Have you ever dreamed of being a music critic? Utah Symphony | Utah Opera (USUO) is thrilled to announce our first ever live-review night on Saturday, July 18 at Deer Valley® Snow Park Amphitheater. New Media Music Critics will be able to live review from their phones during the performance of ABBA the Music: The Symphonic Hits at the Deer Valley® Music Festival, Summer home of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera. USUO will reserve a special section for New Media Music Critics at the ABBA performance in the lawn section of the hill. There will be a competition with fabulous prizes in the following categories: Best Overall, Most Updates, Most Responses (quantified by retweets, likes, and comments), and Most Clever. Winners will be announced via USUO’s Facebook and Twitter pages. The first 50 New Media Music Critics who sign up will receive one free ticket to the performance, although all current fans of USUO on Facebook or Twitter may participate as a New Media Music Critic, sit in the reserved section, and participate in the competition.

How to participate:

1. New Media Music Critics must be a current fan or follower of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera. facebook.com/utahmusic or twitter.com/usuo
   
2. Potential New Media Music Critics must sign-up in person at the Abravanel Hall Ticket Office: 123 West South Temple, Salt Lake City beginning at 10 AM on Thursday, July 9. ONLY THE FIRST 50 WHO SIGN-UP WILL RECEIVE ONE FREE TICKET TO THE JULY 18 PERFORMANCE, although all who sign-up can sit in the reserved section and participate in the competition.
3. New Media Music Critics are required to post at least 5 updates during the performances. Use hash #dvmf for tracking purposes.
4. No video or photography is allowed during the performance due to federal copyright laws. Those who post video or photography from the performance will be disqualified from the competition.
5. New Media Music Critics must check-in at the marketing table prior to the performance in order to receive their ticket.

Click here for info on the performance. ABBA the Music: The Symphonic Hits features two of the original members of ABBA.

On Thursday, June 18, violist Tatjana Mead Chamis will perform a concert for the Boguslavsky String Scholarship Fund in Libby Gardner Hall on the University of Utah campus. Tatjana is currently principal violist with the Pittsburgh Symphony. She also performed as a Salute to Youth soloist with the Utah Symphony in 1989 and 1992. In her recollections of those performances she has written “All of this time, the Salute to Youth events have been a proud part of my artistic biography. I feel fortunate to have had this very unique opportunity, as I know that this is a once in a lifetime, and often life changing event in the life of a musician, as it certainly was for me.”  Her teacher at the time, Mikhail Boguslavsky, was a member of the Utah Symphony.

Ms. Mead Chamis will be joined by members of the University of Utah music faculty and New York-based jazz pianist David Budway. The program looks great and this will be an excellent chance to hear a Salt Lake native who calls her first performance with the Utah Symphony her “debut.”

The concert will be at 7:30 pm.  Tickets are just $15 for adults, $5 for students.

When I heard we were doing Bernstein’s MASS for Keith’s finale concert this season, I knew there would be mixed feelings from our audience. Today, I turned to Google to see what people were saying about the performance and found some interesting reactions - both good and bad.

“I thought the performance last night was nothing short of brilliant.” - jwest (sltrib.com comment board)

“…’that was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.’ and that pretty much summed up this performance.” -readhead555 (sltrib.com comment board)

“AMAZING. Provocative. Beautiful. Stunning. Absolutely loved it.” -@sarabanaut

“…great art: provocative & open to many interpretations. Explored man’s struggle with God and/or religion.” -@learningwell

“I have wanted to hear this piece in person for more than 30 years. It was a rare treat to have it in Salt Lake City.” Sandefur Schmidt

“As I walked and listened I found a new appreciation for what I had witnessed and been a part of the evening before. All of a sudden something that was confusing and unpleasant became something moving and interesting.” -Kathy Elton Consulting

“There are some themes that might prove disturbing to some, but as a whole, it is a great work of art.” -Random Access

“It demanded your attention every moment and stirred many feelings. Loved it!” - Marilynn Bair via our Facebook Page

I really enjoyed it for the most part and thought that everyone did a great job. For me, the best part was the Agnus Dei (when everything went crazy and fell apart). Unfortunately, I hated my seats. What’s the deal with the bar right in front of your face in the second tier? I guess it wouldn’t be a big deal if there was nothing to see, but there was so much visually to see in this performance that bobbing my head up and down to see got old.

