If the slushy snow puddles and melancholy Facebook posts aren’t quite making your March the best month, Utah Symphony is here to save the day with nostalgic concerts to be played in the actual sun. With the announcement of their 2017-18 season, they’re releasing their summer concert series complete with wizardry, jazz and Prince in the “magnificent backdrop of Park City’s spectacular mountain scenery.”
Utah Symphony will kick off it’s 2017-2018 season within the Deer Valley Music Festival. The five-week, 16 concert music festival, will begin June 1 and keep on giving until August 5 in the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater, which often houses a “mix of musical genres and world-class headliners.” Their summer lineup includes Phantom of the Opera Broadway star Lisa Vroman bravely attempting to sing patriotism back into our hearts, a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald for her 100th birthday, the latest version of once-old-school Beach Boys, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and a little something called the 1812 Overture. If the amphitheater is still standing after all that critically-acclaimed and riotously-loved symphonic music, they’re planning on doing even more. For a more complete schedule rundown, go here.
After that, they’ll be returning to our cherished Salt Lake City for the fall and winter. With momentum from music critics such as Justin Davidson from New York Magazine, who included Utah Symphony on his list of the Ten Best Classical Music Performances of 2016, we have a slight suspicion it might be an okay season.
Starting in September, they’ll be the first U.S. Symphony to play all five songs of Camille Saint-Saëns, “one of the late 19th century’s most significant and diverse French composers.” (Don’t worry, the Utah Symphony also plans on releasing a recording of all five later that year.) Their season will also include a tribute to composer Leonard Bernstein, You don’t even have to leave the kids at home (or your inner child), because they’re continuing their film series featuring iconic movies shown on the big screen while their soundtrack is played live by the symphony. The films shown? Just a few little-known productions such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
What else is coming? A slew of Masterworks guest artists, including conductors, pianists and strings, Dr. Seuss, and Renée Fleming. Think of it this way: if you survive 2017, you may get to live to see a day when Sam-I-Am and critically acclaimed Saint-Saëns have stood on the same stage. We hate to use this cliche, but there’s no other way to put it—Utah Symphony is bringing something for everyone.
Single tickets for the 2017-18 Utah Symphony season will be available starting June 20, 2017. For more information, go here.
— Amy Whiting
