All Music Department Programs
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La finta giardiniera
USU Opera, Sergio Bernal, Daniel Helfgot, USU Symphony Orchestra, and Dallas Heaton
La finta giardiniera (The pretend gardener-girl), K. 196, premiered on January 13, 1775 in Munich. Mozart was only 18 years old at the time of this premiere but already had eight earlier operas to his credit. Called by the composer a dramma giocoso (playful drama), this relatively-rare operatic subgenre is characterized by a mostly-comic plot and two larger acts with a shorter third act. Mozart’s only other contributions to this genre came years later with his much better-known operas Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni. Five years after its premiere, La finta giardiniera was revived and converted into another operatic subgenre, that of Singspiel. This genre primarily differs by having most of the dialogue spoken instead of sung (like a modern musical) and required a translation of the libretto to German. Our production merges both traditions, taking the sung Italian of the original dramma giocoso for the opera’s arias, finales, and a few recitatives and then speaking the rest of the Singspiel dialogue in English.
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Opera & Musical Theatre Scenes
USU Opera and Dallas Heaton
Opera & Musical Theatre Scenes with selections from A Little Night Music, Carmen, The Consul and Hairspray
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Interactive Cabaret and Amahl and the Night Visitors
USU Opera, Errik Hood, and Dallas Heaton
Much has changed since 1951, when Gian Carlo Menotti composed Amahl and the Night Visitors as the first opera ever written for television. Amahl and the Night Visitors is the story of a miracle that occurs when the Magi stop on their journey to see the Baby Jesus, and it has been a perennial favorite since its first live telecast more than 65 years ago. Despite its lasting popularity, some of the elements of this stunning work have not aged well. Referring to Amahl, the disabled young boy at the center of the story, as ‘crippled’, the calling out of the race of one of the Kings, and the message that a happy ending is reliant upon the curing of Amahl’s disability... these aspects can distract from the lovely music and charming story of a truly profound miracle-- the miracle of forgiveness, charity, selflessness, and healing. The miracle of love.
We have made some changes to the traditional presentation of this opera in order to make it all the more poignant for a modern audience. Our production takes place in the 21st century, where the poverty experienced by Amahl and his mother is an all-too-real reality for millions of people all over the world. The arrival of the wise men occurs in a shared dream between Amahl and his mother rather than in real life. The bleak financial state and the resulting strained relationship between Amahl and his mother are represented by shades of black, white, and gray. The dream world, in contrast, is full of vivid color, and even the black and white images of Amahl’s friends and neighbors are touched by this vibrant dream.
It is in this colorful, dream-like world that a miracle takes place. In the dream, Amahl is physically healed when he and his mother see the forgiveness and charity the Divine Child inspires in the Kings and are moved to acts of selflessness and charity themselves. It was important to me as a director that once the dream was over, the healing of Amahl’s disability wasn’t the focus of the miracle. Instead, we focus on the love, charity, and forgiveness experienced and how that ‘colors’ the real world for Amahl and his mother once they wake up... they see the world and one another in a new and beautiful way. Their relationship is healed. Their world is changed. THIS is the miracle.
Amahl and the Night Visitors, with all its flaws, teaches us an incredibly important lesson: that any person, no matter what abilities they possess or challenges they face, can be changed through love, charity, and forgiveness. Anyone can experience a miracle.
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Listen in the Library: String Division Chamber Ensembles
USU String Division
The monthly concert series, Listen in the Library, featured student performers in library spaces on the Logan campus. These short, pop-up concerts were one of the ways the USU Libraries was involved in USU’s “Year of the Arts” in 2017-2018. While the library regularly features students’ visual art and exhibits, Listen in the Library brought the performing arts into the space, making student accomplishments in music audible and visible to a community outside the concert hall.
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Chase Fine Arts Center 50th Anniversary Gala: Newel and Jean Daines Concert Hall Opening
USU Symphony Orchestra, Aggie Marching Band, Thomas Rohrer, Sergio Bernal, USU Chamber Singers, USU Chorale, USU Women's Chorus, Cory Evans, The Fry Street Quartet, The Caine Undergraduate Research Quartet, USU Combined Choirs, American Festival Chorus, Kelli O'Hara, American Festival Orchestra, Kurt Bestor, Cache Children's Choir, and Craig Jessop
Welcome to this evening 's grand gala performance in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Daryl Chase Fine Arts Center! Thank you all for joining us this evening. This anniversary and grand reopening celebration is one of the primary reasons that we have declared this Year "A Year of the Arts:" USU and the Cache Valley community have been leaders in the arts for the state of Utah, and I am proud as president of Utah State University to reaffirm our commitment to continue to make the arts a vital component of our land-grant mission at USU.
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Fate & Redemption: Grieg's Peer Gynt and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4
USU Symphony Orchestra and Sergio Bernal
Utah State University Symphony Orchestra presents Fate & Redemption: Grieg's Peer Gynt and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.
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Concerto Evening, Celebrating the Winners of the Annual Student Concerto Competition
USU Symphony Orchestra, Sergio Bernal, Stephanie England, Emily Cottam, Amy Thacker, Benjamin Krutsch, Josiah Cordes, and Ethan Seegmiller
Celebrating the Winners of the Annual Student Concerto Competition
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USU Symphony Orchestra
USU Symphony Orchestra, Sergio Bernal, John Miller, and R. Dennis Hirst
Special performance of the USU Symphony Orchestra honoring John Miller as a special guest performer, alongside faculty member R. Dennis Hirst. The program features these individuals' talents with the bassoon.
