Hatch

John Edward Henderson

Dixie S. & Robert P. Huefner

Jay Jackson

Rhett & Willow Jeppson

Maxine & Bruce Johnson

James R. Jones Family

Drs. Randy & Elizabeth Jensen

Dr. Michael A. Kalm

Lucinda L. Kindred

Jeffrey LaMora

Dr. Donald & Alice Lappe

G F Larsen Family Charitable Fund

Christie & Franklin

Michael Liess

Dennis & Pat Lombardi

Hillary Marquardson

Kathryn & Jed Marti

Dale & Carol Matuska

Christopher & Julie McBeth

David & Nickie McDowell

George & Nancy Melling

Pieter & Janice Mensink

John & Bria Mertens

Dr. Louis A. & Deborah Moench

Terrell & Leah Nagata

Patricia Legant & Thomas Parks

Lisa Poppleton & Jim Stringfellow

Sarah Ratchye & Edward Frank

Glenn Ricart & Patricia Guenther

Kenneth Roach & Cindy Powell

Kazuhiro Saito

Mark & Loulu Saltzman

Margaret P. Sargent

Smith & Wilcox Blue Skies Foundation

Sidney Stern Memorial Trust

Eddie Stone

Ruth Stone

Dr. Albert & Yvette Ungricht

Susan & David† Wagstaff

Sally Wakefield & Anthony Arnason

John & Susan Walker

Susan Warshaw

M. Terri Poli & J. Craig Weakley

Sharlene Wells

Kim Wilson

Michael Wolfe

Jennifer Wollin

E. Woolston† & Connie Jo HepworthWoolston

Associate Board

A dynamic group of young professionals, the Associate Board partners with Utah Symphony | Utah Opera to shape the future of live music. They bring fresh ideas, cultivate philanthropy, and strengthen connections between USUO and the community.

Contact Katie Swainston at kswainston@usuo.org for more information about becoming involved.

Curtis Woodbury, chair

Kylee Dickamore

Hillary Marquardson

Jeff Pickett

Rayanne Riepl

Stephen Tracy Gifts as of February 10, 2026

Friend ($1,000 – $2,999)

Anonymous [6]

