» Deer Valley® Music Festival Concerts

ON THE HILL UTAH SYMPHONY’S PATRIOTIC POPS

featuring Capathia Jenkins

July 2 / 2021 / 7:30PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, conductor CAPATHIA JENKINS, vocalist

JOHN WILLIAMS GERSHWIN

ARR. SCHARNBERG MERCER COPLAND MERCER AMANDA MCBROOM JOHN WILLIAMS TRADITIONAL

ARR. BOB LOWDEN ARLEN/HARBURG BERLIN

JOHN WILLIAMS GERSHWIN

ARR. DAVE WOLPE GERSHWIN

ARR. NELSON RIDDLE COPLAND HAMLISCH BATES/WARD

ARR. SAM SHOUP Call of the Champions (2002 Winter Olympics) “Strike Up The Band”

“Goody Goody” “Buckaroo Holiday” from Rodeo “Something’s Gotta Give” “America (Lives in Me)” “Hymn to the Fallen” from Saving Private Ryan Armed Forces Salute

“Over the Rainbow “

“God Bless America”

INTERMISSION

Midway March “Fascinating Rhythm”

“Summertime” from Porgy and Bess

“Saturday Night Waltz” and Hoe Down from Rodeo “Nobody Does It Better” “America The Beautiful”

Capathia Jenkins

Vocalist

GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR

JOANNE SHIEBLER GUEST ARTIST FUND

Brooklyn-born Capathia Jenkins most recently released the critically-acclaimed CD Phenomenal Woman: The Maya Angelou Songs with her collaborator Louis Rosen, and they sold out the world-famous Birdland Theatre in NYC for three nights. She recently starred as Medda in the hit Disney production of Newsies on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in The Civil War, where she created the role of Harriet Jackson. Ms. Jenkins also created the roles of The Washing Machine in Caroline, Or Change and Frieda May in Martin Short-Fame Becomes Me. In 2007 she starred in (mis) Understanding Mammy-The Hattie McDaniel Story for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She has also been seen in Godspell, The Look of Love, and Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Her Television credits include 30 Rock, the Practice, Law & Order SVU, the Sopranos, and Law & Order. She can be seen in the film Musical Chairs directed by Susan Seidelman. Ms. Jenkins was also seen in The Wiz in a live performance on NBC. She can be heard on the following film soundtracks: Nine, Chicago, and Legally Blonde 2. www.capathiajenkins.com

*See page 20 for Conner Gray Covington’s Artist Profile.

I

KOOL & THE GANG

with the Utah Symphony

July 9 / 2021 / 7:30 PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, conductor KOOL & THE GANG

Program to be announced from the stage.

CONCERT SPONSOR

PEGGY & BEN SCHAPIRO

STAGE SPONSOR

Kool & The Gang

Guest Artists Kool & the Gang, officially launched in 1969 after performing for 5 years under various band titles, has influenced the music of three generations and, at the age of 50, the band has become true recording industry legends. In 1964, Ronald Bell and his brother, Robert “Kool” Bell, joined Jersey City neighborhood friends Robert “Spike” Mickens, Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, Ricky Westfield, George Brown, and Charles Smith to create a unique musical blend of jazz, soul, and funk. At first calling themselves the Jazziacs, the band went through various names—The New Dimensions, The Soul Town Band, Kool & the Flames—before settling on their famous moniker. Thanks to iconic songs like “Celebration,” “Cherish,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Summer Madness” and “Open Sesame,” they’ve earned 2 GRAMMY® Awards, 7 American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, 9 Top Ten Pop hits and 31 gold and platinum albums. Kool & the Gang recently celebrated their 50th Anniversary. Here are a few ways they celebrated the milestone: • Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. • In a touching tribute, a street they grew up on in Jersey City has been renamed in their honor: “Kool & the Gang Way.” • “Celebration” was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame.

• Kool’s bass is displayed at the new Smithsonian

Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. • Artifacts from the band’s archive have recently gone on display, next to Count Basie, at the newly-opened

Grammy Museum Experience in Newark, NJ. • Ronald Bell, Robert Bell, and George Brown were inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.

*See page 20 for Conner Gray Covington’s Artist Profile.

KRISTIN CHENOWETH

with the Utah Symphony

July 10 / 2021 / 7:30PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

KRISTIN CHENOWETH MARY-MITCHELL CAMPBELL, conductor

Program to be announced from the stage.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

MARLON FAMILY FOUNDATION

ORCHESTRA SPONSOR CONCERT SPONSOR

STAGE SPONSORS

Kristin Chenoweth

Guest Artist Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth’s career spans film, television, voiceover, and stage. In 2015, Chenoweth received a coveted star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, she received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Pushing Daisies. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and she was also nominated for her original role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked in 2004. Chenoweth has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and for a People’s Choice Award for her role on Glee. In 2009, she wrote an upliftingly candid, comedic chronicle of her life so far, A Little Bit Wicked, which debuted on The New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction Best Seller List.

Chenoweth has performed to sold-out audiences across the world, including performances at Carnegie Hall and Royal Albert Hall. Chenoweth released The Art of Elegance, her album of American Songbook classics via Concord Records. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Current Jazz and Traditional Jazz charts, and #1 on Amazon’s Vocal Pop chart. Chenoweth also returned to the stage in her limited engagement My Love Letter to Broadway, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, receiving rave reviews. In 2014, she released a CD and DVD of her own live concert performance, “Kristin Chenoweth: Coming Home.” In December 2018, Chenoweth performed with the iconic Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in their annual Christmas concert.

Chenoweth recently starred in the second season of NBC’s hit comedy series Trial & Error, receiving critical acclaim for her performance as Heiress Lavinia Peck-Foster. She was seen in the Starz original series American Gods, where she reunited with executive producer Bryan Fuller in the role of Easter. Notable television roles include appearances in The West Wing, Disney’s Descendants, and The Muppets. In film, Chenoweth voiced the role of Gabi in the hit animated film Rio 2 and Fifi, Snoopy’s beloved French poodle in The Peanuts Movie. Chenoweth is a passionate supporter of charities which dedicate their time and efforts to helping those in need. She formed a charity partnership with the Broken Arrow

Performing Arts Center (BAPAC) Foundation in her home state of Oklahoma. Partnering with the BAPAC in a labor of love, Kristin launched an annual Broadway Bootcamp in 2015, providing young Broadway hopefuls with the opportunity to take classes, hold performances, and learn from top mentors in the entertainment industry including Kristin herself. In her lifelong mission to cultivate arts education across the globe, Chenoweth has also created “Places! The Kristin Chenoweth Tour Experience,” a unique educational program for young singers that puts them right next to her performing on stage. Each concert in Chenoweth’s ongoing tour will feature local participants from higher education conservatories, universities, and colleges for the immersive educational experience. Chenoweth is a graduate of Oklahoma City University with a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance. She is an inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as well as the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

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SKYLIGHTS SUN TUNNELS

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Aladdin Skylights

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HAYDN’S CELLO CONCERTO NO. 1

with Vivian Fung & Anna Clyne

July 14 / 2021 / 8 PM

ST. MARY’S CHURCH

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, conductor MATTHEW JOHNSON, cello

VIVIAN FUNG

ANNE CLYNE HAYDN String Sinfonietta I. Animato II. Interludium III. Pizzicato IV. Moto Perpetuo – Presto Possible Within Her Arms

Concerto in C Major for Cello and Orchestra I. Moderato II. Adagio III. Allegro molto Matthew Johnson, cello

Matthew Johnson

Cello Acting Principal Cellist Matthew Johnson has been a member of the Utah Symphony since 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he studied with Ron Leonard and Andrew Shulman. Prior to his appointment with the Utah Symphony, Matthew was a member of the Kansas City Symphony for six seasons. He has also performed in music festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany, where he served as principal cellist. A musician with Utah roots, Matthew moved to Salt Lake City from Massachusetts when he was 12 years old. He made his solo debut with the Utah Symphony at age 18 and was a student of Richard Hoyt and Utah Symphony cellist John Eckstein.

