Utah Symphony Premiere of Tippet's “A Child Of Our Time”



Keith Lockhart

The Utah Symphony Premiere of

Tippet's “A Child Of Our Time”

Keith Lockhart to conduct The Utah Symphony premiere of Tippet's “A Child Of Our Time."

The Utah Symphony and Music Director Emeritus Keith Lockhart will bring Michael Tippet’s moving oratorio, “A Child of Our Time,” to Abravanel Hall for the first time, Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23 at 8 p.m.

The Utah Symphony Chorus and guest vocalists Indra Thomas, Marietta Simpson, Russell Thomas and Derrick Parker will join them in performing this musically versatile work. Tippet’s use of African spirituals and other elements reflective of the large scale works of Bach and Handel support the themes of this musical, political, spiritual and philosophical expression.

Inspired by the harsh anti-Semitic persecution and suffering caused by Nazi Germany’s infamous Kristallnacht, the oratorio reflects Tippet’s pacifism, focusing on Jungian themes and the universality of human oppression.

"The work deals with the general state of oppression in our time,” Tippet said in an essay. “[It] presents the particular story of a young man's attempt to seek justice by violence and the catastrophic consequences."

Tickets for the evening’s performances range from $15 to $85 and can be purchased by calling (801) 355-ARTS (2787), in person at the Abravanel Hall ticket office or by visiting www.usuo.org. Students can purchase discounted tickets with a student ID. Season ticket holders and those desiring group discounts should call (801) 533-NOTE (6683). Ticket prices will increase $5 when purchased the day of the performance.

These performances will not include an intermission, but there will be a short pause to fill late seating after Part I of the oratorio, approximately 25 minutes into the performance. The approximate running time of the complete oratorio is 75 minutes.

Patrons may attend a free pre-concert lecture each night, 45 minutes prior to the start of the performance in the First Tier Room of Abravanel Hall, located at 123 W. South Temple.

Artist Bios:

Keith Lockhart currently serves as Conductor of the Boston Pops and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the summer institute and festival at the Brevard Music Center. He recently completed his highly successful 11-year tenure as Music Director of the Utah Symphony. where his leadership of the symphony allowed him to stand at the front of that organization’s historical merger with the Utah Opera to create the first-ever joint administrative arts entity of the Utah Symphony and Opera. Since the merger, arts institutions nationally and internationally have looked to Maestro Lockhart as an example of an innovative thinker on and off the podium. Lockhart has conducted the Symphony Orchestras of Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Baltimore, Atlanta, St. Louis, Nashville, North Carolina, Indianapolis, Singapore, Toronto and Vancouver as well as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Indra Thomas, Soprano
In the 2010-2011 opera season, Ms. Thomas has already performed in the United States a gala concert with the Artist Series of Sarasota, a recital at Weill Hall in New York, and the Verdi Requiem with the Flint Symphony. Internationally she will sing the title role in Aida with Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain, and Choregies d’Orange in Orange, France. She will also be singing Chausson’s Poémes de l’amour et de la mer in La Corñua, Spain.

Engagements in the 2009-10 season included performances of the Verdi Requiem in a tour of four cities in Spain with the Euskadi Orchestra under the direction of Andres Orozco Estrada, Britten’s War Requiem with the Orchestra de Paris, and Aida at the Avignon Music Festival and the Bregenz Festival. Engagements in the U.S. included a recital with the Atlanta Opera Guild, a Christmas concert with Little Orchestra Society of New York, the Verdi Requiem with the Vermont Symphony, and a last-minute performance of the title role of Aida with Atlanta Opera.

Marietta Simpson, Mezzo-Soprano
Marietta Simpson has sung with major orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. She made her Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody under Robert Shaw with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and her New York Philharmonic debut under Kurt Masur in Mendelssohn’s Elijah. She has performed Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater under Sir Simon Rattle with both Vienna and Berlin philharmonics, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Daniel Barenboim with Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Recent highlights include Mahler’s Rückert Lieder (Memphis Symphony Orchestra); Verdi’s Requiem (Louisville Orchestra); Messiah (Detroit Symphony); Mendelssohn’s “Die Erste Walpurgisnacht” and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (Alabama Symphony); a recital at the Kennedy Center; Hindemith’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed” (Cathedral Choral Society of Washington DC); Bach’s Cantata No. 78 and Christmas Oratorio (Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival); Dominga de Adviento in Eotvos’ Love and Other Demons (Glyndebourne Festival Opera, world premiere); Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Singing City/Philadelphia); and McCollough’s Let My People Go (Master Chorale of Washington). She has performed Maria in Porgy and Bess with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Birmingham, and Washington National Opera, as well as at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and in concert performances with Philadelphia Orchestra under Lorin Maazel.

Russell Thomas, Tenor
Tenor Russell Thomas is quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting vocal and dramatic talents on the international opera and concert scene, most recently as the winner of the prestigious “Viñas Competition” in Barcelona (First Prize, Audience Favorite and Best Tenor).

Russell Thomas’ current season begins with the Duke in Rigoletto in Santiago de Chile, followed by Tamino in The Magic Flute and Andres in Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera, Faust in LA Damnation de Faust in Frankfurt, the title-role in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with the Boston Symphony and James Levine, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the Atlanta Symphony and the Prince in A Flowering Tree with the Cincinnati Opera. Other notable concert appearances include the Mozart Requiem with the Milwaukee Symphony, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Dallas Symphony. Future plans include debuts with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Deutsche Oper, Berlin and the Canadian Opera Company.

Derrick Parker, Bass-Baritone
Derrick Parker has previously sung Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the Santa Rosa Symphony and Santa Cruz Symphony. In the 2010-11 season, he sings Handel’s Messiah (Memphis Symphony Orchestra) and Bach’s Mass in B Minor (Butler University) as well as returns to Houston Grand Opera for its production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Recent engagements include Alidoro in La Cenerentola (Portland, Utah, Fort Worth); Colline in La Bohème (Fort Worth, Kansas City, Cleveland); Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia (Chicago Opera Theatre); Crown in Porgy and Bess (Cape Town Opera); Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Achilla in Giulio Cesare (Utah Opera); Lucifer in La Resurrezione, Claudio in Agrippina, and Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea (Chicago Opera Theatre); Antinoo in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria and Claudio in Agrippina (Glimmerglass), Masetto in Don Giovanni (Houston, New Orleans), and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor (St. Louis, Fort Worth). Concert performances include Haydn’s Creation (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra), Handel’s Messiah (San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony), Mozart’s Requiem (Utah Symphony), Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Dallas Symphony, Pacific Symphony), Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 (Rochester Philharmonic), Bernstein’s Mass (Utah Symphony, Virginia Arts Festival), and his first performances of Porgy in Porgy and Bess in concert with Marin Alsop conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.


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