Each summer, the Utah Symphony tours around Salt Lake County presenting free concerts to thank the residents for their support. We just received the dates and programs for this summer, and there are some exciting concerts including music from Holst’s The Planets (Mars and Jupiter, of course), the 1812 Overture, selections from Star Wars, and many other fun pieces. As I mentioned, all these concerts are free!

June 29 - Taylorsville
June 30 - West Valley City
July 8 - Abravanel Hall
July 15 - Sandy

Today Keith, Jamie, and Michael sat down with Doug Fabrizio on Radio West to discuss Bernstein’s MASS. If you missed the interview earlier, you can catch it on their website.

On Sunday there was an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about USUO’s financial situation, but it wasn’t the comments about the budget deficit that got people talking. Rather, it was a comment in the article about the Utah Symphony’s programming “warhorse” symphonies for next season - things like Beethoven’s Fifth, Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony, etc - that caused a little stir in the blog world.

Two blogs I came across in particular came at the subject from two different angles. One criticized the symphony for programming warhorses and “announcing that it will shun 20th Century and contemporary composers.”  Another made the assumption that this programming style was temporary and the organization would stop programming the warhorse symphonies as soon as the economy turned around.

So, on the one hand you have someone saying it’s a mistake to program the warhorses and ignore contemporary music. On the other you have someone saying that it’s a mistake not to program these warhorse symphonies.

While I believe both misunderstood the comment in the Trib article, I believe that both have a valid point.

Too many people make the false assumption that every symphony patron is the same. Yes, there are people out there who only want to hear the Classical and Romantic composers and would be completely satisfied with their subscription if they never heard a 20th Century composer’s music performed all season. On the other hand, there are many people who seek out the new and unique. They don’t want to hear Beethoven’s Fifth over and over again. These people want to hear music by composers like George Crumb and David Heuser.

So, going back to the comment in the Tribune - yes, we have a season filled with beloved music and symphonies, but we haven’t ignored contemporary or lesser-known composers, and we certainly aren’t planning to stop programming music people want to hear in the future. Those who attend Brahms Symphony No. 2 in October will also hear Olivier Messiaen’s Ouseaux exotiques. The Utah Symphony will perform four pieces next season by French impressionist composer Maurice Ravel. Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 will be paired with Austrian composer Anton Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony. Finally, one of my favorites, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade will be paired with contemporary composer Steven Mackey’s Percussion Concerto, Time Release.

We also have a complete series (which, unfortunately, is temporarily furloughed because of budget constraints) that focuses on music by contemporary composers.

There are also programs that appeal to those who just want the tried-and-true favorites, such as An Evening of Beethoven (with Beethoven’s Fifth and his Violin Concerto in D Major) and an all-Brahms concert with Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 4.

I was speaking with a musician in our orchestra the other day, and he brought up the idea that attending the symphony is like going to a museum. A year ago this week, I was in Paris. My grandfather and I went to the Louvre specifically to see the Mona Lisa, but once we were in the museum we were intrigued by art and sculptures we never would have known had we not walked around and checked out what the museum had to offer. In fact, the Mona Lisa was a disappointment compared with some of the other paintings we saw.

I’ve had a similar experience this season. Some of my favorite concerts were surprises. I learned that I loved Strauss when I attended Land of the Midnight Music in October, and I learned I really loved his music when I attended A Hero’s Life in April. Once of my favorite pieces I heard this season was Dominick Argento’s A Waterbird Talk, and it was at this same concert that I learned how much I loved Messiaen’s music. Along the way there were also a few pieces I wasn’t a huge fan of (Berg’s Violin Concerto comes to mind), but I was glad to experience it anyway - even if I never want to hear it again.