An avid chamber musician, Johnson has collaborated with such artists as Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Yefim Bronfman, composers Steve Reich and Harrison Birtwistle, and dancer Misty Copeland.

*See page 20 for Conner Gray Covington’s Artist Profile.

MOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL

music in concert with the landscape

With small outdoor concerts and safety protocols in place,

MMF is still the “hottest ticket of the season.” — Sunset Magazine

moabmusicfest.org • 435.259.7003 August 30 – September 16, 2021

By Michael Clive

Vivian Fung (b. 1975)

String Sinfonietta

JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung has a talent for combining idiosyncratic textures and styles into largescale works, reflecting her multicultural background. NPR calls her “one of today’s most eclectic composers.” This is supported by many of her works, including Clarinet Quintet: Frenetic Memories, a reflection on her travels to visit minority groups in China’s Yunnan province; Earworms, commissioned by Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, which musically depicts our diverted attention spans and multi-tasking lives; and The Ice is Talking for solo percussion and electronics, commissioned by the Banff Centre, using three ice blocks to illustrate the beauty and fragility of our environment.

Fung has a deep interest in exploring cultures through travel and research. In early 2019, Fung traveled to Cambodia to connect with her roots and collect research for a new opera. She traveled to Southwest China in 2012 to study minority music and cultures, continuing research that previously inspired Yunnan Folk Songs (2011), commissioned by Fulcrum Point New Music in Chicago with support from the MAP Fund. As a composer whose trips often inspire her music, Fung has also explored diverse cultures in North Vietnam, Spain, and Indonesia. She toured Bali in 2004, 2008, and 2010, and competed in the Bali Arts Festival as an ensemble member and composer in Gamelan Dharma Swara.

Fung has received numerous awards and grants, including the 2015 Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award for achievement in new music from the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), a Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the New York Foundation for the Arts’ Gregory Millard Fellowship, and grants from ASCAP, BMI, American Music Center, MAP Fund, American Symphony Orchestra League, American Composers Forum, and the Canada Council for the Arts. She is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and currently serves on the board of the American Composers Forum.

Regarding her String Sinfonietta, Fung notes:

As with many of my works, influences from Chinese and Indonesian folk music can be heard in String Sinfonietta. It is essentially a reworking of my String Quartet No. 1 for string orchestra, with revisions that include the addition of double basses. The third movement was composed first, and was originally thought of as stand-alone piece. However, inspired by the success of “Pizzicato,” I composed the first, second, and fourth movements over the next two years, using similar scale patterns found in “Pizzicato.”

The first movement, “Animato,” is lively with frequent use of interlocking and syncopated rhythms under long, flowing, melodic lines. Next, “Interludium,” the only slow movement, has hints of a folk melody, superimposed over alternating chords that appear and disappear to create an atmospheric mood. As the title suggests, “Pizzicato” requires the string players to pluck the strings of their instruments, with few added surprises towards the end. The final movement, “Moto Perpetuo,” includes a virtuosic display of constantly swirling sixteenth notes that drives the work to an explosive conclusion.

Fung is currently at work on a flute concerto for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra’s Principal Flutist Christie Reside, a new piano trio for the L’arc Trio in San Francisco, and a new piece for the United Kingdom’s Tangram Collective.

Anna Clyne (b. 1980)

Within Her Arms

London-born Anna Clyne is a GRAMMY®nominated composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music. Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” in a New York Times profile and as “fearless” by NPR, Clyne’s work often includes collaborations with cutting-edge choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians. In October 2020, AVIE Records released Mythologies, a portrait album featuring Clyne’s works recorded live by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Clyne served as composer-in-residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, and Berkeley Symphony. She is currently the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Associate Composer through the 2021-2022 season and a mentor composer for Orchestra of St Luke’s DeGaetano Composition Institute.

Several upcoming projects explore Clyne’s fascination with visual arts, including Color Field for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, inspired by the artwork of Mark Rothko; Between the Rooms, a film with choreographer Kim Brandstrup and LA Opera; as well as Woman Holding a Balance, a film collaboration with Orchestra of St. Luke’s and artist Jyll Bradley (whom Clyne also teamed up with for the film, Pardes, commissioned by the Scottish Ensemble).

Other upcoming premieres include A Thousand Mornings for the Fidelio Trio; Fractured Time for the Kaleidoscope Ensemble; and Overflow for wind ensemble, inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson, composed for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Clyne composed a trilogy of Beethoveninspired works, which premiered in 2020 for Beethoven’s 250th anniversary: Stride for string orchestra, inspired by Beethoven’s Sonata

Pathétique, premiered by the Australian Composers Orchestra; Breathing Statues, premiered by the Calidore String Quartet; and Shorthand for solo cello and string quintet premiered by The Knights at Caramoor.

The inward, contemplative sound of In Her Arms is unmistakably elegiac. In her Composer’s Notes for the work, Clyne describes it as “music for my mother, with all my love.” She also appends this moving poetic epigraph:

Earth will keep you tight within her arms dear one— So that tomorrow you will be transformed into flowers— This flower smiling quietly in this morning field— This morning you will weep no more dear one— For we have gone through too deep a night. This morning, yes, this morning, I kneel down on the green grass— And I notice your presence. Flowers, that speak to me in silence. The message of love and understanding has indeed come.

—Thich Nhat Hanh

The Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist and poet Thich Nhat Hanh is founder of the plum Village tradition. Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

Concerto in C Major for Cello and Orchestra, H. VIIb:1

“What a shame,” Haydn reportedly quipped from his deathbed. “I was just learning to compose for the woodwinds.” The story is probably invented, but it reflects much of the truth we know about Haydn: his modesty, his humor, his boundless attention to the technical side of writing for orchestral instruments, and his mastery of the practicalities of being a composer. Haydn was great at his job.

The most important job Haydn had was as musical director of the Esterházy court, which boasted the pre-eminent court orchestra in Europe at a time when such orchestras competed fiercely for artistic laurels. He held this position from 1761 until 1790, and during his tenure he increased the orchestra’s size and technical abilities—not only through his conducting skills, but also by providing music that his instrumentalists found rewarding to play. That included concertos that gave some of Europe’s best soloists a chance to show what they could do.

Haydn’s attributes as a composer and the skills of his immensely accomplished cellist at the Esterházy court, Joseph Weigl, are all brilliantly displayed in his Concerto in C Major for Cello and Orchestra. Composed

between 1761 and 1765, it’s vintage Haydn, and is counted as the Cello Concerto No. 1 in the Hoboken catalog. Which makes it all the more astonishing that we know so little about it: the concerto, which Haydn dedicated to Weigl, was lost until 1961. Until that year, musicologists knew only of the first movement’s principal theme, which was noted in his draft catalog of 1765. After a full copy of the score was discovered by musicologist Oldřich Pulkert in the collections of the Prague National Museum, the concerto received a historic performance by Mstislav Rostropovich in May 1962. The late H.C. Robbins Landon, a noted scholar of Haydn’s music, called its rediscovery the most important musical find since World War II.