Craig & Joanna Adamson

A. Scott & Jesselie Anderson

George & Frances† Alderson

Christine A. Allred

Drs. Crystal & Dustin Armstrong

Joe Arnold

Ian Arnold

Fred & Linda Babcock

Dr. & Mrs. Grant Bagley

James Barthelmess

David Bateman

Lowell Bennion

Vicki & Bill Bennion

Roger & Karen Blaylock

Susan Boyer

Diane Banks Bromberg & Dr. Mark

Bromberg

Céline Carol Browning & Nathan

Sutherland

Dana Carroll & Jeannine Marlowe

Carroll

Linda Jo Carron

Po & Beatrice Chang

William & Patricia Child

Phillip I. & Gail Coleman

Dr. & Mrs. David Coppin

David & Carol Coulter

Jason & Kristin Covili

Coleen Cronin

Mark B Dean

Thomas & Candace Dee

Paul Dorgan

Eric & Shellie Eide

David & Susan Erhart

Leonard Farnsworth

Craig Fineshriber & Dr. Nancy Futrell

Drs. Norman L. & Carol† M. Foster

Dr. Robert Fudge & Sylvia Newman

Dr. Martin I. & Sheila G. Gelman

Larry Gerlach

Bob & Mary Gilchrist

Ralph & Rose† Gochnour

John & Linda Green

Olga Gromadzka

Keith Guernsey & Rebecca Burrage

Dr. Elizabeth Hammond

Helene Harding & Patrick Briggs

Robert & Marcia Harris

Virginia Harris

Jonathan Hart

Lex Hemphill & Nancy Melich

Susan K. Hickenlooper

Connie C. Holbrook

Laura Holleman

Ron & Marsha Houston

Stephen Tanner Irish

Jay & Julie Jacobson

Eldon Jenkins & Amy Calara

Joann & Russell Jex

Audrey Jiricko

Bryce & Karen† Johnson

Kimberly Johnson & Bennett Greenfield

Nicholas Johnson

Rebekah & Joseph Johnson

Kimberli Jones

Michael & Amy Kennedy

Michael & Peg Kramer

Patricia L Leikhim

Scott & Valerie Lindley

Ms. Susan Loffler

Chris and Susan Lockwood

Katherine Marumoto

Jerilyn S. McIntyre & David Smith

Jeffrey McNeal

Warren K.† & Virginia G. McOmber

Mr. & Mrs. Reed W. Merrell

David B. & Colleen A. Merrill

Jim & Nanette Michie

Stephen & Sandy Morgan

Barry & Kathy Mower

David Murrell IV & Mary Beckerle

Phillip & Alice Newberry

Craig Sparrow Ogan

Rick Oliver

Maura & Serge Olszanskyj

Cynthia L. Papadopoulos

Stephanie Pappas

Elodie Payne

Cynthia & George Petrow

Keith & Linda Poelman

Dr. Susan J. Quaal

Thomas Quam

Esther Rashkin

Dr. Barbara S. Reid

Frances Reiser

G. Dale & Susan Richey

Gina Rieke

Gail T. Rushing

Rachel Sabin

John F. Foley, M.D. & Dorene Sambado, M.D.

Tomoko Schlag

Steffen Schmitz--Valckenberg

August L. Schultz

Mr. Jeffrey W. Shields & Ms. Mary Ross

Barbara Slaymaker

Jan H. Smith

Dr. & Mrs. Michael H. Stevens

Val & Julie Stokes

Clint & Jody Stone

Annie & Cory Strupp

Jay Teevan

Brent & Lissa Thompson

Sharon Walkington

Judith Warner

Bruce & Leigh Washburn

Frank & Janell Weinstock

Dan & Amy Wilcox

Jody L. Williams

David† & Jerre Winder

Tolford & Mary Young Gifts as of February 10, 2026

Andante ($500 – $999)

Anonymous [3]

Drew J. Adams

Dennis & Louise Ahern

Sara Jane Andersen

Mr. Gaylen Atkinson

Dr. Robert Silver & Denise Beaudoin

Patter & Thomas Birsic

Ted Buckwalter

Paul & Ruth Cherecwich

Barbara Christensen

Martin & Elinor Colman

Cecilia Crystal

David & Donna Dalton

Darrell & Sharon Child

Ashby† & Anne Cullimore Decker

John D. Doppelheuer M.D. & Kirsten A.

Hanson M.D.**

Joseph Ferriter & Jennifer Trauscht-Van Horn

Dennis & Sherrie Gardner

Joshua & Alisha Garrett

Chorale ($250 – $599)

Anonymous [6]

Ronald I. Apfelbaum, MD & Kathleen A. Murray, MD

Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence R. Barusch

Michael Behring & Debra Marin

Reed & Jeanne Benson

Brighton High School

Marianne Burgoyne

Jody K. Burnett

Alejandro Chagoya

Claire Chassen

Mr. & Mrs. Don M. Christensen

Joseph & Cathy Cleary

Nathanael & Jennifer Davenport

Tim Dick

G. Dietrich & M. Paret Family

Natalie Divino

Susan Dube

Lisa Espinosa

Rick & Patti Fersch

Paula J. Fowler

Elizabeth Frank & Steve Achelis

Warren Gallant

David & Ann George

Dr. & Mrs. William R. Gray

Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Gurney, Jr.

Robert Haddick

Julie Hadley

Peter & Beth Hanlon

Christina Hemphill

Linda Hertzberg

Dr. & Mrs. John Howarth

Gary & Christine Hunter

Dr. Richard & Helene Jaffe

Kenneth & Penny Jameson

Amelia Jones

Matthew & Shirley Kirby

Mr. & Mrs. Bruce M. Lake

Guttorm & Claudia Landro

Brent Lutz

Kerrie MacPherson

Dan McKnight & Deanna Donaldson

Sanford & Lynn Meek

Elizabeth Miller

Eva Novak

James & Janette Orton

Simon Harrison

Joel & Christine Hatch

Doug Hattery

Mr. John P. Hill, Esq.

