The Deer Valley Music Festival is the summer home of the

Utah Symphony The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving c ...

and

Utah Opera The Utah Opera is an American opera company that has been merged with Utah Symphony since July 2002, with a combined audience of more than 150,000 annually. History In 1978, the Utah Opera company presented its first production of Puccini's '' ...

. It occurs each summer in July and August in

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake Cit ...

at the

Deer Valley Resort Deer Valley is an alpine ski resort in the Wasatch Range, located east of Salt Lake City, in Park City, Utah, United States. The resort, known for its upscale amenities, is consistently ranked among the top ski resorts in North America. Deer ...

, St. Mary's Church, Temple Har Shalom, and salon performances in local homes. The festival features the Utah Symphony and its guests performing chamber music, symphonic music, opera, and popular music. The festival is known for collaborations between popular artists and the Utah Symphony including Elvis Costello, LeAnn Rimes,

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

Frederica von Stade Frederica von Stade OAL (born June 1, 1945) is a semi-retired American opera singer. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has performed in operas, musicals, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the world, including La Scala, th ...

, Jewel,

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

, Ben Folds, the

Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir, acting as part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for ov ...

Pink Martini Pink Martini is an American band that was founded in 1994 by pianist Thomas Lauderdale in Portland, Oregon. Group members call it a little orchestra that crosses several styles, such as classical, latin, traditional pop, and jazz. The co-lead vo ...

, Randy Travis,

Idina Menzel Idina Kim Menzel ( ; ; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in musicals on the Broadway stage and having achieved mainstream success across stage, film and music, Menzel has garnered the honori ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, and

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...

. No festival was held in 2020.

Format

The Festival takes place over five weeks in

. Performances on Wednesday night feature the Utah Symphony performing chamber orchestra music in the intimate setting of St. Mary's Catholic Church. Thursday night performances feature guest chamber ensembles, also typically at St. Mary's. Friday and Saturday night performances are typically classical music performances often with guest artists featuring popular music at Deer Valley Resort Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater. Intimate salon performances by guest artists and members of the Utah Symphony at area homes are also a staple of the festival. Education events held throughout the festival include masterclasses and the Emerging Quartets & Composers performance. The festival is also a collaborator in the

Lyceum Music Festival The Lyceum Music Festival, founded in 2008, is an orchestra festival presented in collaboration with the Utah Symphony's Deer Valley Music Festival located in just outside Zion National Park at Zion Ponderosa Ranch. LMF provides mentoring for mus ...

, which features young musicians age 13 to 21.

History

The festival was started in 2003 under the direction of Utah Symphony Music Director

Keith Lockhart Keith Alan Lockhart (born November 7, 1959) is an American conductor. He is the Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center in North Caro ...

and Utah Symphony & Opera President & CEO Anne Ewers.

2012

The headlining performances of the 2012 festival were

and

. The Festival began with a tribute to

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

featuring James Delisco, winner of the E! reality series ''The Entertainer''. Other Saturday night performances included

with the Utah Symphony, Broadway Rocks! (with singers Morgan James,

LaKisha Jones LaKisha Ann Jones (born January 13, 1980) is an American singer. She placed fourth on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. Personal life Jones was born at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, to a teacher at the Flint Foundation Academy. ...

, Doug LaBrecque, and Rob Evan),

with the Utah Symphony, and

with the Utah Symphony. Friday night performances included the return of

to the festival with an evening of opera arias (performed by the Utah Opera Chorus and guests Celena Shafer, Jennifer Welch-Babidge, Sishel Claverie, Darrell Babidge and Ryan MacPherson), the annual '' 1812 Overture'' performance which also included the Children's Dance Theater joining the orchestra for the

Carnival of the Animals ''The Carnival of the Animals'' (''Le Carnaval des animaux'') is a humorous musical suite of fourteen movements, including " The Swan", by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The work, about 25 minutes in duration, was written for privat ...

, and "The American Songbook" with the

. Disney in Concert: Magical Music from the Movies also returned to the festival. The Utah Symphony's Chamber Orchestra Series featured three programs conducted by Vladimir Kulenovic. Mythic Romance featured violinist Sean Lee performing Antonín Dvořák's Romance for Violin and Orchestra as well as performances of Mozart's Overture to Don Giovanni and Schubert's Symphony No. 4. The French Connection featured music by French composers including

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

Faure Faure is an Occitan family name meaning blacksmith, from Latin ''faber''. It is pronounced differently from the accented surname Fauré, as in Gabriel Fauré, French composer and organist. People Politicians * Dominique Faure (born 1959), Fre ...

, and

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

. The final performance of the series included three pieces written by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, Mozart, and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

during the brief period when all three composers were alive and active. The Muir Quartet and the Jewish American Songbook were included on the Chamber Ensemble Series.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 40, 37, 22, N, 111, 29, 22, W, format=dms, display=title, type:event_region:US-UT Classical music festivals in the United States Tourist attractions in Wasatch County, Utah Music festivals in Utah