Judging from this Concerto in C Major, Haydn’s understanding of the cello’s artistic possibilities was already advanced even though he was barely 30 when he wrote it—perhaps inspired by the concerto’s dedicatee, Haydn’s friend and colleague Joseph Weigl, who must have been a superb cellist. Many aficionados of the cello’s rich, distinctively human voice tend to divide its repertory into pre- and post-Dvořák, since the Dvořák Cello Concerto is credited with revealing new expressive possibilities in the instrument. But more than two centuries before Dvořák, Haydn exploited many of the same affinities that Dvořák found in the cello: the wine-dark sound that lends itself to musical introspection, especially falling melodic lines and themes that gather force gradually. During the course of the concerto’s three movements, marked moderato, adagio, and allegro molto, Haydn exploits the full range of the instrument’s technical capabilities, requiring the soloist to play complex chords, rapid runs, and growling sonorities.

The concerto opens with a lively, affirmative discourse between soloist and orchestra, and then proceeds to the dignified adagio, with the melody arising gradually from within the orchestra. The energetic finale displays all of Haydn’s symphonic skills before bringing in the cello for a spectacular virtuoso finish. We can only surmise that Joseph Weigl was as delighted to play it as we are to hear it.

SUPER DIAMOND

with the Utah Symphony

July 16 / 2021 / 7:30 PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

RANDY CORDERO (Surreal Neil), lead vocals, acoustic guitar CHRIS COLLINS, electric guitar, backing vocals MIKE SUGAR, bass, backing vocals JAMES TERRIS, keyboards, backing vocals VINCE LITTLETON, drums RAMA KOLESNIKOW, conductor, arranger

Program to be announced from the stage.

All songs by Neil Diamond All orchestrations by Rama Kolesnikow and Chris Guardino

PRESENTING SPONSOR

CONCERT SPONSOR

LODGING SPONSOR CONDUCTOR SPONSOR STAGE SPONSOR

Super Diamond

Guest Artists

GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR

FRANK & ALICE PULEO

San Francisco’s Super Diamond has become one of the most popular live shows at major nightclubs, theaters, ballrooms and public events throughout the United States. For over a decade the band has consistently performed sell-out shows at venues such as Irving Plaza in New York, 930 Club in Washington DC, Bimbo’s in San Francisco, and House of Blues venues in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Cleveland, and Dallas. Super Diamond has also performed at landmark venues and events such as Hollywood Bowl, Taste of Chicago, Fenway Park in Boston, Coors Field in Denver, and numerous fairs, festivals, and corporate celebrations across the country and overseas. Super Diamond front man “The Surreal Neil,” Randy Cordero, astonishes audiences with his live interpretation of the “real Neil.” Randy formed Super Diamond with founding members Matt Tidmarsh (bass guitar), Rama Kolesnikow (keyboards), and his childhood friend James Terris (keyboards), and soon after attracted the stellar talents of Chris Collins (guitar) and Vince Littleton (drums). With a dedication to performing a dazzling, rockin’ show and a reputation as one of the best live bands in the country, Super Diamond continuously draws full-capacity crowds and has a loyal, dedicated and ever-expanding fan base that bridges generations.

THE TEMPTATIONS

with the Utah Symphony

July 17 / 2021 / 7:30 PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON & T.C. CAMPBELL, conductors THE TEMPTATIONS

QUINN MASON GERSHWIN Toast of the Town

An American in Paris Overture

Temptations Program to be announced from the stage.

CONCERT SPONSOR

CONDUCTOR SPONSOR

TED & LORI SAMUELS

ORCHESTRA SPONSOR

DOUG & CONNIE HAYES

The Temptations

Guest Artists

The history of The Temptations is the history of contemporary American pop. For more than 50 years, The Temptations have prospered, propelling popular music with a series of smash hits and sold-out performances throughout the world. The Temps began their musical life in Detroit in the early 60s. It wasn’t until 1964, however, that the Smokey Robinson-writtenand-produced “The Way You Do the Things You Do” turned the guys into stars.

An avalanche of hits followed, many of which (“My Girl,” for instance) attained immortality. “It’s Growing,” “Since I Lost My Baby,” “Get Ready,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep,” “I Wish It Would Rain”...the hits kept coming.

The classic lineup was Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, and David Ruffin. Beyond the fabulous singing, The Temps became known for smooth stepping and flawless presentations. The Temptations Walk became a staple of American style, with flair, flash, and class. Millions of fans saw their Temptations as cultural heroes.

No matter the change in personnel, The Temptations remained true to The Temptations tradition. They survived the whims of fashion, whether disco or techno, and stuck to their guns. “Great singing,” says Otis, “will always prevail.”

GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR SCOTT & KATHIE AMANN

The current lineup consists of Otis Williams,

Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Larry Braggs, and Willie Greene Jr.

“The more we change,” says veteran Ron Tyson, “the more we stay true to ourselves. We’re about singing straight-up soul. It’s a style that will live on forever.”

“Our challenge,” says Otis, “is to live in the present while respecting the past. Our past is filled with riches only a fool would discard. But we also understand that for a group with history, no matter how glorious that history might be, reinvention is the name of the game.”

“When I tell people we are God’s group,” says Otis, a remarkably modest man, “I don’t mean it arrogantly. It’s just that we have been tested time and again and keep coming back. We have suffered the death of so many legendary singers, and others have left, and yet our unity is tighter, our sound brighter and our popularity greater. Someone has watched over this group. Someone has protected our integrity. Someone has said...just go on singing and it’ll get better.”

And so THE TEMPTATIONS go on.......and on..... and on........

MOZART’S FLUTE CONCERTO NO. 2

with Still, Wirén & Stravinsky

July 21 / 2021 / 8 PM

ST. MARY’S CHURCH

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, conductor MERCEDES SMITH, flute

STILL WIRÉN

MOZART

ΩSTRAVINSKY Mother and Child

Serenade for Strings I. Preludium II. Andante espressivo III. Scherzo IV. Marcia

Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Flute and Orchestra, K. 314 (285d) I. Allegro aperto II. Andante ma non troppo III. Allegro Mercedes Smith, flute Concerto in E-flat Major for Chamber Orchestra, “Dumbarton Oaks” I. Tempo giusto II. Allegretto III. Con moto

CONCERT SPONSOR

PATRICIA A. & WILLIAM K. NICHOLS

Mercedes Smith

Flute Mercedes Smith is Principal Flutist of the Utah Symphony. A Texas native, she served as Principal Flutist of the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet Orchestras for nearly a decade and has performed with orchestras such as the Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Pacific Symphony. Awarded First Prize in the National Flute Association’s 2010 Young Artist Competition, Smith has performed multiple times in Carnegie Hall, Europe, and Asia, and performed as guest Principal Flutist for the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2018 European Tour. She is currently on the faculty of Miami Summer Music Festival and has performed with Grand Teton Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Tanglewood, Music Academy of the West, Verbier Festival Orchestra, and Marlboro Music Festival. Smith was accepted as a scholarship student at the Manhattan School of Music at the age of 16 and is greatly indebted to her teachers Michael Parloff, Jeanne Baxtresser, and Dr. Ronda Mains. Smith lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, violinist David Porter, and serves as Board Chairman of Salty Cricket–a music program for those in underserved communities.

*See page 20 for Conner Gray Covington’s Artist Profile.

By Michael Clive

William Grant Still (1895–1978)

Mother and Child

Long known as the “Dean of AfricanAmerican Classical Composers,” as well as one of America’s foremost composers, William Grant Still became a legend in his own lifetime, and after a period of unjust neglect, has been the subject of renewed interest in the past decade. He was born in 1895 in the Mississippi town of Woodville to parents who were teachers and musicians. They were of African-American, Indian, Spanish, Irish, and Scottish heritage. When William was only a few months old, his father died and his mother took him to Little Rock, where she taught English at the high school level. There his musical education began, with violin lessons from a private teacher, and with later inspiration from the RCA Victor operatic recordings bought for him by his stepfather.

