Deer Valley Music Festival Continues with Two Chamber Music Concerts @ Utah Symphony

DEER VALLEY® MUSIC FESTIVAL CONTINUES WITH TWO CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS

Muir String Quartet To Perform Followed By

An Evening Of ‘French Favorites’ With Musicians From The Utah Symphony

SALT LAKE CITY—The tenth anniversary Deer Valley® Music Festival will present two concerts in its Chamber Ensemble Series during week 5 of the 2013 festival in Park City. On Tuesday, July 23, at 8 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church the Muir String Quartet will perform. On Thursday, July 25, at 8 p.m. at Temple Har Shalom, Utah Symphony musicians will be featured in solos, duets and trios in “French Favorites.”

The Muir String Quartet, an annual favorite for Festival audiences, has been the resident chamber ensemble for the Deer Valley® Music Festival since it began in 2003. This summer the quartet will return to perform works by Haydn, Schubert, Schulhoff and Joan Tower. Tower is regarded as one of the most influential composers living today, and she has a longstanding relationship with the Deer Valley® Music Festival and the Muir String Quartet, which has played her work at the Festival for many years. This summer will be no different as the quartet will play Tower’s “String Force” as well as Haydn’s “Sunrise,” Schulhoff’s “Five Pieces for String Quartet” and Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden.”

In “French Favorites,” Utah Symphony musicians Jason Hardink, Matthew Johnson, Ralph Matson, Mercedes Smith and Jerry Steichen, will be featured in solos, duets and trios at Temple Har Shalom in Park City. The program includes selections from French composers including Fauré’s “Dolly Suite,” Debussy’s “Syrinx” and “Sonata for Violin and Piano,” Ravel’s “Piano Trio in A Minor” and “Sonatine for Flute and Piano” by late composer Henri Dutilleux.

Related Events

The Muir String Quartet will hold String Quartet Masterclasses Saturday, July 20, 2013, 4-6 p.m., and on Tuesday, July 30, 2013, 1-3 p.m., at the Utah Conservatory in Park City, Utah. The public is invited to observe the Muir Quartet work with the Battery and Skyros String Quartets during these masterclasses; no tickets are required. The Utah Conservatory is located at 4593 Silver Springs Drive, behind the blue-roofed 7-11.

Artists

Now in its 34th season, the Grammy Award-winning Muir String Quartet has long been acknowledged as one of the world's most powerful and insightful ensembles, distinguishing itself among audiences and critics with its "exhilarating involvement" (Boston Globe),"impeccable voicing and intonation" (San Francisco Examiner) and "unbridled musicality" (American Record Guide).  Its members include Lucia Lin, Peter Zazofsky, Steven Ansell, and Michael Reynolds.

Jason Hardink is celebrating his tenth season as Principal Keyboardist of the Utah Symphony. During his time in Utah, he has enjoyed a diverse career as a member of the orchestra, solo recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist. Hardink holds a DMA from Rice University, where he studied with Brian Connelly. In Salt Lake City Hardink is also Artistic Director of the NOVA Chamber Music Series, an organization known for superb performances of the chamber repertoire by Utah musicians.

Associate Principal Cello of the Utah Symphony, Matthew Johnson, is a graduate of the University of Southern California, and prior to his appointment with the Utah Symphony, Matthew was a member of the Kansas City Symphony for six seasons. He has participated in music festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany, where he served as principal cellist. In 1997, Matthew was featured as a soloist with the Utah Symphony, after winning the Symphony’s Youth Guild competition.

Utah Symphony Concertmaster Ralph Matson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music. He was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra, and previously, was Assistant Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra. Matson’s solo appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Utah Symphony include collaborations with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Leonard Slatkin, Sir Neville Marriner, Eiji Oue, Joseph Silverstein, Keith Lockhart and Pavel Kogan. Since 1996, he has participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival, where he is Concertmaster of the Festival Orchestra.

Mercedes Smith is the newly appointed Principal Flutist of the Utah Symphony. She served as Principal Flutist of the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet Orchestras for nearly a decade. She has performed with the Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony and served as Principal Flutist of the Pacific Symphony. Smith has won several prizes for her performances including first prize of Artists International in which she gave her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2002. Also as a recitalist, Smith performed at the Kunming International Arts Festival, China, in a performance that was televised throughout Asia.

Maestro Jerry Steichen has established himself as one of America’s most versatile conductors. He currently holds the positions of Principal Pops Conductor of the Utah Symphony and Music Director of the Ridgefield Symphony (Connecticut). He also completed 16 seasons as Principal Pops Conductor of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Steichen is the only conductor to have conducted each of the ten seasons of the Deer Valley® Music Festival and is also an accomplished pianist.

Tickets

Tickets for events can be purchased by calling 801-355-2787, in person at any ArtTix outlet or online at www.deervalleymusicfestival.org. Group Rates are available for groups of ten or more by calling 801-869-9046. A discounted Design-A-Series subscription package (four or more concerts) is available by calling 801-533-6683 or visiting www.deervalleymusicfestival.org/das.

Muir String Quartet

Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 8 p.m.:

$25 general admission tickets, $10 youth tickets for youth 18 and younger.

French Favorites

Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 8 p.m.:

$32 general admission tickets, $10 youth tickets for youth 18 and younger.

Ticket prices are subject to change based on demand and will increase by $5 when purchased on the day of performance.

Venue Information

Parking at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and Temple Har Shalom is limited, so carpooling and taking public transportation is strongly encouraged. No food or drink is allowed inside of the venues.

           

Programs

The Deer Valley® Music Festival presents

Muir String QuartetSt. Mary’s Church, 1505 West White Pine Canyon Road, Park City, Utah

Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 8 p.m.

Steven Ansell, Viola

Lucia Lin, Violin

Michael Reynolds, Cello

Peter Zazofsky, Violin

Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in B-flat Major, op. 76 No. 4, “Sunrise”

Joan Tower: “String Force”

Erwin Schulhoff: Five Pieces for String Quartet

     INTERMISSION

Franz Schubert: String Quartet in D Minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden”

The Deer Valley® Music Festival presents

French FavoritesTemple Har Shalom, 3700 North Brookside Court, Park City, Utah

Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 8 p.m.

Jason Hardink, Piano

Matt Johnson, Cello

Ralph Matson, Violin

Mercedes Smith, Flute

Jerry Steichen, Piano

Gabriel-Urbain Fauré: “Dolly Suite,” op.56

Claude Debussy: “Syrinx”

Henri Dutilleux: Sonatine for Flute and Piano

Claude Debussy: Sonata for Violin and Piano

     INTERMISSION

Maurice Ravel: Piano Trio in A Minor