Displaying items by tag: Concert
By Emeri Fetzer
On July 17th, musicians from around the country will come together to create an online musical experience in honor of their colleague and friend, Jed Moss, commemorating the first anniversary of his untimely death.
This endeavor is an apt tribute to a musician who collaborated so brilliantly with artists across a range of abilities and styles. He elevated the musicianship of everyone he worked with. 
Jed Moss with members of Air Supply
To honor Jed Moss through an evening of music is not only fitting, but profoundly healing in challenging times. “It reminds us, at a time when we have all lost work due to COVID-19 and are struggling, why we have chosen to make music in the first place,” said childhood friend and lifelong musical colleague, soprano Leslie Mauldin.
Jed’s colleagues planned to establish an annual memorial concert in his honor long before the coronavirus pandemic. They wanted to not only celebrate his life and work, but to foster musical collaboration and raise funds for a collaborative piano endowed scholarship in his name.
Then in early March, musicians quickly saw performances and gigs dry up for the foreseeable future due to social distancing measures. Often living paycheck to paycheck, they confronted the destruction of their livelihoods, while facing the inability to practice the artform they dearly love.
They decided to move the Jed Moss Memorial Concert online to uplift both artists and audiences.
“It reminds us, at a time when we have all lost work due to COVID-19 and are struggling, why we have chosen to make music in the first place.”
For Mauldin, planning the concert has been cathartic, offering a chance to channel vivid memories through music. As he did in person, remembering Jed has allowed his friends to revisit why they love music. “Even in the midst of the worst, most trying rehearsals, he was always able to bring that innocence and freshness into a professional space,” explained Mauldin.
Mauldin and her daughter, fellow soprano Micaela Gage Hulsey, will sing “Sull’aria… che soave zeffiretto” from Mozart’s "Le nozze di Figaro," a piece she and Jed have long loved. Paying this tribute to “Uncle Jed” has helped both of them grieve. “When we sing it feels like the heart of our family has Jed in it,” said Mauldin. “His music touched Micaela's life and touched her phrasing, and that never goes away.”
Like so many of Moss’s collaborators, Mauldin is forever impacted by the soul of Moss’ musical ability.
“Jed’s greatest legacy is the way he deeply understood a collaborative phrase. It’s his phrasing that I will always miss -- I reach for it. Having had it almost all my life, I feel like now I’ve had some kind of artistic amputation, something missing, a phantom phrase I can still hear and feel.”
Friend and flutist Tina Castellanos said, “What Jed knew about music, and the kind of person he was, has made me a better person and musician. He made everyone feel like you were his best friend, like you were the only person in the room.” 
Jed Moss and Tina Castellanos performing "Deep Blue"
The concert includes footage of Castellanos and Moss performing Ian Clarke’s “Deep Blue” in a 2018 recital. An ethereal and melodic composition, the piece was one of many the pair chose in an evening themed around the ocean.
When Jared Oaks, Music Director of Ballet West, first heard Jed Moss in concert at BYU he thought, “Finally, someone who plays with the kind of tone and musicality I aspire to." When the two later connected through Salt Lake City musical circles, especially at Ballet West, they became good friends.
“One of my fondest memories was working with [Jed] on Fritz Cohen's two-piano score to 'The Green Table,' an immensely powerful ballet by Kurt Jooss,” Oaks recalled. “Jed could melt into the music and into the ensemble, because his ego never stood in the way. I think that's one of the attributes that made his musical expression personal, powerful, and pure. Jed always seemed to be in a state of discovery.”
For the memorial concert, Oaks decided to honor their common background with his arrangement of the hymn "All is Well." He was inspired by Utah music greats Grant Johannesen and Leroy Robertson.
Violinist Will Hagen was in awe of Moss’s versatility, and also his humility. “He had a naturally eloquent way of playing that did not at all seem like a decision to try and sound a certain way -- so off the cuff and natural, but so polished at the same time.”
In his many opportunities to collaborate and perform with Moss, Hagen remembers feeling deeply valued. They played together on an instrumental track for Air Supply, thanks to Moss’ recommendation.
“He never talked about this, but he was a literal rockstar,” Hagen said. “He had been to Myanmar, Burma, every country in South America...he was unbelievably well-traveled and yet he would ask me about my experiences and perspective. Even though he was older than me, much more experienced than me, he always made me feel so good about myself.” 
Will Hagen and Jed Moss
Hagen and his wife, violinist Andrea Ashdown, will honor Moss through a work for two violins by black composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Hagen respected Moss' unfailing championship of diverse composers, especially those who were lesser known or celebrated. Hagen knows his late friend and mentor would appreciate the selection.
These voices represent the countless musical collaborators, friends, and family who miss Jed Moss deeply, and are eager to preserve and promote his passion for the craft, and his zest for life.
As Mauldin explained, “Musicians can heal worlds in times like we are experiencing. It’s where we go. We write, we produce, we create. We rage against sadness with music.”
The Jed Moss Memorial Concert will air online on the U School of Music’s YouTube channel at 7:00 PM on Friday, July 17th. While free of charge, gifts to the Jed Moss Collaborative Piano Scholarship are welcome and encouraged. The program will include archival footage alongside new performances.
Once established, the Jed Moss Collaborative Piano Scholarship Endowment will be the only scholarship that specifically supports students studying collaborative piano at the University of Utah School of Music. To date, $14,000 of the $25,000 needed to establish the endowment has been raised. Jed’s colleagues hope to raise an additional $5,000 through this concert.
Come experience a unique concert of traditional middle eastern arrangements. The Utah Philharmonia, in partnership with the Middle East Center presents The Sands of Time: Journey through the Middle East, with special guests Monika Jalili and ensemble.