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The Tri-State High School Band Symposium: An Honor Band Experience for the Region's Finest Wind and Percussion Players and Their Directors
USU Wind Orchestra, Thomas P. Rohrer, Jazz Orchestra, Jon Gudmundson, Caine Woodwind Quintet, Bonnie Schroeder, Aggie Marching Band, Lane Weaver, Caine Saxophone Quartet, Caine Brass Quintet, Max Matzen, Caine Percussion Quartet, Jason Nicholson, Robert Sheldon, and Mathew Inkster
A sampler concert conducted by Robert Sheldon & Mathew Inkster.
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Autumn Voices 2017
USU Women's Choir, USU Chorale, USU Chamber Singers, Heather J. Williams, and Cory Evans
The USU Women's Choir, Chorale, and Chamber Singers perform a variety of pieces for their 2017 Autumn Voices event.
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Recital Program
USU Youth Conservatory, Rylee Ericson, Ryker Ericson, James Boehme, Addie Smart, Kaitlyn Jensen, Emma Jensen, Lexie Hansen, Eliza Nelson, Taylor Packer, Rachel Larsen, and Holly Ganoe
This Recital Program presents the efforts of students to master specific pieces in their time practicing with the Utah State University Youth Conservatory.
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Big Fish: The Musical
Utah State Theatre, Jason Spelbring, and Dallas Heaton
Based on the celebrated novel by Daniel Wallace and the acclaimed Columbia Pictures film directed by Tim Burton, BIG FISH centers on Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman who lives life to its fullest... and then some! Edward's incredible, larger-than-life stories thrill everyone around him - most of all, his devoted wife Sandra. The story shifts between two timelines, the 1950's and 2001. In the present-day real world, Edward Bloom faces his mortality while Will prepares to be- come a father himself. In the storybook past, Edward ages from a teenager, encountering a Witch, a Giant, a Mermaid, and the love of his life, Sandra.The stories meet as Will is determined to find the truth behind his father's epic tales.
Overflowing with heart and humor, BIG FISH reminds us why we love going to the theatre - for an experience that's richer, funnier and BIGGER than life itself.
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Alumni Band Program 06/25/2017
Utah State University Alumni Band and Nicholas Morrison
The USU Summer Alumni Band consists of over 300 alumni of the band program at USU who continue to perform seriously following graduation, many as professional musicians or music teachers.
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The Epic of Gilgamesh
Utah State University Wind Orchestra and Thomas P. Rohrer
The Utah State University Wind Orchestra presents The Epic of Gilgamesh.
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Utah State University Youth Conservatory Spring Graduation
Utah State University Youth Conservatory, Emily Ezola, Ewa Wilczynski, Brooke Hirst, Lizzy Prettyman, Ethan Seegmiller, Lauren MaLouf, and Camille Weber
An event for all the participants in the Utah State University Youth Conservatory to perform piano pieces that they practiced and mastered in the months prior.
The Utah State University Youth Conservatory accepts youth up to age 18 and provides them private lessons to develop their piano skills.
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Utah Symphony Chamber Orchestra
Utah Symphony and Madeline Adkins
Madeline Adkins, in September 2016, assumed her new post as Concertmaster of Utah Symphony under Maestro Thierry Fischer. She made her concerto debut with Utah Symphony in November 2016, performing Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2. Prior to this, Adkins was the Associate Concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She was appointed by Maestro Yuri Temirkanov in 2005, after joining the orchestra as Assistant Concertmaster in 2000. Adkins appeared semi-annually as soloist with the BSO, and performed over 25 works with the orchestra including pieces by Beethoven, Sarasate, Vaughan Williams, Bach, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Vivaldi, Bruch, Saint-Saens, and Arvo Part. She has served as guest concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, where she was featured in Beethoven's Missa So/emnis. The daughter of noted musicologists, Adkins is the youngest of eight children, six of whom are professional musicians. The siblings, who include titled players in the National, Dallas, and Houston symphonies, joined together to form the Adkins String Ensemble. She performed on viola and violin with this unique chamber ensemble for over 15 years, and the group has made numerous recordings, including Schoenberg's Verklorte Nacht. Adkins received her Bachelor's summa cum laude from the University of North Texas and her Master's degree from the New England Conservatory where she studied with James Buswell. Adkins performs on a 1753 Guadagnini graciously loaned to her by conductor Marin Alsop, as well as a violin crafted in 1987 by Brooklyn maker Samuel Zygmuntowicz.
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String Chamber Music Recital
Vicenio Trio, The Kodaly Duo, Tritone Quartet, Ruskova Quartet, Mémo Quartet, Kayland Quartet, and Caine Quartet
USU Caine College of the Arts presents a String Chamber Music Recital. Featuring the Vicenio Trio, the Kodaly Duo, Tritone Quartet, Ruskovoa Quartet, Mémo Quartet, Kayland Quartet, and Caine Quartet.
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Utah State University Big Bands Tribute to Pepper Adams
Greg Wheeler, Jazz Ensemble, Aggie Music Project, USU Jazz Orchestra, Jason Marshall, and Jon Gudmundson
Join us for Utah State University Big Bands tribute to Pepper Adams, featuring Jason Marshall.
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Sounds of the Stadium
Aggie Marching Band and USU Wind & Percussion Faculty
Featuring Music of the 2016 Marching Band Season.
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An Evening with Jay Richards Cache Valley's Own!
American Festival Chorus and Orchestra and Craig Jessop
The American Festival Chorus and Orchestra celebrates its eighth season. An evening with Jay Richards, Cache Valley's own, with special guest George Dyer.
