It’s always a special treat when a member of the Utah Symphony steps out of the anonymity of the orchestra and into the recitalist’s spotlight. And it’s a fabulous way to get to know the musicians and discover (or rediscover) what a wealth of talent there is to be found in the Utah Symphony.
Caitlyn Valovick-Moore will finally be able to do just that Friday when she presents her first local recital since joining the Utah Symphony at the start of the 2008-09 season as flutist/piccolo player. Partnered by symphony colleague Jason Hardink at the piano, Valovick-Moore will play a program focusing on music from the 20th and 21st centuries.
“This is my first recital in Salt Lake City and I’m really looking forward to it,” she said in a phone interview with Reichel Recommends. Valovick-Moore, who this season is the symphony’s acting assistant flute, added that she has an affinity for newer works. “I enjoy contemporary music. I find it intriguing.”
One of the more challenging works on the program is Arcana for flute and electronics by Elizabeth Brown. “I stumbled across it on a website,” she said. “I later heard the piece and felt I needed to learn it.”
Arcana was commissioned in 2004 by Itzhak and Toby Perlman for their daughter Ariella Perlman. “It’s a haunting and beautiful piece,” Valovick-Moore said, “and accessible for audiences.”
Another piece she’s thrilled to be playing is Carl Vine’s sonata for flute and piano from 1992. “Vine is an Australian composer, and this sonata is a required piece at flute competitions.” But contrary to what one might think about competition pieces, Vine’s sonata is “a cool piece, and very virtuosic. It showcases the flute and piano as equal partners rather than being a flute solo with piano.” But one of the things she particularly likes about it is the middle movement. “It has a beautiful slow movement, where the flute soars over the piano.”
Valovick-Moore will also be playing a piccolo sonata. “It’s a sonata by Jindrich Feld. He is a Czech composer and this is one of the last pieces he wrote,” she said. “It’s quirky, spiky and rhythmic, and one of the few pieces for piccolo that’s serious. It gets a little tongue in cheek in a couple of places, but it’s not trite. It’s really a good piece.”
Alfredo Casella’s Barcarolle and Scherzo opens the program. “This is a very pretty and lyrical piece,” Valovick-Moore said, easy to listen to and written with the audience in mind.
The final work is also the only one on the program written prior to 1900: Franz Schubert’s Introduction and Variations on Trockne Blumen, a song from his cycle Die schöne Müllerin. “This is an original piece by Schubert, not a transcription,” Valovick-Moore said. “We flutists are so fortunate to have something by Schubert we can call our own.”
CONCERT INFO:
What: Caitlyn Valovick-Moore, flute, Jason Hardink, piano
Venue: Dumke Recital Hall, David Gardner Hall, University of Utah
Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20
Tickets: $5 Utah Flute Association members, $7 seniors and students (non members), $10 adults (non members)
Web: www.utahflute.org
ALSO: Master Class, Salt Lake Recital Hall (Peter Prier Recital Hall), 320 E. 200 South, 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Jan. 21, free to auditors, fee for participants, visit www.utahflute.org for details.
Please note that the recital is NOT FREE. The cost is as follows: $5 for UFA members, $7 for students and seniors non-members, $10 adults non-members. The master class is free to auditors. There is a free for playing and details and deadlines are in the Utah Flute Association’s website: http://www.utahflute.org