Walter Haman

Equality Utah is 10 years old this year and to help celebrate the milestone it’s sponsoring a recital April 4 by Utah Symphony cellist Walter Haman and pianist and University of Utah faculty member Heather Conner. On the program are J.S. Bach’s Suite in C major for solo cello; Johannes Brahms’ Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, op. 99; Leos Janacek’s, “A Tale” for cello and piano; and Antonin Dvorak’s “Silent Woods” for cello and piano. The recital takes place in Dumke Recital Hall and all proceeds benefit Equality Utah.

It was a chance conversation with one of Haman’s adult students that led to this concert. “He is a board member of Equality Utah and I happened to mention to him that I’d like to do a recital,” Haman told Reichel Recommends in a phone interview from Chicago where he was visiting friends. “He asked if I’d be interested playing for his organization’s 10^th anniversary.”

This is Haman’s first recital since joining the Utah Symphony eight years ago and he’s looking forward to it, although it’s been weighing on his mind. “I have to get back up on the horse, as it were, and spend time with these works that I’m not so up on,” he said. He has been diligently working on the music, even while he’s been on vacation. “I’m practicing my program, so this is really a working vacation for me.” And it’s also been a lot of fun for him. “When you spend so much time in an orchestra it’s nice to get back to different repertoire. And it’s nice playing in a small space like Dumke, because you miss that kind of intimacy in a big concert hall.”

Haman has also been enjoying working with Conner. “She is a musical collaborator of the highest order,” he said. “She is a musical voice I can talk to and carry on a dialogue or conversation.”

Of the two major works on the program, Haman has played the Bach before, although it’s been quite a few years ago, but he hasn’t done the Brahms since college. “When you come back to a work after a number of years, it’s nice to see how you’ve progressed and evolved.”

Haman calls the Bach suite “mind boggling. There is something endless about it. You feel like there is something new to discover every time you play it.”

The Dvorak and Janacek pieces are on a much smaller scale than the other two works. Haman programmed them because he loves playing them. “I like the sparkling sounds and transparent texture of Janacek’s music,” he said. “His is a very unique voice which I really like.”

The two aren’t played very often in concert but Haman hopes that the audience will enjoy being introduced to something different. “I like this program because the Bach and Brahms are familiar and established works that people know. And I hope that people will come to know and love the Dvorak and Janacek.”

CONCERT INFO:

Location: Dumke Recital Hall, David Gardner Hall, University of Utah

Time and Date: 7 p.m. April 4

Tickets: $25

Web: www.equalityutah.org