At Wilberforce University, Still took courses leading to a B.S. degree, but spent most of his time conducting the band, learning to play various instruments, and exploring composition and orchestration. His subsequent studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music were financed at first by a legacy from his father, and later by a scholarship established for him by the faculty.

After college, Still entered the world of popular music, playing in orchestras and orchestrating, working in particular with the violin, cello and oboe. His employers included many of the era’s biggest names: W. C. Handy, Donald Voorhees, Sophie Tucker, Paul Whiteman, Willard Robison, Artie Shaw, and others. For several years he arranged and conducted the Deep River Hour over CBS and WOR. While in Boston playing oboe in the pit orchestra for the immensely popular show Shuffle Along, Still applied to study at the New England Conservatory with George Chadwick, and was again rewarded with a scholarship due to Chadwick’s own vision and generosity. He also studied, again on an individual scholarship, with modernist composer Edgard Varèse.

In the 1920s, Still made his first appearances as a serious composer in New York, and began a valued friendship with Dr. Howard Hanson, the revered director of the Eastman School of Music (Rochester). He earned extended Guggenheim and Rosenwald Fellowships as well as important commissions from the Columbia Broadcasting System, the 1939 New York World’s Fair, Paul Whiteman, the League of Composers, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Southern Conference Educational Fund, and the American Accordionists Association. In 1944, he won the Jubilee prize of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for the best overture to celebrate its Jubilee season, with a work called Festive Overture. In 1953, a Freedoms Foundation Award came to him for his To You, America! which honored West Point’s Sesquicentennial Celebration. In 1961, he received the prize offered by the US Committee for the UN, the NFMC and the Aeolian Music Foundation for his orchestral work The Peaceful Land, cited as the best musical composition honoring the United Nations.

In 1939, Still married the journalist and concert pianist Verna Arvey, who became his principal collaborator. They remained together until Still died of heart failure in 1978. His service to the cause of brotherhood is evidenced by his many firsts in the musical realm: Still was the first African American in the United States to have a symphony performed by a major symphony orchestra, and the first to conduct a major American symphony orchestra—the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, which he led in performing his own compositions at the Hollywood Bowl in 1936. He was the first Black composer to have an opera produced by a major company in the United States—his Troubled Island, which took the stage at New York’s City Center of Music and Drama in 1949. With these firsts, Still was a pioneer, but, in a larger sense, he pioneered because he was able to create music capable of interesting the greatest conductors of the day: serious music with a definite American flavor.

Still was recognized by many institutions for his contributions to American music, including honorary degrees from Wilberforce University (Master of Music) in 1936; Howard University (Doctor of Music) in 1941; Oberlin College (Doctor of Music) in 1947; Bates College (Doctor of Letters) in 1954; University of Arkansas (Doctor of Laws) in 1971; Pepperdine University (Doctor of Fine Arts) in 1973; and Doctor of Music degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, and the University of Southern California. Other awards and honors included the second Harmon Award in 1927; a trophy of honor from Local 767 of the Musicians Union AFM, of which he was a member; trophies from the League of Allied Arts in Los Angeles (1965) and the National Association of Negro Musicians; citations from the Los Angeles City Council and Los Angeles Board of Supervisors (1963); a trophy from the APPA in Washington DC (1968); the Phi Beta Sigma George Washington Carver Award (1953); the Richard Henry Lee Patriotism Award from Knotts Berry Farm, California; a citation from the Governor of Arkansas in 1972 and the third annual prize of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters in 1982.

The deeply moving Mother and Child, inspired by a 1932 lithograph by the artist Sargent Johnson, is a movement from Still’s Suite for Violin and Piano, composed in 1943. Still re-scored the suite for string orchestra after the first version’s premiere in 1944.

Writing for the Seattle Symphony, Carolyn Tarr notes that in 1943, the year of Mother and Child’s composition, Still quit the creative team for the movie-musical Stormy Weather, which “would have been his biggest paycheck ever.” At the time, Still declared that the film’s studio, 20th Century Fox, “degraded colored people,” and said that the film’s “crude, sexy stereotypes… are the sort of misconceptions that…indirectly influence the lives of our thirteen million people.” Johnson’s deceptively simple image and Still’s evocative music certainly dignifies rather than degrades. Still captures the intimacy and beauty of a poignant moment between mother and child. Many listeners and viewers of Sargent’s lithograph

also discern the oppression that is the backdrop of the maternal embrace. Mother and Child remains one of the most admired of all of Still’s creations. The perennially popular Suite for Violin and Piano from which it is drawn is one of over 150 major works in his catalog; others include 5 symphonies, 8 operas, a ballet score, and numerous choral works.

Dag Wirén (1905—1986)

Serenade for Strings

In the US and most of Europe, Dag Wirén is almost unknown save for a handful of very fine compositions, of which his Serenade for Strings is by far the most frequently performed. But his reputation is far different in his native Sweden. There he enriched every aspect of the nation’s musical life, from popular music—he even composed the music for the Swedish entry in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest—to the national ballet and opera companies, serving as a board member of the Royal Swedish Opera and composing the score for an award-wining television ballet. He wrote perceptive critical essays. From the 1930s, when his piano performances were a fixture on Swedish radio, until his death in 1986, Dag Wirén embodied musical life in his native land.

Wirén was born in 1905 in the Swedish town of Striberg, where his father had a roller-blind factory. His parents were both musical, and after giving Wirén piano lessons, they enrolled him at the Stockholm Conservatory in 1926. With the benefit of a stipend from the Swedish government, he continued his studies in Paris, where he met Stravinsky and was especially influenced by the French composers known as Les Six, who countered the severities of modernism with a style that was lighter in texture and neo-classical in its compositional roots. This approach fit well with Wirén’s personal philosophy of music, which combined a relaxed, inclusive stylistic approach with rigorous standards of quality. Wirén believed that music was to be enjoyed and should be accessible to listeners, but applied rigorous standards to his own works, some of which he withdrew from publication even after successful performances.

On the classical side, Wirén’s catalog includes symphonies, concertos, concert pieces, and choral works; his works for the stage, broadcast media, and film include movie scores, incidental music, and popular songs. His Serenade for Strings, composed in 1937 (at age 32) comprises four contrasting movements marked preludium, andante espressivo, scherzo, and marcia. Writer Kathryn Bacasmot has described the Serenade as “[rushing] in like a warm summer breeze…enveloping the listener in light, gorgeous melodies.” Other critics have said his music is distinguished by its energy, high spirits, and melodic abundance.

The Serenade for Strings is an especially successful embodiment of Wirén’s chief goal as a composer: to write music in a thoroughly modern idiom yet in a manner that entertains and pleases listeners. As such, it has won passionate admirers. If you find yourself among them, you’ll find it worthwhile to seek out his Symphony No. 2, composed in 1939, which carries the

Serenade’s spirit forward in symphonic form.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756—1791)

Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Flute and Orchestra, K. 314 (285d)

There’s a category of musical arcana that your intrepid annotator calls “bar bets”— obscure facts that seem so counter-intuitive or just plain strange that they beg for a trivia dare. Among these is the notion that Mozart, who composed some of the most ravishing music for flute in the repertory, disliked the instrument intensely. Is that even possible? Well, yes. The flute is probably one of the few orchestral instruments that Mozart did not play. In addition to his renown as a pianist (he performed many of his own piano concertos in concert), he was a superb violinist—good enough to rank as one of the best of his era, had he chosen to play it publicly. And yet, as musicologists love to remind us, he said more than once that he hated the flute. In a letter to his father—letters to Leopold were the source for many of his unguarded complaints— he wrote of one flute commission from an amateur player, “I could, to be sure, scribble off things the whole day long, but a composition of this kind goes out into the world, and naturally I do not want to have cause to be ashamed of my name on the title page. Moreover, you know I am quite powerless to write for an instrument [the flute] which I cannot bear.”