Jonathan Jensen

Rodney L. Johnson

Heidi Kunzler

Kurt L. Larsen

Claudia Laycock

Emily Lemer

Steven & Kimberlee Lewis

Susan Loving

Madeleine Choir School

Penelope Mathews & David Horner

James Mathis

Jack & Patsy McNamara

Melissa Miller

Hal & JeNeal Miller

Robert L. Miller

Bill & Jane Moore

David & Debra Neff

Wayne & Iris Nixdorf

Amanda Norton & Jim Jacobs

David R. Osborn

Brent Palfreyman

Dr. Anne M. Pendo & Duncan Edwards

Jerry & Nancy Pitstick

Nelly Poe

Vedran Radojcic

Arthur & Susan Ralph

Tom & Karma Ramsey

Delia and Craig Reece

Kyle Rose

Peggy & Richard Sacher

Brenda Scheer

Linda & Rick Smaligo

Stephen Tracy

Ron Tucker

Kenneth Uy

Jason & Marcie Ward

Lee Walker

David B.† & Anne Wirthlin

Dave Wood

Frank & Betty Yanowitz

Dean & Jean† Zobell

Barbara Perry

Tera Peterson

Laszlo & Sandra Preysz

Robert Redd

Lousje & Keith Rooker

Lynn P. Rosas

Roger & Connie Seegmiller

Erik Sherwood

Dr. Bernard J. Simbari

Deborah Simmons

Josh Smith

Harrison Smithwick

Robert Sonneborn

Kenneth A. & Claudia M. Sperling

Dr. Ralph & Judith Vander Heide

Jill West

Eugene Weymouth

Henry O. Whiteside

Don & Jennifer Willie

Frank & Pam Wilson

Winder & Counsel PC

Douglas Wood

Paul Woodward

Utah Symphony | Utah Opera is grateful to those donors who have made commitments to our Endowment Fund.

Anonymous

C. Comstock Clayton Foundation

The Elizabeth Brown Dee Fund for Music in the Schools

Lawrence T. & Janet T. Dee Foundation

Thomas D. Dee III & Dr. Candace Dee Hearst Foundation

Carolyn T. Irish Revocable Trust

The Right Reverend Carolyn Tanner Irish† & Mr. Frederick Quinn

Edward Moreton

The Linda & Don Price Guest Artist Fund

Perkins-Prothro Foundation

Kenneth† & Jerrie Randall

The Evelyn Rosenblatt Young Artist Award

Bill† & Joanne Shiebler

Steven P. Sondrop Family Trust

James R. & Susan Swartz

Clark L. Tanner Foundation

Norman C. & Barbara L. Tanner Charitable Trust

Norman C. & Barbara L. Tanner Second Charitable Trust

O.C. Tanner Company

Jack & Mary Lois Wheatley Family Trust

Edward & Marelynn† Zipser

The Endowment Fund is a vital resource that helps the long-term well-being and stability of USUO, and through its annual earnings, supports our Annual Fund. For further information, please contact Garrett Murphy, Director of Development, at (801) 869-9016.

Many donors have made gifts to Utah Symphony | Utah Opera in memory or to honor friends and loved ones. Thank you for your generous tributes.

IN MEMORY OF

Jack Ashton

David Luker

Frances J. Darger

Peggy & Richard Sacher

Gerald Rich (Skip) Daynes

James Barthemess

Ashby Snow Decker

David & Colleen Merrill

Lydia Dobbins

Eileen Dobbins

Dr. Gary F. Larsen

The G.F. Larsen Fund

Maxine, Frank & Joel McIntyre

Jerilyn McIntyre & W. David Smith

Warren K. (Sandy) McOmber

Virginia McOmber

Carol Lynn Nenow

Anonymous

Ruzena (Rose) Novak

Eva Novak

Julie Palfreyman

Brent Palfreyman

Joyce Parrish

Angele Morcos

Glade & Mardean Peterson

Leslie Peterson & Kevin Higgins

Kelvin Peterson

Scott & Kathleen Amann

Rick & Betsy Anderson

Kirsten & Gary Dodge

Lory Hendry & Rob Ayres

Joann & Russell Jex

Richard Morais

Shelley Morandi

Sean Myles

IN HONOR OF

J. Richard Baringer, MD

Norman L. Foster, MD

Joanne Shiebler

Maria S. Tuttle

Wallace Ring, MD.

Dr. Harry Wong

Gladys Gladstone Rosenberg

David Luker

Willard & Evelyn Smith

Jerilyn McIntyre & W. David Smith

David Winder

Emily Lemer

We thank our generous institutional donors for their annual support of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera.

