Highway 89

Surrounded by the forested mountains of Park City, the Beethoven Festival offers audiences a chance to enjoy first class music in a scenic setting. Despite the name, music featured at the Festival is not solely Beethoven-composed but includes a range of composers.  Here in studio to perform are: Russell Harlow, clarinetist, who co-directs the Park City Chamber Music Society with his wife Leslie; Margaret Baldridge a Professor of Violin at the University of Montana; Robert Moeling of Rice University; and Jeffrey Solow who a Professor of Cello at Temple University.  This episode features everything from “Bring Your Own Beethoven” to Scuba diving in the Dead Sea!  Host: Tim Slover  Repertoire: MENOTTI Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano - all mvts; SHOSTAKOVICH Sonata for Cello and Piano 1st & 2nd mvts; BACH Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello  #1-3;  Follow Highway 89 on twitter @byuh89

This hour highlights Utah Symphony and Utah Opera’s upcoming Opera Hits! program on July 20th. Every summer for nearly a decade the symphony closes shop in Salt Lake City and heads off to the mountains for the Park City Music Festival where families can lay out a blanket and picnic before a concert begins, watch the sunset as the symphony takes the stage, and hear repertoire as diverse as Michael Jackson to Claude Debussy. Utah Opera has often been part of the Festival too, staging light operas like Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore and featuring local opera stars and the Utah Opera Chorus.  This summer Celena Shafer, Darrell and Jennifer Babidge, Sishel Claveri and Ryan MacPherson will perform arias from opera and Broadway at the Festival. Here to represent that ensemble are mezzo-soprano Sishel Claverie and pianist Thomas Klassen. Sishel is originally from Mexico City and is an Artist-In-Residence with the Utah Opera, having performed all over the western United States with them. Thomas is playing the

Violinist Everett Petersen is a former Concertmaster of the Utah Philharmonic Orchestra at the University of Utah, and a former member of the Maywod String Quartet. He was the 1st violinist with the Orchestra at Temple Square for eight years, and the recipient of a scholarship to study violin with Ralph Matson, the Concertmaster of the Utah Symphony. Twice, he took first prize in the Utah MTNA Yamaha Strings Competition and second prize in the Utah State Fair Strings Competition. In addition to all of these musical accomplishments, Dr. Petersen is a practicing anesthesiologist in Salt Lake City! He is well-known among his colleagues for his outstanding medical practice, but also for a YouTube video of him performing on the violin in full doctor’s get-up for the “Doctor’s Day Talent Show” at the University of Florida where he recently concluded residency.  Pianist Larry Gee is Highway 89’s most frequent guest and we’re so happy to have him back on the show with us once more. A well-known name in Salt Lake Cit

BBQ and Broadway! Today the Brigham Brass Quintet (BBQ) plays music from West Side Story along with other toe-tapping tunes. The ensemble features student musicians from the BYU School of Music under the direction of Dr. Kirt Saville.  Musicians: Josh Coffey (trumpet), Spencer Wallin (trumpet), Spencer Park (French horn), Curtis Biggs (trombone), Ryan Lee (tuba) Repertoire: BERNSTEIN West Side Story: Suite (for Brass Quintet; arr. Jack Gale);  ARNOLD Quintet Op. 73, Mvts. 1 & 3; BOZZA Suite française; MNOZIL BRASS Brinpolka (arr. Leonhard Paul);  KAMEN Quintet Follow Highway 89 on twitter @byuH89

It’s not often we get to enjoy English horn soloists here on the show, so today was a special treat with Mika Brunson and her accompanist Larry Gee who performed works for English horn and piano. Mika plays the oboe and the English horn for the Las Vegas Philharmonic and lectures at the University of Wisconsin. She’s performed with the Utah Symphony, the Orchestra at Temple Square and the La Crosse Symphony, and she works as a freelance musician with stage productions and studio recordings. She’s also an avid baseball fan!  Pianist Larry Gee is our most common guest on Highway 89 and is well-known throughout all of Salt Lake City where he performs regularly, teaches voice, and is also an adjunct Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Utah.  Together they share with us pieces not normally heard on our show, pieces that showcase the singing tone of the English horn. One and a half times the length of an oboe, the English horn (or, cor anglais) is what’s known as a ‘transposing instrument’, and is p