This aversion certainly did not prevent Mozart from creating music for flute that is not only gorgeous, but that flatters the instrument—

an anomaly that won’t be of much use in a bar unless you happen to bring Mozart’s correspondence along with you as proof. Then again, as often happens with bar bets, the more we know about the facts behind them, the less bizarre they seem.

First, we must take note that the flute of Mozart’s day was a far cry from the modern “transverse flute,” which is crafted from ideally resonant metal alloys, with holes, keys, and finger pads that are finished with the precision of jeweled watch movements. If Mozart had only known! With his perfectionist’s ear, he was maddened by imperfect intonation and inconsistencies of tone, and the 18th-century flute almost guaranteed that these problems would arise. Made of wood and held straight in front of the player (rather than at a “transverse” angle from the mouth), the object of Mozart’s derision was basically a wooden pipe with holes—an instrument that more closely resembled the Baroque recorder than a modern flute. Yet more advanced transverse flutes were only a few decades away. By the mid-1800s, they were very much as we know them now.

In the case of the Flute Concerto No. 2, we must also remember that this work, which sounds as if it were born for flutes and flutists, wasn’t. Mozart composed this concerto in 1778 (at age 27) in Mannheim, a German city with one of Europe’s best orchestras; he hoped to secure a position as court musician there. It was originally scored for oboe. The flute version is not just a routine transposition for a neighboring instrument in the woodwinds section; Mozart himself adapted it for the flutist Johann Baptist Wendling, a skilled Mannheim Orchestra instrumentalist who had introduced Mozart to a potential Dutch patron. Thus Mozart was favorably disposed to the flutist for whom he arranged the flute version (he had little patience for amateurs), and knew the performance would be at the highest professional level.

The concerto is a lush showcase for the flute’s pure tone, its flowing legato, and the natural, breathing quality of its phrasing— unlike the oboe’s crisper transitions from note to note. This is especially apparent in the concerto’s second movement; in it we hear the slow, lyric lines in which Mozart seems to make the flute sing, sumptuously foiled by a lovely cantilena—a simple song form—in the strings.

For generations after Johann Wendling first played it, this work was known simply as a flute concerto. But its original scoring, for oboe soloist, was relocated almost 150 years after it was written, and it is now shared by flutists and oboists. But a note for trendwatchers: for the time being, at least, the flute version is far more frequently programmed.

Igor Stravinsky (1882—1971)

Concerto in E-flat Major for Chamber Orchestra, “Dumbarton Oaks”

Stravinsky’s music has been described as the antithesis of Tchaikovsky’s, but ballet scores laid the foundation for the international fame of both men. Stravinsky’s first major success,

The Firebird, came when he was 27, and it was The Rite of Spring that made him an international celebrity five years later. His first collaboration with the choreographer George Balanchine brought him to America for an extended period: the ballet Jeux de cartes, composed in 1936. Returning to Europe after the rehearsal period, Stravinsky moved to the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps, the highest topography in Europe, to be near his daughter Ludmila; not yet 30, she was dying of tuberculosis and confined to a sanatorium. Stravinsky described this as “perhaps the most difficult time of my life.” It was during this period that he composed “Dumbarton Oaks,” his Concerto in E-flat for Chamber Orchestra. He began the work in the spring of 1937 with the encouragement of conductor Ernest Ansermet, a neighbor and supportive friend.

The commission for the concerto had come from Washington, DC A-listers Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Bliss to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. The diplomat Robert Woods Bliss had held positions including ambassadorships to Argentina and Sweden; Mildred Bliss was a respected art collector with a deep knowledge of pre-Columbian sculpture. This cosmopolitan couple not only knew Stravinsky’s work by reputation, but had almost certainly heard the witty score for Jeux de cartes in performance.

As for the nickname “Dumbarton Oaks,” the phrase is one of those that strikes a familiar note with many of us who can’t quite place it exactly; it is, in fact, the name of the 19thcentury mansion where the Blisses resided in Washington, displayed their art, and entertained. The power couple donated the house, its contents and gardens to Harvard University in 1940. Dumbarton Oaks was the site of the international conference at which the United Nations was organized in 1944—the signal event that accounts for the familiarity of its name. Today it is a research center for the study of Byzantine and pre-Columbian art.

The premiere of the concerto took place at Dumbarton Oaks on May 8, 1938, about five weeks before Ludmila Stravinsky’s death, when the composer himself was ill with tuberculosis. The premiere was conducted by his friend Nadia Boulanger.

Like many a composer before and since, Stravinsky found consolation in Bach during the difficult time when he wrote the “Dumbarton Oaks” concerto. “I played Bach regularly during the composition of the Concerto, and was greatly attracted to the ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos,” he wrote. “Whether or not the first theme of my [first] movement is a conscious borrowing from the third ‘Brandenburg,’ however, I do not know.” Many listeners hear the theme clearly, first in the viola part of the opening bar, then more strongly as the movement develops. The sound is effervescent throughout, and the movements are played without pause, an eight-bar passage joining the first movement to the second, an allegretto described by Stravinsky biographer Eric W. White as possessing “an intense purity of line.” A progression of dignified chords creates an atmosphere of near-silence that leads to the third movement, an energetic finale.

THE MAGICAL MUSIC OF HARRY POTTER

July 23 / 2021 / 7:30 PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

ENRICO LOPEZ-YAÑEZ, conductor JULIA BRADSHAW, soprano (Gryffindor) MARIAH STANELLE, alto (Ravenclaw) MITCHELL MOSLEY, tenor (Hufflepuff) TATE FORSHAY, baritone (Slytherin)

LODGING SPONSOR ORCHESTRA SPONSOR STAGE SPONSOR

JOHN WILLIAMS

NICHOLAS HOOPER

ARR. JERRY BRUBAKER JOHN WILLIAMS

JOHN WILLIAMS JOHN WILLIAMS

JOHN WILLIAMS

PATRICK DOYLE

JOHN WILLIAMS JOHN WILLIAMS PATRICK DOYLE

JOHN WILLIAMS, PATRICK DOYLE, NICHOLAS HOOPER, ALEXANDRE DESPLAT

JOHN WILLIAMS

PATRICK DOYLE “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“The Weasley Stomp” from Harry Potter and the HalfBlood Prince

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Fawkes the Phoenix

Dobby the House Elf

Gilderoy Lockhart

The Chamber of Secrets

“Nimbus 200” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Suite from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Aunt Marge’s Waltz

The Knight Bus

A Bridge To The Past

Double Trouble

INTERMISSION

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

“Death of Cedric” from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

“Diagon Alley” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone “Buckbeak’s Flight” Symphonic Suite from Harry Potter “The Quiddich World Cup (The Irish)” From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Symphonic Suite from Harry Potter

Fireworks

The Flight of the Order of the Phoenix

Harry & Hermione

Obliviate

Lily’s Theme

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

“Hogwarts’ Hymn” from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Enrico Lopez-Yañez

