USU Symphony Orchestra Presents 'Beginnings' Concert

The Utah State University Symphony Orchestra presents its fall concert, “Beginnings,” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27. The concert will take place at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and is free and open to the public.

“Celebrate with us the dawn of fresh starts and new opportunities,” said USU Director of Orchestral Studies Sergio Bernal of the concert.

Concert attendees can anticipate hearing works from Farrenc, Mozart, Donizetti, Suzuki and Debussy. Bernal said each piece performed in the concert has to do with the beginning of something.

“The duet from ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ presents the secret betrothal of Edgardo and Lucia, who vow to be together in spite of the ongoing feud between their families,” Bernal said, “this new beginning is a happy moment for the young couple amidst the hardships they are about to face.”

The concert will feature guest faculty singers Emily Hansen and Thomas Glenn, as well as youth from Mountain West String Academy, Sistema Utah, and Young Musicians for a Brighter Future.

Bernal is the founding director of Young Musicians for a Brighter Future, an organization that gives free music instruction of symphonic instruments to children and youth from Cache Valley.

According to Bernal, the organization’s mission is to help develop their students’ learning abilities and strengthen their self-confidence so they may be empowered to succeed in their educational and professional endeavors, their ability to help others, and their pursuit of happiness.

The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business is involved with the YMBF organization as well.

“In fact, this concert will inaugurate a venture between YMBF and the Hope Corps program from the Center for Entrepreneurship of the USU Huntsman School of Business. We are thankful to Program Coordinator Andy Thunell and the Hope Corps team for helping us grow as a nonprofit organization, both in terms of scope and impact to society,” Bernal said.

Bernal and the USU Symphony Orchestra wish to thank Father Rogelio Felix-Rosas and the St. Thomas Aquinas community for welcoming them at their “breathtaking church” every year and giving ongoing support to the YMBF free-instruction music program.

“Beginnings” Concert Program:

• Overture No. 2 by Louise Farrenc.
• Symphony No. 35 (2nd movement) by W.A. Mozart.
• Duet from Act I from the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor" by Gaetano Donizetti, featuring guest faculty singers Emily Hansen and Thomas Glenn.
• Lyric for Strings by George Walker.
• Familiar tunes from Suzuki Violin School Volume I, featuring the children and youth from Mountain West String Academy, Sistema Utah, and Young Musicians for a Brighter Future.
• Petite Suite by Claude Debussy.

For more information about the USU Symphony Orchestra, visit the Caine College of the Arts website.