$100,000 or more

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation

Lawrence T. & Janet T. Dee Foundation

Marriner S. Eccles Foundation

George S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation

The Florence J. Gillmor Foundation

Emma Eccles Jones Foundation

Frederick Q. Lawson Foundation

LOVE Communications**

Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation

O.C. Tanner Company

Sorenson Legacy Foundation

Stowell Leadership Group, LLC*

Zions Bank

$50,000 – $99,999

47G Utah Aerospace & Defense**

Anonymous

AHE/CI Trust

Crocker Catalyst Foundation

$25,000 – $49,999

Arnold Machinery

Big-D Construction

BMW of Murray/BMW of Pleasant Grove

Carol Franc Buck Foundation

Cultural Vision 30 Year Endowment

Goldman Sachs and Co

$10,000 – $24,999

Anonymous Altabank

HJ & BR Barlow Foundation

B.W. Bastian Foundation

Bertin Family Foundation

R. Harold Burton Foundation

Capital Group

Deer Valley Resort*

Enbridge Gas

The Grand America Hotel & Little America Hotel*

Janet Q. Lawson Foundation

Moreton & Company

Charles Maxfield & Gloria F. Parrish

Foundation

Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce*

World Trade Center Utah**

Richard K. & Shirley S. Hemingway Foundation

Intermountain Community Care Foundation

The Kahlert Foundation

The John C. Kish Foundation

McCarthey Family Foundation

Moreton Family Foundation

S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney Foundation

Simmons Family Foundation

Summit Sotheby’s International Realty

Goldman Sachs Philanthropy

Joseph & Kathleen Sorenson Legacy Foundation

Minky Couture*

Park City Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau

PhotoNodes*

Pura

Gifts as of February 10, 2026

* in-kind donation

** in-kind & cash donations † deceased

The Joseph & Evelyn Rosenblatt Charitable Fund

Stewart Education Foundation

Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation

University of Utah Health

Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce*

WCF Insurance

Woodbury Corporation

$1,000 – $9,999

Anonymous

Alsco Uniforms

Amano Artisan Chocolate

Bank of America

The Buckner Company

Caffé Molise*

CHG Healthcare Services

Spencer F. & Cleone P. Eccles Family Foundation

Henry W. & Leslie M. Eskuche

Charitable Foundation

Every Blooming Thing*

The Fanwood Foundation Western Office

FanX

Grandeur Peak Global Advisors

Hideout Adventures

Holland & Hart

Huntsman International LLC

J. Wong’s Thai & Chinese Bistro*

KeyBank

KKC Foundation

Lone Peak Valuation

Microsoft Corporation*

Millburn & Company

Millcreek Coffee Roasters*

Mountain America Credit Union

Nammo

OPERA America

Placemakr: Apartment Hotels

Precision Hermetic Technology

Promontory Foundation

Ray, Quinney & Nebeker Foundation

Red Rock Brewing Company*

Ruth’s Chris Steak House*

SALTT

Semnani Family Foundation

Serving Table 22*

Spencer Fane Snow Christensen & Martineau Foundation

Squatters Pub Brewery*

St. Regis / Deer Crest Club**

Stay Park City

Summerhays Music Center

The Swartz Foundation

Swire Coca-Cola, USA*

The Fang Family Foundation

Urban Hill

Utah Autism Foundation

Vergara Miller Law

Vox Marketing Group*

Wells Fargo

Utah Symphony | Utah Opera would like to especially thank our major sources of public funding that help us to fulfill our mission and serve our community

Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts & Parks

Utah State Board of Education

Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement

Utah Division of Arts & Museums

Utah Office of Tourism

Utah State Legislature

Summit County RAP Tax

Summit County Restaurant Tax

National Endowment for the Arts

Salt Lake City Arts Council

Orem City CARE Tax

Utah Symphony | Utah Opera offers sincere thanks to our patrons who have included USUO in their financial & estate planning.

TANNER SOCIETY OF UTAH SYMPHONY

Beethoven Circle (gifts valued at more than $100,000)

Anonymous [3]

Doyle Arnold & Anne Glarner

Edward R. Ashwood & Candice A. Johnson

Dr. J.R. Baringer†

Dr. Melissa J. Bentley

Marcy & Mark Casp

Shelly Coburn

Raymond & Diana Compton

John & Flora D’Arcy

Jeff Drenker†

Anne C. Ewers

Annette W. & Joseph Q. Jarvis

Flemming & Lana Jensen

James Read Lether

Daniel & Noemi P. Mattis

Anthony & Carol W. Middleton, Jr., M.D.