Conductor

CONDUCTOR SPONSOR

Enrico Lopez-Yañez is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Nashville Symphony. Appointed in 2019, he leads the Symphony’s Pops Series and Family Series. Since working with the Nashville Symphony, Lopez-Yañez has conducted concerts with a broad spectrum of artists including: Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood, Richard Marx, Jennifer Nettles, Kellie Pickler, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Megan Hilty, Hanson, Kenny Loggins, and more. During the 2020–21 season, Lopez-Yañez will collaborate with artists including Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Maxwell, Leslie Odom Jr., Stewart Copeland of The Police, Ben Folds, Kenny G, and more. Lopez-Yañez will appear with the National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, San Diego Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and will make return appearances with the Detroit Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and Utah Symphony. Previously, Lopez-Yañez has appeared with orchestras throughout the North America including the Aguascalientes Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Omaha Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra among others. As Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Symphonica Productions, LLC, Lopez-Yañez curates and leads programs designed to cultivate new audiences. An enthusiastic proponent of innovating the concert experience, his exciting education, classical, and pops concerts are performed by orchestras across the United States. Lopez-Yañez previously held the position of Assistant Conductor with the Nashville Symphony and Omaha Symphony. He holds a Masters in Music from the University of Maryland and received a Masters in Music and his Baccalaureate from UCLA, where he graduated summa cum laude. For more information visit: www.enricolopezyanez.com

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TAKE ME HOME: THE MUSIC OF JOHN DENVER STARRING JIM CURRY

with the Utah Symphony

July 24 / 2021 / 7:30 PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

LEE HOLDRIDGE, conductor JIM CURRY, vocals/guitar

Program to be announced from the stage.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

CONCERT SPONSOR

STAGE SPONSOR

Lee Holdridge

Conductor

GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR

Lee Holdridge is completely at home in film music, concert music, opera, and songwriting. Holdridge’s recent film scores include Walking With Destiny, Brothers at War, and Great Voices Sing John Denver. Previous scores include the eclectic Korgoth of Barbaria and Puerto Vallarta Squeeze. Concert works include the orchestral suite Scenes of Summer and the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2. Operas extend from Lazarus and His Beloved to the more recent Dulce Rosa. Songs include the classic “Moonlighting” and “The First Time I Loved Forever,” the theme for the iconic television series Beauty and The Beast. He has collaborated with Neil Diamond, Placido Domingo, John Denver, Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston, and many others.

Jim Curry

Vocals/Guitar

GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR

JOHN & JEAN YABLONSKI

After being awarded a full Rotary International scholarship to study music and voice and being selected to sing as the voice of John Denver in the CBS Television Movie Take Me Home, the John Denver Story, there was no doubt that Jim Curry would continue to sing the praises and songs of America’s Troubadour: John Denver. As a life-long fan, Jim dedicated himself to continue John Denver’s legacy of songs and his message of love and caring for our planet to future generations. Since 2002, the combined talents of Curry and his band have brought John’s music back to thousands upon thousands of people. Curry is honored to have had John Denver band members join him in some of the most prestigious venues in the country. He also works behind the scenes to preserve Denver’s music. Most notable is Curry’s collaboration with Lee Holdridge in rebuilding and preserving Denver’s original symphony arrangements. Curry was a key performer in the induction of John Denver to the Colorado Music Hall of fame show hosted by Olivia Newton John. He was also the host of the official John Denver Estate show, which toured the United States and Australia.

Curry’s latest project is titled Such a Wild Place and was produced by two of John Denver’s band members, Pete Huttlinger and Chris Nole. It includes four original songs co-written by Jim Curry and also includes three unreleased songs written by John Denver. Jim Curry continues to perform John Denver’s heartfelt songs on cruise ships, in symphony halls, and in performing arts centers to growing audiences all over the world.

CHEVALIER DE SAINTGEORGES’ VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 2

with Dvořák & Caroline Shaw

July 28 / 2021 / 8 PM

ST. MARY’S CHURCH

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, conductor KATHRYN EBERLE, violin

DVOŘÁK

CAROLINE SHAW SAINT-GEORGES Serenade in D minor, Op. 44 I. Moderato quasi marcia II. Menuetto—Trio: Presto III. Andante con moto IV. Finale: Alegro molto Entr’acte

Violin Concerto in A Major, Op. 5 No. 2 I. Allegro moderato II. Largo III. Rondeau Kathryn Eberle, violin

Kathryn Eberle

Violin Acclaimed by the Salt Lake Tribune as “marrying unimpeachable technical skill with a persuasive and perceptive voice,” violinist Kathryn Eberle is the Associate Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony and the newlyappointed Concertmaster of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Eberle has also served as Guest Concertmaster with the Kansas City, Omaha, and Richmond Symphonies. Eberle performs annually as soloist with the Utah Symphony. She made her subscription series debut in 2014 performing Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade, After Plato’s Symposium. Most recently, she performed Edgar Meyer’s Violin Concerto in January 2020. Other solo appearances include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Nashville Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and the Bahia Symphony in Brazil. An avid chamber musician, Eberle has collaborated with such artists as Arnold Steinhardt, Edgar Meyer, Jaime Laredo, and Ricardo Morales. Festival appearances include Yellow Barn, Banff, Aspen, Missillac, Sewanee, Laguna Beach, Fairbanks Summer Arts, Innsbrook Institute, and Festival Mozaic.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Ms. Eberle began her violin studies on her third birthday. She received a master’s degree from The Juilliard School studying with Sylvia Rosenberg. She previously studied with Robert Lipsett and Cornelia Heard at the Colburn School, Blair School of Music and the University of Southern California where she received the String Department and Symphony awards upon graduation. Ms. Eberle performs on a 1754 Gennaro Gagliano violin, the ex “Von Vecsey.”

*See page 20 for Conner Gray Covington’s Artist Profile.

By Michael Clive

Antonín Dvořák (1841—1904)

Serenade in D minor, Op. 44

Nationalist movements in Western classical music owe much to Antonín Dvořák, who believed passionately in composers’ use of indigenous sources for their compositions. In his own music, native Czech sources account for the distinctive, echoing melodies and for the ever-present sense of “swing” we hear in the Serenade in D minor.

The sheer pleasure of listening to Dvořák’s Serenade suggests the relaxed enjoyment of a divertimento such as Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik—not only in its loose structure, but also in the feeling of a glowing twilight that suffuses the music. In fact, according to contemporary accounts, Dvořák was inspired to compose this work after hearing a performance of Mozart’s Wind Serenade in B-flat Major K. 361 in Vienna. Mozart’s wind instruments are included in Dvořák’s scoring, along with cello and double-bass; the sound is deep and rich-textured.

The sense of relaxation we hear in Dvořák’s Serenade was seemingly reflected in its ease of composition, which reportedly took less than two weeks for all four movements. But Dvořák himself was not always so relaxed about composing such works. Earlier in his career, his concern with making his mark as a symphonist and opera composer made divertissements such as his Slavonic Dances and Serenades seem trivial. But these lighter works were precisely what his publisher wanted from him, and the listening public’s appetite for them was seemingly insatiable. By the time he composed the Serenade in D minor, in 1878, he was more fully reconciled to such forms. It was a time of creativity and optimism for him: His marriage was still new, his first son was born, and he was finally enjoying financial self-sufficiency as a composer of high repute.

The Serenade is dedicated to the eminent German music critic and composer Louis Ehlert, who had praised Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances in the German press. (Brahms, too, was a champion of Dvořák’s music, and he spoke highly of this Serenade.) If you hear humor in its opening, you’re not alone; some critics have found satirical pomposity in the introduction to the first movement, which Dvořák is said to have completed in a single day. After that, it’s all breezy melodies and charm, and one of the repertory’s greatest joys for wind players. Dvořák’s music is known for its rhythmic and narrative intensity—for drama and swing. Here, it can be said, we hear his characteristic swing, but not drama…just relaxed pleasure in the playing and the listening. Throughout, Dvořák’s beloved Bohemian dance rhythms can be heard if we listen for them (Dvořák’s music never really strays far from dancing). The suite ends in a vivid finale marked allegro molto.

Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)

Entr’acte

When Caroline Shaw won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013, it caused more than the

usual stir. Shaw was not only the youngest composer ever to win the award, but also one of the few women. Others include Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, 1983; Shulamit Ran, 1991; Melinda Wagner, 1999; Jennifer Higdon, 2010; and, more recently (post-Shaw, that is), Julia Wolfe, 2015; Du Yun, 2017; and Ellen Reid, 2019. The recent increase reflects progress that women are making in the world of classical music—or, perhaps more accurately, the classical music world’s progress in actually listening to women.

Shaw, in particular, was immediately recognized as an astonishing new voice. Her prize-winning composition, Partita for 8 Voices, was composed for the GRAMMY®winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, a fearlessly experimental group that defies musical tradition and has rewritten the rules of choral singing. Major singers now seek her out, and she has created works for artists including sopranos Renée Fleming and Dawn Upshaw, and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter.

Born in Greenville, North Carolina, Shaw began playing the violin at age two and writing music at age ten. She received her Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Rice University in 2004 and her master’s degree in violin studies from Yale in 2007. She entered Princeton University’s PhD program in composition in 2010, and is now based in New York as a vocalist, violinist, composer, and producer. She is a member of Roomful of Teeth.

In addition to many commissions for vocalists, instrumentalists, and orchestras, Shaw’s film scores include Erica Fae’s To Keep the Light and Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline as well as the upcoming short 8th Year of the Emergency by Maureen Towey. She has produced for Kanye West (The Life of Pablo; Ye) and Nas (NASIR), and has contributed to records by The National and by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. Her website notes, “Once she got to sing in three-part harmony with Sara Bareilles and Ben Folds at the Kennedy Center, and that was pretty much the bees’ knees and elbows.”

Shaw currently teaches at NYU and is a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School. She has held residencies at Dumbarton Oaks, the Banff Centre, Music on Main, and the Vail Dance Festival. She loves the color yellow, otters, Beethoven opus 74, Mozart opera, Kinhaven, the smell of rosemary, and the sound of a janky mandolin.

As we listen to Entr’acte, we hear the combination of old and new that is characteristic of her sound: traditional harmonies juxtaposed against startling dissonances; strict rhythms that give way to elastic, wayward rhythmic shifts. The effect is often vertiginous or dreamlike. Her deeply communicative writing for strings, which utilizes a wide array of effects, seems to reflect her early and continuing commitment to the violin. In her composer’s note about Entr’acte, she writes:

Entr’acte was written in 2011 after hearing the Brentano Quartet play Haydn’s Op. 77 No. 2—with their spare and soulful shift to the D-flat major trio in

the minuet. It is structured like a minuet and trio, riffing on that classical form but taking it a little further. I love the way some music (like the minuets of Op. 77) suddenly takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolor transition.

As befits a composition that straddles both sides of Alice’s looking glass, many listeners hear a surreal quality in Entr’acte. As writer Timothy Judd notes, “Throughout the piece we get subtle glimpses of Classical and Baroque music that has suddenly found itself in the wrong century.”

Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799)

Violin Concerto in A Major, Op. 5 No. 2

Born in the French colony of Guadeloupe in 1745, Saint-Georges (the name is an inherited honorific—he was born Joseph Bologne) was a dashing figure in that most style-conscious of cities, Paris, where he made his career. He was the son of Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges, a wealthy married planter, and Anne, dite (called) Nanon, his wife’s Senegalese slave. A famous portrait by Mather Brown, an American artist who made his career in England, depicts the younger Saint-Georges as almost incredibly handsome, elegant and heroic; in his right hand he holds what at first glance might be taken for a conductor’s baton, but is actually a sword. He served with valor as a colonel in the Légion StGeorges, the first all-Black French regiment, fighting on the side of the Republic. Saint-Georges’ wealthy father had taken the seven-year-old Joseph to boarding school in France, and settled with his wife in a fashionable section of Paris two years later. Under the French code noir, which strictly codified French social status by color, Saint-Georges was barred from marrying anyone of his own social standing, but he received the education befitting a gifted aristocrat, enrolling at age 13 in the Académie royale polytechnique. More is known about his great success as a fencer, dancer, and man about town than about his musical education; in fact, what we know as the Légion St.-Georges was actually the Légion franche de cavalerie des Amèricains et du Midi, which became associated with his heroic exploits and then adopted his name.

Parisian concertgoers were stunned in 1769 when Saint-Georges, the dashing fencer and social figure, appeared as a violinist in the orchestra of François-Joseph Gossec; within four years, Saint-Georges was the ensemble’s concertmaster and conductor. But even earlier than that, in 1772, SaintGeorges, then 27, created a sensation by performing two recent compositions—his Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2—under Gossec’s baton.

Saint-Georges’ violin concertos are exemplars of the French Classical style in concertos—tasteful, elegant, and harmonious. Despite the lack of concrete evidence regarding Saint-Georges’ musical training, critics surmise that his earliest public compositions bore Gossec’s influence, while the 1772 concertos were the breakthrough

works with which Saint-Georges’ style came into its own. They are framed to showcase the soloist’s taste as well as instrumental skills. The sound is relaxed and lyrical, and they demonstrate the combination of restraint, elegance, and virtuosity that is characteristic of French concertos such as Ravel’s for the piano. In particular, SaintGeorges exploits the extent of the violin’s tonal range, from the highest highs to the lowest lows. While the instrument’s lowest reaches are delimited by the low (G) string, the highs are bound only by the violinist’s technical abilities with neck hand and bow; determining how high is too high is often a matter between the concerto’s composer and its dedicatee. In this case, SaintGeorges knew exactly what the soloist could accomplish, and it was spectacular. Critics tell us that the 1772 concertos demonstrate a level of artistry beyond the composer’s earlier works; listening to the Concerto No. 2, we are inclined to believe them. For example, the concerto’s sumptuous largo movement employs a wider range of colors than do his previous works, and its whimsical touches show a confident hand; the scoring, too, is particularly deft. The grace and polish of this concerto, along with the fascinating details of Saint-Georges’ life, make it all the more regrettable that many of his compositions were lost in the French Revolution. As for his remarkable life story, in June 2020 Searchlight Pictures announced plans for a biopic about Saint-Georges. He would seem to be a great and timely subject for a gorgeous movie.

LITTLE RIVER BAND

with the Utah Symphony

July 30 / 2021 / 7:30 PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, conductor LITTLE RIVER BAND WAYNE NELSON, lead vocals/bass CHRIS MARION, keyboards/vocals RICH HERRING, lead guitar/vocals RYAN RICKS, drums/percussion/vocals COLIN WHINNERY, guitar/lead vocals

Program to be announced from the stage.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

MARRINER S. ECCLES FOUNDATION

CONDUCTOR SPONSOR ORCHESTRA SPONSOR STAGE SPONSOR

Little River Band

Guest Artists The Eagles founding member, the late Glenn Frey, knew what he was saying when he dubbed Little River Band “the best singing band in the world.” Through the 70’s and 80’s, LRB enjoyed huge chart success with multiplatinum albums and chart topping hits like: “Reminiscing,” “Cool Change,” “Lonesome Loser,” “The Night Owls,” “Take It Easy On Me,” “Help Is on Its Way,” “Happy Anniversary,” “We Two,” “Man On Your Mind,” “The Other Guy,” and It’s A Long Way There”. Bassist/vocalist Wayne Nelson joined the band in 1980 and worked alongside founding members with some of the most distinctive harmonies and vocal abilities, creating the unique LRB sound. In 1981, Nelson was recognized by world renowned Beatles producer Sir George Martin who, while producing “Time Exposure,” chose Nelson to record lead vocals on two of the band’s biggest hits, “The Night Owls” and “Take It Easy On Me.” Later that same year, guitarist extraordinaire Stephen Housden joined LRB bringing a rock element into the band’s sound and helped contribute to their string of Top 10 hits. As band members departed, both Housden and Nelson worked together to bring LRB into the new millennium.

