Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes before the curtain rises at Utah Opera? Here’s a special peek:

Some insight into one of our violinists – Veronica Kulig!

What concerto did you audition with?
The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

What is your favorite restaurant in SLC? 
The Bohemian Brewery

How many years have you been playing your instrument?
47 years

What other instruments do you play? 
Mandolin

What is your favorite quote? 
Put your best foot forward.

What orchestral piece do you find most enjoyable to play?  
Mahler Symphony 2,  Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Benvenuto Cellini Overture, the Brahms Symphonies and many, many others.

What advice would you give to young musicians? 
Find a good teacher and trust your instincts.

It’s no secret that here at Utah Symphony | Utah Opera we’re very proud of Pat Richards, the chair of our board of trustees. She’s been on the board for ten years and has shown time and time again how committed she is to USUO and our mission. We were very happy to announce in February that Pat was the recipient of OPERA America’s 2013 National Opera Trustee Recognition Award:

(L-R) Pat Richards; Carol Henry, OPERA America Board Member; Frayda B. Lindemann, OPERA America Board Chairman; and Susan Morris, OPERA America Board Member.

We’re so excited today to announce that Pat will be receiving the Governor’s Volunteer Leadership in the Arts Award at the Mountain West Arts Conference on May 2nd.

Congrats Pat! We’re so fortunate to have you as our Board Chair and the recognition of your work is well deserved!

Someone around here was busy going through old files, and look what they found!

A program from March, 1944. It looks like a great concert with two Tchaikovsky (Tschaikowsky) pieces.

And here’s the musician’s roster:

If you look closely at the list of 2nd  Violins you will see Frances Darger (née Frances Johnson) who retired last year.

Here’s another member of our cello section (and my favorite*) – John Eckstein!

What concerto did you audition with?
I auditioned with the Schumann Concerto. It’s very lyric and soulful. Schumann was a very sensitive individual, and that comes out clearly in this piece.

What is your favorite restaurant in SLC?
I have a new favorite restaurant and it’s called Feldman’s Deli. The pastrami is terrific and their matzoh balls are light as a feather!

How many years have you been playing your instrument?
I’ve been playing for almost 40 years now, but it seems much longer.

What is your favorite quote?
Pretty much anything Abe Lincoln said. A couple of favorites are, “If I had another face you, think I’d wear this one? And, “Better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt”. I never remember that last one.

What orchestral piece do you find most enjoyable to play?
This is a tough one because there are so many great choices. Any Beethoven symphony has to be right up there. Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet comes to mind also.

What advice would you give to young musicians?
Find the best teacher you can, and practice. Stay open to the idea of working very hard but keeping it as an avocation. Some of my favorite university students are in medical and dental schools now. It can really enrich your life even if you don’t do it for a living.

What is one unusual item on your bucket list?
I want to take my son skiing every time he turns a multiple of 10. The best part is that his birthday is in late June. Two years ago we had a chance to ski in Norway on his 10th birthday while we were visiting relatives there. My daughters birthdays in February, so that’s not quite as much of a challenge. Hopefully the three of us will have a chance to head south in eight years for the next installment.

* When I was in high school my youth orchestra played in a side-by-side concert with the Utah Symphony, and my stand partner was John Eckstein. Fast-forward over a decade later to last year when I got to play in the Symphony Pro-Am and my stand partner was, again, John Eckstein! Both times he was super friendly and a great stand partner for this amateur cellist, so he goes down in the record books as my favorite Utah Symphony cellist.

Time to take a visit to the cello section and one of their newest members, Anne Lee!

What concerto did you audition with?
Concerto in D major by Franz Joseph Haydn
What is your favorite restaurant in SLC?
Takashi, Oh Mai, Lucky 13
How many years have you been playing your instrument?
25 years
What other instruments do you play?
I grew up with piano lessons and also played the clarinet in middle school.
Does your instrument have a name? If so, what is it?
My cello is a modern French instrument.  My boyfriend gave it the name Gaston for fun. I hated the name at first but it has stuck and grown on me.
What orchestral piece do you find most enjoyable to play?
Brahms symphonies
What advice would you give to young musicians?
For inspiration try listening to as many of the old masters as much possible (Heifetz, Oistrach, Piatigorsky, Rubinstein, etc.)
What is one unusual item on your bucket list?
Ski Baldy chutes…one day!

Stoked to introduce to you one of the members of our viola section, Carl Johansen.

What concerto did you audition with?
They didn’t require a concerto when I auditioned. I usually took auditions with the Bartok concerto, and won 5 other auditions with that one (Barcelona in NY, Barcelona in Barcelona, Barcelona principal, St. Louis, Rochester). In the audition for the Utah Symphony I had to play a movement of Bach, and I chose the prelude to the 2nd suite for cello.