Robert & Diane Miner

Pieter and Janice Mensink

Glenn Prestwich

Kenneth A.† & Jeraldine S. Randall

Marcia JS Richards

Mahler Circle

Anonymous [3]

Dr. Robert H.† & Marianne Harding Burgoyne

Richard Clegg

Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth E. Coombs

Dorothy B. Cromer†

Robert & Carolee Harmon

Barbara Hartman†

Richard G. & Shauna† Horne

Virginia A. Hughes

Gordon Irving†

Herbert C.† & Wilma Livsey

Dianne May

Jerry & Marcia McClain

CRESCENDO SOCIETY OF UTAH OPERA

Anonymous

Judy Brady† & Drew W. Browning

Dr. Robert H.† & Marianne Harding

Burgoyne

Richard Clegg

Shelly Coburn

Travis & Jamie Donio

Anne C. Ewers

Joseph & Pat Gartman

Gordon Irving†

Annette W. & Joseph Q. Jarvis

Edward R. Ashwood & Candice A. Johnson

Herbert C.† & Wilma Livsey

Richard W. & Frances P. Muir

Marilyn H. Neilson

Carol & Ted Newlin

For more information, call (801) 869-9001. † Deceased

Dr. Louis & Deborah Moench

Jim & Andrea Naccarato

Stephen H. & Mary Nichols

Craig S. Ogan

Mr. & Mrs.† Scott Parker

Mr. & Mrs.† Michael A. Pazzi

Patricia A. Richards & William K. Nichols

Mr.† & Mrs. Alvin Richer

Laura Scholl w

Jeffrey W. Shields

G.B.† & B.F. Stringfellow

Dr. Ralph & Judith Vander Heide

Edward J. & Marelynn† Zipser

The remaining 2/3 comes from generous supporters like you. With ticket sales covering roughly 30% of the cost of our performances, your contribution helps complete the experience. Here’s how you can

“When I was young, I dreamed about becoming a professional horn player. I attended Eastman School of Music, but realized there was little chance of a female brass player being hired by a major orchestra. Today, I can be part of the Utah Symphony horn section through financial support, adding my name to the principal horn chair. My childhood dream is now realized in a different way.”

-Marci Richards

Foster a unique connection with the individual behind the music while supporting the Symphony’s commitment to excellence.

LEARN MORE

by contacting

Development of Director Murphy, Garrett gmurphy@usuo.org

LEAVE A LEGACY PARTNER WITH A PLAYER

MAKE A PLANNED GIFT

Make a lasting impact while meeting your financial goals today. Including Utah Symphony | Utah Opera in your will is simple, often taxadvantageous, and helps ensure the power of music touches lives for generations to come. To learn more, please reach out to your financial advisor or contact us at: 801-869-9200 usuo.org/planned-giving

LET'S TAKE THE CADILLAC

UTAH SYMPHONY | UTAH OPERA 123 W. South Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84101 801-533-5626

EDITOR

Julia Lyon

HUDSON PRINTING COMPANY www.hudsonprinting.com

241 West 1700 South Salt Lake City, UT 84115 801-486-4611

AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES PROVIDED BY Tanner, llc

LEGAL REPRESENTATION PROVIDED BY Greenberg Traurig, llp Parsons Behle & Latimer, llp

ADVERTISING MEDIA & WEBSITE SERVICES PROVIDED BY Love Communications, Salt Lake City

The organization is committed to equal opportunity in employment practices and actions, i.e. recruitment, employment, compensation, training, development, transfer, reassignment, corrective action and promotion, without regard to one or more of the following protected class: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, family status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and political affiliation or belief.

Maurice Abravanel Hall and and The Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre are owned and operated by the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts.

By participating in or attending any activity in connection with Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, whether on or off the performance premises, you consent to the use of any print or digital photographs, pictures, film, or videotape taken of you for publicity, promotion, television, websites, or any other use, and expressly waive any right of privacy, compensation, copyright, or ownership right connected to same.

JERRY SEINER

1530 S. 500 W. Salt Lake City, UT 84115

801.512.0864 Mon-Fri 8am-8pm Sat 8am-8pm

801.512.0650 Mon-Fri 7am-6pm Sat 8am-5pm Sunday Closed

TRUST IN POSSIBILITY