Beautiful and eclectically talented, Rachel Curtis recently returned to the United States after graduating in Harp Performance from the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. While she was there, Rachel participated in some memorable performances including opening a show at Royal Albert Hall for Sir Elton John and performing for Prince Charles on his 60th birthday. Here in the Utah Valley, some know her as a harp teacher through her Curtis Music Studio, but others know her as a rock keyboard instructor for the Modern School of Music! She only played harp for us tonight, but she showcased a wide range of musical genres from classical to jazz to show tunes. Enjoy this beautiful collection of harp music, including some improvised by Rachel on the spot!  Host: Bruce Seely  Repertoire: The Moldau – Bedrich Smetana Arr. Hans Trnecek; Rumba – Carlos Salzedo; Take 5 for Solo Harp – Paul Desmond; Une Chatelaine en sa Tour – Gabriel Faure; My Funny Valentine ¬– Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart; Ballade Fantastique

Based in Utah, SAVOY is a talented jazz band comprised of four remarkable musicians. Sam Payne, Joshua Payne, Ryan Tilby and Bart Olson each have active performance careers and their collective experience has taken them from Tokyo to London to France and all over the United States. They graciously accepted our invitation to come join us in our studio tonight for an hour of jiving jazz.  Don Shelline chats with each band member about topics that range from travelling family music groups to horseback acrobatics! From George Gershwin to the Flintstones, you'll love this jazzy edition of Highway 89.  Musicians: Sam Payne (vocals), Ryan Tilby (upright bass), Joshua Payne (guitar), Bart Olson (drums)  Music Featured: Church - Lyle Lovett; St. James Infirmary Blues - traditional; Fifty Ways to leave your Lover - Paul Simon; Flintstones Theme Song - Hoyt Curtin/Hanna Barbera; Rise Up and Shine - Sam Payne & Ryan Tilby; Coming Home to Me - Patty Griffin; Smile - Charlie Chaplin; Favela - Antonia Carlos Jobim; Autum

Yurika Ohki Taura grew up hearing her siblings play the piano and, not wanting to be left out of the fun, she made it clear to her parents at age 3 that she wanted to play too! Fast forward to the present day and she has completed a Master’s of Music in Piano Performance at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and an undergraduate degree at the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Japan. She has performed at music festivals in Germany, France, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Japan, and the United States.  With perfect pitch and talented fingers, Yurika shares with us music from Franz Shubert, Alexander Scriabin, Frédéric Chopin, and the modern composer Karen Tanaka. She shares stories with host Shawn Mortensen about a love for piano that takes you all over the world and that can come at the cost of apartment walls!  Repertoire: Sonata No. 21: 1st mvt – Shubert; Crystalline II – Karen Tanaka; Piano Sonata No. 9 – Scriabin; Ballade in F minor Op. 52 – Chopin;  Follow Highway 89 on twitter @byuh8

Utah Symphony’s Assistant Concertmaster David Park visits our studio to share with us selections from Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. “On one staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind,” wrote Johannes Brahms in a letter to Clara Schumann. A staple of violin repertoire, Sonatas and Partitas was never performed in Bach’s lifetime but it enriches our lives and our ears tonight.  Prior to his Utah Symphony appointment, David Park was the Concertmaster of the Festival International d’Art Lyrique de Musique d’Aix-en-Provence, Wintergreen Music Festival Orchestra, and the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra. He has recently performed with the Roanoke Symphony in Virginia, Pan-Asia Symphony Orchestra in Hong Kong, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra as a guest

Our studio was full tonight with the 34 singers of the Utah Baroque ensemble, along with a piano, cello, and harpsichord! The Utah Baroque Ensemble specializes in the performance of early sacred music, with an emphasis on Johann Sebastian Bach. They’ve toured in England, Wales, Italy, and Germany, and they’ve performed in well-known sacred places such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster, Bath Abbey, the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon and St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.  Martha Sargent has conducted the Ensemble since its founding in 1987, and shares with host Tim Slover some favorite memories of her labor of love. Also featured in our interview is singer Chris Bradford, who shares his musical background including performing in Cairo as a boy.  Repertoire: Jesu, dulcis memoria – Tomas Luis de Victoria; Cantata 4: Christ lig in Todesbanden – Johann Sebastian Bach; I Sat Down Under His Shadow – Edward Bairstow; Angels Visit When We Sing – Elenor Daley; O, Cruel Thorns – Gaylen Hatton; Abba –