To date, lead singer/bassist Wayne Nelson has contributed his vocal and bass guitar talents on 22 Little River Band

albums. LRB continues to perform to sold-out audiences, and Stephen Housden continues to write and participate in all things Little River Band. In 2004 LRB was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame at the 18th Annual ARIA Music Awards and in September 2015 the band was awarded Casino Entertainer of the Year at the G2E Gaming Expo in Las Vegas Nevada. Keyboardist Chris Marion is a Dove Award-winning producer. Chris is the creator of all the orchestral arrangements and charts on The Big Box. It is amazing to watch him play, sing, and conduct from his riser! Lead guitarist Rich Herring is a highly skilled player, singer, and producer of many Nashville artists…not to mention a great songwriter. He and Wayne have co-produced every LRB project since he joined the band. Drummer Ryan Ricks has locked down the rhythm section, and rounds out the vocals with his incredible range. Great singing drummers are rare…and LRB is lucky to have Ryan as part of that all-important vocal blend. Nashville guitarist Colin Whinnery plays rhythm and lead guitar, and shares lead vocal duties with Wayne. He brings a brand new voice and a fresh outlook to the rhythm section. Bringing their vocal and musical energy along with great arrangements to their timeless classic hits, each show creates new memories for the audience. The band enjoys watching their fans fall in love with the songs all over again as they are swept up by the show’s powerful performance and the volume of hits from LRB’s history. With 90–100 dates being scheduled for their 2021–22 tour, Little River Band is hotter than ever, selling out shows and making music coast to coast while continuing their legacy of being “the best singing band in the world.”

*See page 20 for Conner Gray Covington’s Artist Profile.

1812 OVERTURE WITH RACHMANINOFF’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2

July 31 / 2021 / 7:30 PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, conductor STEPHEN BEUS, piano CANNONEERS OF THE WASATCH

SHOSTAKOVICH Festive Overture

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 I. Moderato II. Adagio sostenuto III. Allegro scherzando Stephen Beus, piano

RACHMANINOFF

DVOŘÁK

INTERMISSION

Carnival Overture

“Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia” from Spartacus Suite No. 2

1812 Overture

KHACHATURIAN

TCHAIKOVSKY

PRESENTING SPONSOR

DIANE & HAL BRIERLEY

CONCERT SPONSOR ORCHESTRA SPONSOR STAGE SPONSOR

RICHARD K. & SHIRLEY S. HEMINGWAY FOUNDATION

*See page 20 for Conner Gray Covington’s Artist Profile.

Stephen Beus

Piano Strikingly original... an interpretive voice all his own” (Fanfare). In the space of four months, American pianist Stephen Beus won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and was awarded the Vendome Prize (Lisbon) and the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (Indianapolis). As a result of winning The Juilliard School Concerto Competition, Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana, and Walla Walla Symphonies. Equally active as a soloist, Beus has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot (Paris), Merkin Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, the Central Conservatory (Beijing), Teatro di San Carlo (Naples), Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), the Queluz Palace (Lisbon); has performed for the Dame Myra Hess and Fazioli Salon series (Chicago), the International Keyboard Institute and Festival (New York City); and has given recitals across the United States as well as in Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Georgia, China, France, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Morocco. Born and raised on a farm in eastern Washington, Beus began lessons at age five and made his orchestral debut four years later. He went on to win numerous national and international competitions throughout his youth, capturing the attention of both audiences and critics. Commenting on Beus’ competition success, Fanfare magazine writes: “In some ways Beus doesn’t fit the mold of the typical competition winner. His playing is strikingly original and,

despite his youth, he has an interpretive voice all his own… Above all, his playing is so natural as to seem effortless and the sound he produces has extraordinary richness and depth, not quite like anyone else’s.” Beus holds degrees from Whitman College, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, and his teachers have included Leonard Richter, Robert McDonald, Gilbert Kalish, Christina Dahl, and Paulette Richards. He has recorded on the Endeavor Classics, Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur Records labels. Stephen Beus is a Steinway Artist and currently teaches at Brigham Young University. For more details, visit www.stephenbeuspiano.com.

The Cannoneers of the Wasatch have traveled the Wasatch Front for 50 years blasting self-made cannons while orchestras perform. They formed in 1971 when the University of Utah—Snowbird Summer Arts Institute wanted to perform Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture with cannon fire, but lacked cannons. For 5 decades now, the Cannoneers have performed in Taylorsville, Layton, Deer Valley, and Sun Valley with more than 18 historical replica cannons, ranging in size from 25 to 1,000 pounds in their arsenal.

Cannoneers of the Wasatch

CANNON SPONSOR

LAW OFFICES OF THOMAS N. JACOBSON

THE BEACH BOYS

with the Utah Symphony

August 6–7 / 2021 / 7:30 PM DEER VALLEY® SNOW PARK OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER

CONNER GRAY COVINGTON, conductor MIKE LOVE, lead vocals BRUCE JOHNSTON, keyboards/vocals CHRISTIAN LOVE, guitar/vocals KEITH HUBACHER, bass/vocals TIM BONHOMME, keyboards/vocals JOHN COWSILL, percussion/vocals SCOTT TOTTEN, guitar/vocals RANDY LEAGO, saxophone/woodwinds/harmonica

Program to be announced from the stage.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

CONDUCTOR SPONSOR CONCERT SPONSOR

STAGE SPONSORS

The Beach Boys

Guest Artists

GUEST ARTIST SPONSOR

JIM & ZIBBY TOZER

You can capsulize most pop music acts by reciting how many hits they’ve had and how many millions of albums they’ve sold. But these conventional measurements fall short when you’re assessing the impact of The Beach Boys. This band has birthed a torrent of hit singles and sold albums by the tens of millions. But its greater significance lies in the fact that The Beach Boys’ songs have forever changed the musical landscape, profoundly influencing countless performing artists to follow. The Beach Boys have continued to create and perform with the same bold imagination and style that marked their explosive debut over 50 years ago. In 2013, their Capitol Records release, Sounds of Summer (RIAA certified triple platinum with over three million in sales and climbing), and its companion The Warmth of the Sun marked a resurgence in Beach Boys interest that again rocked the world. In 2016, The Beach Boys celebrated the 50th anniversary of the hit “Good Vibrations,” which is widely considered one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of rock and roll. The band commemorated this prolific time in the life of the Beach Boys with a 50 Years of Good Vibrations tour. Few, if any, acts can match The Beach Boys’ concert presence, spirit, and performance. They have been center stage at Live Aid, multiple Farm Aids, the Statue of Liberty’s 100th Anniversary Salute, the Super Bowl and the White House. On one day alone—July 4, 1985—they played to nearly 2 million fans at shows in Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The Beach Boys have appeared on countless worldwide TV shows and specials throughout the years including: The Ed Sullivan Show, Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Today Show, Good Morning America, NBC’s Macy’s Day Parade, and PBS’ A Capitol Fourth.

*See page 20 for Conner Gray Covington’s Artist Profile.