What is your favorite restaurant in SLC?
I really enjoy the cebiche at “Del Mar al Lago” across from RC Willey’s. It is a place which specializes in cebiche, and since my wife is Peruvian I have had many chances to eat cebiche, prepared by her mom, at restaurants in Peru, and at this restaurant. It’s fish or seafood sort of cooked, or soaked anyway, in key lime juice. A bit spicy, but delicious.

How many years have you been playing your instrument?
Well, I started piano at 6, violin at 9, and viola as a second instrument since high school, but more seriously as I was finishing my master’s degree in violin. I’m 50 now, so it has been a while!

What is your favorite quote?
“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

This quote is on my wall. It was an inspiration during the time I was in Barcelona, flying to the US to take auditions and failing at them. Finally, of course, I had better luck.

What orchestral piece do you love to play?
Well, I enjoy big romantic works, Bruckner, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Strauss, and things of that nature. They are fun, and a challenge. I also enjoy Mozart, which is particularly tricky to get right, and I enjoy that when we have a good, demanding conductor in front of us.

What advice do you have for young musicians?
Record yourself! If you are practicing by playing over something, then you may make progress, but if you record yourself you can analyze objectively the problems and find solutions. I would use video recording to be able to see what you’re doing, as well as hear it. I think it’s like a painter who needs to step away from the canvas to be able to get the idea of what needs to be done. While we’re playing we’re close to the canvas, but when we sit down and listen to ourselves it is much easier to see what you have to work on. Every practice session just record a bit, work on it, record it again, see what works.

What is an unusual item on your bucket list?
Well, certainly there are some interesting cross country flights I would like to do. I have wanted to fly from Grandeur to the Point of the Mountain for a few years and have somehow managed to miss the chance. I hope this summer I can change that, and make it all the way. I’ve done Grandeur to the Draper Temple, and Big Cottonwood to the Point, so it is just a matter of launching early enough and having good luck with the thermals.

There are pieces which I would very much enjoy playing again. Bruckner 8. I would like to do Bruckner 7. I missed it last time we did it. Mahler 8, my one remaining Mahler symphony, though I would like to repeat 3 and 6 a few more times. I can’t get enough of Mahler 2, and would love to do that some more. As much as I love Rachmaninoff 2nd symphony, I would enjoy getting to know 1 and 3 better, if only to know why we always play #2!  I would like to play some more recitals and chamber music to develop as a musician. I have done a concert or concerts with friends most years since I got the job here, getting through repertoire that I have wanted to work on, or sometimes rework, Schubert, Brahms sonatas, etc…. I’m working on the Shostakovitch sonata right now, along with short pieces. I enjoy working on short romantic pieces as a way of developing my sound, and I want to play more concerts at nursing homes, when we can figure it out with our schedule.

Some would argue that our bass section is the most interesting section of the orchestra – you be the judge! Meet Corbin Johnston:

What concerto did you audition with?
Bottesini, Concerto no. 2
What is your favorite restaurant in SLC?
Chow Truck
How many years have you been playing your instrument?
30 years
What other instruments do you play?
Dung-chen, a Tibetan horn (Folks, I had to look this up – here’s a pinch of info)
Does your instrument have a name? If so, what is it?
William Gilkes (1840, London)
What is your favorite quote?
“Don’t pet burning dogs”
What orchestral piece do you find most enjoyable to play?
Anything by Anton Bruckner or Franz Schubert.
What advice would you give to young musicians?
It’s about talent, work and luck, or see no. 6.
What is one unusual item on your bucket list?
Score at least one basket for the Lakers!

What concerto did you audition with?  
The required solo for my audition was the Vaughan Williams Concerto for Tuba.

What is your favorite restaurant in SLC?
My favorite restaurant to go to with my friends is The Pie, and for a night out with my wife, Log Haven.

How many years have you been playing your instrument?
I’ve been playing the tuba for 51 years. This is indeed a miracle, as I am only 39 years old.

What is your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is from Emerson: “Our greatest joy is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail”.

What orchestral piece do you find most enjoyable to play?
My favorite piece to perform is Mahler Symphony #2. My least favorite piece to perform is Nicolas Slonimsky’s, “My Toy Balloon”. I don’t know why, but it drives me crazy.

What advice would you give to young musicians?  
If you want to become a true artist listen to and study great singers and great violinists. If you want to secure perfect rhythm and pitch, don’t listen to great singers or great violinists.

What is one unusual item on your bucket list?
One unusual item on my bucket list is to jump out of an airplane; preferably with a parachute on.

Two trumpet players in a row!

What concerto did you audition with?  
Haydn Trumpet Concerto (on B flat trumpet)

What is your favorite restaurant in SLC?  
We like Desert Edge Pub

How many years have you been playing your instrument?  
48

What is your favorite quote?  
Your tormentor is your teacher.

What orchestral piece do you find most enjoyable to play?  
For trumpet, pieces of Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler are exciting to play.

What advice would you give to young musicians?  
The more you practice, the more you enjoy.

What is one unusual item on your bucket list?  
Maybe hike a section of the Pacific Crest Trail…continue to work our little farm and tend the bees.