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Blogs / Lounge Act / February 2010 / New music director reveals Utah Symphony's 2010-11 slate

New music director reveals Utah Symphony's 2010-11 slate

New Utah Symphony Music Director Thierry Fischer announced the lineup for his inaugural season at a press conference Tuesday at Abravanel Hall, and one thing came through loud and clear in his Swiss accent:

It's time to get back to basics.

One of Fischer's goals for 2010-11, he said, was to "reintroduce early classical music" to Utah audiences, and the slate includes early Haydn, Mozart's first symphony and Beethoven's first piano concerto; for a complete listing of the 2010-11 season, check out the Utah Symphony Web site right here.

In his brief remarks, Fischer acknowledged the great challenges in front of the Utah Symphony—and symphonies in general—but said he was anxious to rise to the task.

"I feel the general desire to get to higher steps is there in all parts of the organization," Fischer said of his new coworkers. "There are a lot of challenges in front of us. I can't wait."

Fischer said the efforts to put together a full season in about four months since he was announced as the new music director was "sort of a world record," and promised the 2011-12 season will have even more of his artistic imprint than the upcoming season, when his duties elsewhere will limit him to conducting just five master works shows; in the next season, he'll be doing 12.

Fischer's first time behind the podium next season will be Sept. 24-25 for Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, with guest Hilary Hahn on violin. He'll also be leading the symphony on a week-long tour of Southern Utah, and conducting the "Salute to Youth" show on Sept. 28.

Educating young listeners about classical music is clearly important to Fischer; his press conference was sandwiched by two hour-long shows for Utah fifth-graders. And he said that a focus on educating new audiences was one of the appealing aspects of taking the job in Utah.

"I'm totally convinced that without a strong education department, an orchestra has no future," Fischer said.

At the same press conference, Utah Symphony/Utah Opera CEO and President Melia Tourangeau revealed the lineup for this summer's Deer Valley Music Festival, which will include pops shows with Ben Folks and Randy Travis, the usual 1812 Overture! and Bravo Broadway shows, and a closing night dedicated to the music of Led Zeppelin(!)

The Utah Opera also recently announced its 2010-11 season; you can check that out right here.