UTOPIA EARLY MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS BAROQUE WOMEN

Utopia Early Music continues its 2016-2017 season with Secret Music: Discovering the Baroque Virtuosa. Our program celebrates women composers and performers of Baroque Italy, including works by Barbara Strozzi, Bianca Maria Meda, Isabella Leonarda, and Antonio Vivaldi. Performances will take place Saturday, February 25, at 8:00 PM and Sunday, February 26, at 5:00 PM at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark (Episcopal) 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City. Admission is pay as able (suggested $15 general/$12 seniors/$10 students). This concert is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council. Something revolutionary happened in seventeenth-century Ferrara, Italy. The ladies in waiting of Duchess Margherita Gonzaga, selected for musical talent rather than high birth, sang with electrifying virtuosity. Soon this “secret music” gained fame as the Singing Ladies of Ferrara broke barriers of what it meant to be a female performer. Utopia Early Music performs music for the Singing Ladies by Luzzasco Luzzaschi alongside works by women such as Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Bianca Maria Meda, Isabella Leonarda, and Chiara Maria Cozzolani, as well as an early sonata of Antonio Vivaldi, written when he was director of music for the girls of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. For this concert, Utopia co-founders Emily Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) will be joined by local favorites Melissa Heath (soprano), Utah Opera resident artist Markel Reed (baritone), Hasse Borup and Leslie Henrie (violins), Loren Carle (harpsichord), and Eleanor Christman-Cox (Baroque cello). Visiting artists David Walker (theorbo) from Kentucky and Gretchen Windt (mezzo-soprano) from Alabama join the ensemble. Now in its eighth season and going strong, Utopia Early Music breathes life into the Salt Lake City music scene with its historically informed performances of medieval, renaissance, and baroque music. Reviews of past concerts have praised the group for “wonderful performances that captured the character and spirit of this music.” Ed Reichel of Reichel Recommends comments, “Utopia has found a way to make early music fun.”

USU MUSIC DEPARTMENT TO STAGE MOZART’S EARLY “LA FINTA GIARDINIERA”

Utah State University Opera Theatre presents Mozart’s opera La finta giardiniera, a rarely-heard classical masterpiece that tells the story of a wronged Countess who disguises herself as a gardener in order to navigate the intricacies of courtly love, revenge, and the usual temporary operatic insanity. Both comedic and dramatic, the piece will be performed in Italian and English with English subtitles by USU vocal performance students accompanied by the USU Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Sergio Bernal. The production is guest directed by internationally-acclaimed director Daniel Helfgot (www.danielhelfgot.com). This production presents a unique look into early classical opera that all audiences can enjoy.

Productions are Feb. 2-4, 2017 at 7:30pm and Feb. 4 at 2pm in the Morgan Theatre in the Chase Fine Arts Center at Utah State.

Please visit opera.usu.edu or www.facebook.com/events/1237255753037259/ for more information. Purchase tickets online at cca.usu.edu.