Jalili and her ensemble have been performing since 2005 with the goal of sharing the history of Persian culture through its music and poetry. Her ensemble includes: Shane Shanahan, percussion; Megan Gould, violin; and Zeb Gould, guitar.
In a rehearsal, Jalili explained to the orchestra, this concert is not only about sharing the beautiful music of Iran, but also to show the connection music has all around the world. The songs she will be singing are rich in Persian culture, but also have universal themes such as love, loss, and friendship.
"I am so excited for this concert. All of this music is very special and I think that the audience will really be inspired by these pieces especially getting to hear music from Iran," said Nava Payandeh, a junior at the University of Utah and a member of the orchestra.
Also on the program is Shalan Alhamwy's Two Images from Aleppo. Alhamwy is a Syrian refugee who wrote the piece to encapsulate the problems people have gone through in Syria. He hopes his piece will give the audience a glimpse of the chaos people endured trying to escape the Syrian War. Following this sobering work is one of hope. Mohammed Fairouz's Pax Universalis, which translates into world peace, is full of vibrant rhythms and melodies.
The concert will be directed by Robert Baldwin. "We are truly fortunate to be able to learn and share this music from around the world,” said Baldwin. “If we also promote better understanding and goodwill that would be a welcome bonus to what promises to be a fantastic evening of music."
Date and time: 12/6 at 7:30P
Where: Libby Gardner Concert Hall
Ticket information: General Admission: $12.50, Arts Pass event: Free for U of U students with UCard, Non-U of U Students: $6.50, Faculty, Staff, Seniors: $6.50
For seventeen years, The Utah Philharmonia has embraced the Halloween spirit through its annual haunted orchestra performances. The orchestra will wear costumes while performing Broadway hits, 10/25 and 26 at 7:30P in the Libby Gardner Concert Hall.
Each music selection showcases the haunted side of orchestra. Directed by Dr. Robert Baldwin, this family friendly production will feature songs from popular musicals like, Phantom of the Opera, its sequel, Love Never Dies and Young Frankenstein. Guests will enjoy songs like “Think of Me,” “Masquerade,” and “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.”
Classical music selections such as MacDowell's In a Haunted Forest, movements from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition accompanied accompanied by the School of Dance, and Mozart's “Queen of the Night” aria from The Magic Flute will also be performed. This aria is one of the most recognizable pieces in the classical genre and captures the darker side of music. It depicts the Queen of the Night in fit of vengeful rage encouraging her daughter to kill her rival.
Organist Logan Blackman will play the 3,838-pipe organ that looms over the stage, alongside the orchestra in their rendition of the famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J.S. Bach.
Frankenstein will also make an appearance as the orchestra plays music from the musical Young
Frankenstein featuring actors and singers from the the Department of Theatre.
Guests of all ages are encouraged to come in costume and participate in the costume parade as the orchestra plays the Phantom Regiment. This event is expected to sell out. Tickets can be purchased in advance by visiting the Kingsbury Box office, online or by calling 801-581-7100.
18th Annual Camerata Awards Concert and Gala, honoring Gordon and Connie Hanks and Henry Wolking
The School of Music will honor icons of the Salt Lake jazz community at its 18th Annual Camerata Awards Concert Gala on 11/9. Founders of the JazzSLC concert series, Gordon and Connie Hanks, and former U Director of Jazz Studies Henry Wolking will receive their awards at a private dinner and public post-dinner concert in Libby Gardner Concert Hall.
Gordon Hanks fell in love with jazz in a music appreciation class as a sophomore at Granite High. After meeting Connie as an undergraduate at the U, she became a convert as well. According to Gordon Hanks, “The spirit of jazz is one of openness. Jazz is not exclusive, but inclusive. It is America’s classical music.”
In 1994, while working 60 hours a week as a pharmacist and owner of Holladay Pharmacy, Gordon and a friend founded the GAM Foundation to bring nationally renowned jazz artists to Salt Lake City. Almost 25 years and 200 concerts later, JazzSLC has exposed tens of thousands of new fans to jazz music, including legendary performers such as Wynton Marsalis and Ahmad Jamal.
Through the GAM Foundation, the Hanks have given over $1 million to support jazz education from middle school through college. Their generosity has provided discount tickets, program support and scholarships to advance the awareness of and appreciation for jazz.
“A scholarship is the most rewarding gift you can give to a university. It may change a student’s life goals forever,” says Gordon Hanks.
After 40 years as the Director of Jazz Studies, Salt Lake City recognized Henry Wolking as the face of jazz at the U. He came at age 24 fresh from graduate school and started building a nascent jazz program.
During his tenure, the number of jazz faculty tripled, with an instructor specializing in each instrument area. He oversaw the addition of a Master of Music in Jazz Studies. He mentored generations of musicians, music teachers, and composers.
“Henry treated me like an equal, which made me want to work really hard and impress him. He served as a mentor for an entire generation of top jazz players,” explains jazz alumnus (’96) and U faculty colleague Geoffrey Miller.
In addition to his renown as a performer and professor, Wolking made his mark as a prolific and highly diverse composer. Wolking has published over close to 100 works for jazz ensemble, symphony and band. His unique compositional style blends classical music and jazz elements that often depict the landscapes of Utah and surrounding areas.
“As soon as I started playing, there was no question from that point on what I’d do with my life, not ever,” explains Wolking.
The concert features student soloists and ensembles from across the School, including the Michie Jazz Quintet, the University Chamber Choir, and the Wind Ensemble. It includes works by composer Henry Wolking.