The Utah Youth Symphony’s first concert of the season will be an all-Russian affair. On the program will be Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian).
Of the six symphonies Tchaikovsky wrote, the first three have been somewhat neglected in the concert hall. So having the Second on the program is a real treat, not only for the audience but also for the orchestra and music director Barbara Scowcroft. “The early symphonies have lush, gorgeous melodies, and they feel good to play,” Scowcroft said in an interview with Reichel Recommends. “They’re important works, so it’s hard to understand why they’re not played more often than they are.”
Barbara Scowcroft
She added that she has always had a fondness for the first three symphonies and fell in love with them all over again last year. “I conducted the Second in Houston last summer (at the American Festival for the Arts, where she is music director) and re-fell in love with early Tchaikovsky. They’re delightful and charming and really, really different,” and she wanted her orchestra to experience the work, too. “This will be the first time the kids will be playing the Second with me. We did Tchaikovsky’s Fourth a couple of years ago, but never his early symphonies.” And as the programming gods in Utah would have it, the Utah Symphony recently played the Second at one of its concerts. “I didn’t know that when I programmed our season,” Scowcroft said.
The Utah Youth Symphony organization actually consists of two separate orchestras: the youth symphony, which was founded in 1947, and the Utah Youth Philharmonic, which is now in its fourth year. “We had to turn away a lot of kids who auditioned because we couldn’t accommodate them all,” Scowcroft said. “That was the reason we started the philharmonic.”
She added that at first, there was a bit of rivalry between the two ensembles. “The kids thought they would play in the philharmonic then graduate into the symphony. But that’s not how it works. Both orchestras are as equal as they can be. They have the same literature and the same opportunities, and they play in the same venues.”
The first concert of the season the philharmonic played was held in Libby Gardner Concert Hall recently. On the program were Alexander Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1. “Their enthusiasm was palpable and they were eager to play,” Scowcroft said, even though playing conditions for the concert were less than ideal. Scowcroft said there were problems with the heating system in Libby Gardner and the temperature during the concert never rose above 60 degrees. “They played with their heart and were so professional.”
Scowcroft celebrated her 25th season as music director of the Utah Youth Symphony last year. And she’s come to the point in her career with the organization where she’s started working with some of the children of former orchestra members. “I had children who were in the youth orchestra in the late ‘80s who now have their children in the orchestra,” she said. “There are at least two in each orchestra.”
After a quarter century you might think that Scowcroft would be ready to move on, but when you talk to her you realize she’s having as much fun as the kids. “We have a group of outstanding people,” she said of her young musicians. “I love their different personalities and the different textures they bring to the orchestra. I’m really taken with them.”
CONCERT INFO:
What: Utah Youth Symphony, Barbara Scowcroft, conductor
Venue: Salt Lake Tabernacle
Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14
Tickets: Free, but tickets required
Phone: 801-580-0080 or 866-537-8457