Utah Festival, formerly the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, kicks off its new season next week with a production of Samuel Barber’s rarely performed Vanessa.

Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti (librettist for "Vanessa")

The festival runs through Aug. 9. Besides Vanessa, this season also includes Sigmund Romberg’s The Student Prince, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and Schönberg and Boublil’s Les Misérables.

All shows take place in the Ellen Eccles Theatre, 43 S. Main, Logan. Tickets are $45-$262 for all four mainstage productions, or $42-$247 for all four mainstage productions during opening week. Single tickets range from $13-$77. Tickets can be purchased by calling 800-262-0074, ext. 3, or by logging on to www.utahfestival.org.

Below is a rundown of performances that take place in the Ellen Eccles Theatre. Other programs take place in various downtown venues. For a complete listing of events, log on to www.utahfestival.org.

• Vanessa, by Samuel Barber, original libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti; Barbara Day Turner, conductor; Daniel Helfgot, director; Beverly O’Regan Thiele (Vanessa), Alice-Anne Light (Erika), Andrew Bidlack (Anatol), Amanda Tarver (The Old Baroness). July 9, 7:30 p.m., July 18, 7:30 p.m., July 24, 7:30 p.m., August 2, 1 p.m.
• Oklahoma!, by Rodgers and Hammerstein; Karen Keltner, conductor; Maggie L. Harrer; director, Leah Edwards (Laurey), Wes Mason (Curly), Kevin Nakatani (Jud). July 10, 7:30 p.m., July 17, 7:30 p.m., July 19, 7:30 p.m., July 24, 1 p.m., July 26, 1 p.m., August 1, 1 p.m., August 7-8, 7:30 p.m.
• The Student Prince, by Sigmund Romberg; Barbara Day Turner, conductor; Jack Shouse, director; Andrew Bidlack (Prince Karl Franz), Richard Zuch (Doctor Engel), Emma-Grace Dunbar (Kathie), Vanessa Ballam (Princess Margaret). July 11, 7:30 p.m., July 17, 1 p.m., July 25, 1 p.m., August 1, 7:30 p.m., August 9, 1 p.m. 
• “8 Hands 2 Pianos,” Utah Festival pianists will present an unpredictable concert of classical hits where they’ll be dressing up, playing jokes on each other — and who knows what other mayhem will ensue. July 12, 1 p.m. ($11-$41, $10-$35 with opera series purchase)
• Les Misérables, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Karen Keltner, conductor; Valerie Rachelle, director; Patrick Miller (Jean Valjean), Vanessa Ballam (Fantine), Daniel Cilli (Inspector Javert) Leah Edwards (Cosette). July 12, 7:30 p.m., July 16, 7:30 p.m., July 18-19, 1 p.m., July 23, 7:30 p.m., July 25-26, 7:30 p.m., July 30, 7:30 p.m., July 31, 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., August 2, 7:30 p.m., August 7-8, 1 p.m., Aug. 9, 7:30 p.m.
• International Opera Competition Semifinals, Utah Festival hosts more than 20 talented artists, and the audience helps select a winner who then heads to Italy to compete. July 15, 1 p.m., ($10)
• “Pioneers and Patriots, A Tribute to John Philip Sousa,” presented in collaboration with the Utah State University Music Department; James Michael Bankhead, conductor. Thrill to the sound of a 42-piece band with choir, soloists and surprises, in a program drawn largely from the concert Sousa himself led in Logan in 1927. July 22, 7:30 p.m. ($11-$41, $10-$35 with opera series purchase)
• Operafest/International Opera Competition Finals, Karen Keltner and Barbara Day Turner, conductors. After the finalists have performed with orchestra, and while the judges confer and the audience vote is tallied, you will be entertained by Utah Festival stars. July 29, 7:30 p.m. ($11-$41, $10-$35 with opera series purchase)
• “Best of Beethoven,” American Festival Chorus, Utah Festival Orchestra and Soloists, Craig Jessop conductor. From the intimate to the grand, this is a celebration of Beethoven ending in the triumphant Ode to Joy from his monumental Ninth Symphony, August 6, 7:30 p.m. ($11-$41, $10-$35 with opera series purchase)