I believe the Utah Symphony should serve both the segment of our audience that loves the “warhorses” and the segment that wants to experience something new, and I believe our current season does just that.  People vote for the music they want to hear with their wallets, and as the sales for our current season attest, the segment that wants to hear Beethoven’s Ninth is much larger than the segment that wants to hear music by Aulis Sallinen, but that doesn’t mean that the smaller segment should be ignored. It does mean that a typical season will likely include one or two of Beethoven’s symphonies though, simply because it’s what many of our patrons want to hear.

Bernstein’s MASS being performed in Salt Lake City would be a big deal even if it weren’t Keith’s final performance as Music Director. I popped my head in the other day to watch a rehearsal and as soon as the kazoo came out, I knew this would be unlike anything I’d ever seen at Abravanel Hall. I’ve been listening to the music on iTunes to get myself ready, and the more I listen and read, the more excited I’m getting about this weekend. My first thought was that it sounds a bit like a 1970’s rock opera - something like The Who’s Tommy - but there are so many musical styles in the piece that it’s hard to peg it into any single genre. It’s one of those pieces that you have to experience live to really get.

There have been a few previews for this weekend’s performances in the papers this week - especially in the Salt Lake Tribune. Catherine Reese Newton wrote up a fantastic preview of the concert with interviews by Keith Lockhart, Michael Scarola, and Jeff Bram. She tackled some of the controversy of the piece (which some believe is a little irreverent) and had Keith explain why he picked this, of all pieces, for his final piece as Music Director.

Also, the Trib looked back on Keith’s tenure as Music Director and published a “Top 10″ list of landmark performances he conducted. My favorite though was an article with memories of Keith Lockhart from reviewers and others involved with the SLC music scene.

Ed Reichel also wrote up an interesting article where he interviewed CEO Melia Tourangeau about Keith’s tenure and the future of the Utah Symphony.

If you’d like to learn a bit more about Bernstein’s MASS, I found two great YouTube videos. The first is a preview by Marin Alsop, Music Director for the Baltimore Symphony. They performed this piece earlier this season. Second is a video I found of Renee Flemming singing “Simple Song” (from the beginning of MASS). It’s beautiful.

If you don’t already have your tickets for this weekend - don’t procrastinate! Because of the stage extension there are a few hundred fewer seats than normal in Abravanel Hall, and this performance would easily have sold out if those seats were available. You can buy tickets online through our website.

Celena Shafer and Steven Condy from the cast of Don Pasquale were on KUTV’s noon news today helping Bryan Wolley make Strawberry Opera Cake. There are two segments of the video (Segment 1 - Segment 2) that you can watch on KUTV.com. The recipe looks as good as the singing, so I might have to make some to enjoy after tomorrow’s opera.

Click here for the recipe

Check it out. David Park was on KUTV Channel 2 News yesterday showing off the Stradivarius Firebird violin he’ll perform on tomorrow.

According to the blog on the KUTV site, his performance during the news actually brought tears to the eyes of one of the newscasters. Mozart was a genius - even at the young age of 17! It’s amazing how much his music still touches people.

Anyway, later during the news David joined them in the kitchen for an impromptu hoe-down! Watch the video on KUTV’s website.

Visit utahsymphony.org for more details about Thursday’s performance.

We’re in the final run up to the opening night of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. The entire rehearsal process has gone smoothly and it’s time to add costumes, lights and orchestra for this production where spaghetti Western meets Italian opera. If Madama Butterfly is the quintessential tragedy, then Don Pasquale may be the ultimate comedy. Quite honestly, if you have only half as much fun watching the opera as the cast is having performing it, you’re in for a real treat (we’ve stopped counting how many times we had to stop in the middle of rehearsal because of our own laughter!). But what’s particularly exciting to me is that in the middle of all the madcap antics, the cast is managing to sing some incredibly difficult music and make it truly beautiful.

Don Pasquale is the perfect little dolce (It. for dessert) to end a full and rewarding season of opera. So treat yourself, you won’t regret it.