The repertoire of NOVA Chamber Music Series concerts is varied with traditional classical music alongside more modern fare. Tonight NOVA Artistic Director Jason Hardink and Baritone Michael Chipman share a little bit of the old and the new with us.  Jason Hardink, in addition to being the Artistic Director of NOVA, is also the Principal Keyboardist for the Utah Symphony. Michael Chipman is an Assistant Professor of Voice and head of the vocal program at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.  NOVA Chamber Music Series features talented musicians from Utah and the occasional guest artist. This year’s season includes six concerts at Libby Gardner Concert Hall, with repeat performances at Snow College and Brigham Young University and the NOVA Project a concert series for children. For more information, visit: novaslc.org  Host: Walter Rudolph  Repertoire: Six Pieces for Piano No. 1 &2 – Johannes Brahms;  Ach! Wende diesen Blick, Die Mainacht (May Night), Meine Liebe is grün – Johannes Brahms “Songs”; Klavier

On this episode, we’re hosting musicians from the 6th annual Bonneville Chamber Music Festival, an annual event put on and created by the Weber State University Department of Performing Arts. Featuring nearly a dozen international musicians that travel from all over the world to perform, as well as faculty and students from Weber State University, the Bonneville Chamber Music Festival is a great musical kick-off for springtime.  The performers themselves, the ones with us tonight especially, are particularly talented. Viktor Uzur is the founder of the festival, and a professor of cello at Weber State University. Guigla Katsarava, our pianist for the evening, teaches piano at the prestigious Ecole Normale Supierieure of Paris, France. Violinist Carmelo de los Santos is originally from Brazil but currently teaches at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Spencer Martin teaches viola and conducts the Luther College Philharmonia at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.  Together they share selections from Bee

Peter Breinholt has sold out every major concert hall in his home state of Utah many times over, released 7 albums, a concert DVD, penned guitar songbooks, and composed film scores—and today he’s playing our show! Host Don Shelline will chat with Peter about starting out, the stories behind his songs, and making time for family.  Musicians: Peter Breinholt (guitar, vocals), Mike Ensign (bass guitar & back-up vocals), Bart Olson (cajon), Craig Miner (guitar, banjo, bouzouki), David Tolk (piano), Kelly Stewart (cello), Asheley Watabe (violin), Rebecca Suelze (viola)  Follow Highway 89 on twitter @byuH89

Saxophobia offers a rare glimpse at some of the most unusual saxophones ever made and pays tribute to some of the great jazz legends who contributed to the development of jazz and popularity of the sax.  In the early 1920s, Vaudeville shows were the hot ticket, and the saxophone was king. Over 100,000 saxophones were being sold each year, and instrument manufacturers were conjuring up extraordinary variations on Adolphe Sax's 1847 invention. Today, more than 150 years after its birth, the saxophone remains a strong force in many styles of music. Saxophobia presents an entertaining, rich history of the saxophone and the players who gave the sax its many voices.  Host: Tres Hatch  Performers: Jory Woodis, soprano sax; Justin Hammer, alto sax; Benjamin Nichols, tenor sax; Myles Lawrence, baritone sax;  Repertoire: PIAZZOLLA Histoire du tango: Bordel 1900; ALBENIZ Trois Pieces; GRAINGER Shepherd's Hey; CURTIS A Klezmer Wedding; MASLANKA Mountain Roads, Mvt. 1: Overture; WIEDOFT Saxophobia (arr. Jory Woodis)

Dan Barrett (trombone) played the closing night of Eddie Condon’s Jazz Club in Manhattan in 1985. It was a sweltering night and the musicians took a break to get some air outside when Benny Goodman drove up! Dan quickly realized that in a few minutes he’d be back on stage and playing for “The King of Swing”—an exciting but nerve-racking prospect! In this episode we chat with Dan about his career, music-making and how that night at Condon’s resulted in him joining Goodman’s last orchestra. Bob Bailey is one of the few that plays authentic stride piano. He’s had a long, star-studded career and tells about his piano beginnings (the first time he played was at a family reunion when he was two and a half!) and his love of classic cars. Also Steve Call (tuba) talks about the art of improvisation and his viral “Jazz for Cows” video that’s been featured on Good Morning America, the Today Show, Conan O’Brien, Fox News, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Huffington Post, even the NHK News of Japan and UK’s Metro New

