JOSH WRIGHT, Assembly Hall, Temple Square, June 1

Even though Utah pianist Josh Wright is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Michigan, he does manage to find time to come back and perform for hometown audiences.

Josh Wright

Last weekend, Wright played a recital in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square that once again showcased his multifaceted talents. Not only is he a well rounded musician with impressive  technical skills and finely honed musicality, Wright is also quite an accomplished arranger.

The recital program was taken mainly from his recently released CD, My Favorite Things, which is a collection of some of the pieces he is particularly fond of – everything from classical music to Broadway show tunes, pop songs and hymns.   

In this collection there are some wonderfully crafted arrangements that show off Wright’s amazing creativity – and his far reaching imagination. One of his arrangements blends the hymn “How Great Thou Art” with Debussy’s “Claire de lune;” another brings together Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and “Castle on a Cloud” from Les Misérables. Both are clever and artfully done.

In between these arrangements, Wright also played a number of classical pieces, including a wonderfully nuanced account of the first movement from Schubert’s A minor Sonata, D. 784. He also dazzled the audience with bravura performances of two Liszt pieces, the Paganini Etude No. 6, and La Campanella. In both of these, Wright’s pianism captured the brilliance of the music.

At the end of the recital Wright’s wife, Lindsey Wright, also an accomplished pianist, joined him in a delightful rendition of the pop song “Fireflies” by the group Owl City.