The Cheney Family Cello Trio based in Salt Lake City, Utah has been playing concerts since 2008. Elliott Cheney, faculty cellist at the University of Utah, holds the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. Elliott has been teaching cello, chamber music and music appreciation at the University of Utah since 2000. He and his wife, Carey Cheney, also a Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance, have had a large, private cello studio in Salt Lake for the past 15 years. Carey works also training and mentoring young cello teachers through the auspices of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Carey and Elliott met in a fairytale-like circumstance in Germany long ago, while they were both studying with Andre Navarra. Since this time they have traveled widely as part of their careers as cellists - Costa Rica, Brazil, New Zealand, England, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico and Canada.  The youngest member of the trio, Livingston Cheney, is a veteran cellist o

Operabase, the online database of all things opera, named Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata!” as the most performed opera worldwide. Immensely popular since its premiere in 1853, “La Traviata!” is quintessentially opera with romance found, romance complicated, romance lost, romance re-found, and then tragic death! To bring the gloriously ill-fated love story of La Traviata to life tonight are four musicians from the Utah Lyric Opera.  Christopher Holmes is the Artistic Director of Utah Lyric Opera, and has performed over 35 operatic roles with opera companies throughout the United States. Stephen Dubberly is Associate Professor of Conducting and Ensembles and Music Director of Opera at North Texas University in addition to being the Fort Worth Opera Chorus Master and a frequent lecturer for the Dallas Opera. Kearstin Piper Brown is a singer and actress who has performed principal roles with over half a dozen opera companies including Opera Memphis and Israeli Opera. Isaac Hurtado is the Education Director for Ut

Musicians aged 7 to 17 from the Gifted Music School in Salt Lake City Utah join us for Highway 89’s annual Young Artists Highlight.  The Gifted Music School has received recognition and awards from the Salt Lake Community, as well as national attention from NPR’s “From the Top” program. The Gifted Music curriculum combines choir, solfège, theory, music history, orchestra, and master class training with instrument instruction. It’s a unique program in the United States and is comparable to programs of the same name in Russia, China, Korea, Venezuela, and Japan.  Eugene Watanabe is the director and founder of the Gifted Music School and, beyond merely teaching talented musicians, is an accomplished musician himself. In his youth he soloed with the Utah Symphony and won numerous piano competitions, he then attended the Curtis Institute of Music and was the 1st student to ever graduate from there with degrees in two instruments: violin and piano. Since then he’s performed all throughout the United States, Canad

April Clayton is an Associate Professor of Flute at Brigham Young University, a member of the Orpheus Winds Quartet, and a Director of EAMA, a Parisian-based chamber music summer program.  Jed Moss is a versatile keyboardist, well-known in Utah (and abroad) for his collaborations in the classical format with ballet, opera, and chamber music as a member of the Sundance Trio. He toured for 14 years with rock group Air Supply and has also participated in Broadway and musical theater projects.  Each of them chat with host Tim Slover about their musical and non-musical passions and goals.  Repertoire: Poem – Charles Griffes; Sonata for Flute and Piano in D Major – Sergei Prokofieff;  April Clayton   Jed Moss The European American Musical Alliance (EAMA) Follow Highway 89 on twitter @byuh89

NOVA Chamber Music Series Artistic Director Jason Hardink and violinist Ralph Matson of Utah Symphony perform music slated for NOVA this season, including two never-before-performed compositions by local composer Steve Roens. These two original pieces were commissioned specifically for this season at NOVA.  Jason Hardink, in addition to being the Artistic Director of NOVA, is also the Principal Keyboardist for the Utah Symphony. Ralph Matson was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra and served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra.  NOVA Chamber Music Series features talented musicians from Utah and the occasional guest artist. This year’s season includes six concerts at Libby Gardner Concert Hall, with repeat performances at Snow College and Brigham Young University and the NOVA Project a concert series for children. For more information, visit: novaslc.org  Host: Scott Eckern  Repertoire: Sonata for Violin and Piano (1st mvt) – Maurice Ravel; Intrados, Encomium – Steve Roens; Sonata No. 2