Critic’s Choice 2025-26
Moravec: The Shining. Utah Opera. October 11–19.
Stephen King’s horror classic comes to Utah Opera in an adaptation by composer Paul Moravec and librettist Mark Campbell that reportedly hews closer to the source novel than did the celebrated Stanley Kubrick film. Craig Irvin is the haunted Jack Torrance, with Kearstin Piper Brown as Wendy Torrance. Brian Staufenbiel is director and concept designer; Geoffrey McDonald conducts the singers and Utah Symphony. utahopera.org (CRN)
Music by Boulez, Mackey and Rachmaninoff. Utah Symphony/David Robertson with Timothy McAllister. October 24-25.
The Utah Symphony’s creative partner, David Robertson, makes his first of two masterworks appearances in a program that features Steven Mackey’s saxophone concerto, Anemology, a new work written for Timothy McAllister and co-commissioned by the Utah Symphony. Also on the program is Boulez’s Mémoriale for solo flute and eight instruments and the orchestra’s first ever performance of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1. utahsymphony.org (ER)
Music of Fauré and Tchaikovsky. Utah Symphony/Markus Poschner. November 7–8.
The orchestra’s incoming music director will be on the Abravanel Hall podium for four subscription pairs this season, conducting repertoire that’s virtually guaranteed to fill the house each time. This weekend it’s the Fauré Requiem and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6. utahsymphony.org (CRN)
Music of Bach and Okbepholo. NOVA Chamber Music Series. November 16.
American composer Shawn Okpebholo’s Distance, an elegy for cello and marimba, and Two Black Churches, a song cycle memorializing the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and the 2015 Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting, are juxtaposed with J.S. Bach’s cantata Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen and hymn Nun komm, der heiden Heiland. novaslc.org (CRN)
Music of Rachmaninoff, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. Utah Symphony/Delyana Lazarova. January 9–10, 2026.
The orchestra’s new principal guest conductor makes the second of two Salt Lake City appearances this season, this time teaming up with pianist Awadagin Pratt in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23. Also on the program: Rachmaninoff’s The Rock and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1. utahsymphony.org (CRN)
Music by Léon, Mozart and Mahler. Utah Symphony/Thierry Fischer with Siobhan Stagg. January 30-31.
Music director emeritus Thierry Fischerreturns to the podium to lead the Utah Symphony in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, one of the composer’s most endearing and accessible works. Joining the orchestra for this performance will be Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg, in her Utah Symphony debut. She will also be featured in Mozart’s high-spirited motet Exsultate jubilate. The program also includes Cuban-American composer Tania Léon’s Ser. utahsymphony.org (ER)
Music by Rouse, Adams, Carter and Harris. Utah Symphony/David Robertson with Madeline Adkins. February 20-21.
Utah Symphony creative partner David Robertson has put together a program featuring some of the major American composers of the 20th century. Symphony concertmaster Madeline Adkins will once again be in the soloist’s spotlight in the orchestra’s first performance of John Adams’ Violin Concerto. Also receiving their first Utah Symphony performances are Christopher Rouse’s Rapture, Elliott Carter’s Holiday Overture, written in 1944 to celebrate the liberation of Paris in World War II, and Roy Harris’ Symphony No. 3. utahsymphony.org (ER)
Orff: Carmina Burana. Utah Symphony/Tianyi Lu. April 10-11.
Last performed by the Utah Symphony in January 2023, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is always an audience favorite here no matter how often it’s played. Chinese-born guest conductor Tianyi Lu makes her Utah Symphony debut leading the orchestra and joined by soloists Jeni Houser, Brian Stucki and Ricardo José Rivera, along with the Utah Symphony Chorus and The Choristers of the Madeline Choir School. Also on the program is Debussy’s Prélude à l’apres-midi d’un faune and Iranian-born composer Iman Habibi’s Zhian.utahsymphony.org (ER)
West Side Story: Broadway and Beyond. Ballet West. April 10–18.
The company steps away from story ballets to present a quartet of Utah premieres: West Side Story Suite, Carousel: A Ballet, Antique Epigraphs (set to music of Debussy), and After the Rain (with music by Arvo Pärt). Choreography by Jerome Robbins and Christopher Wheeldon. Jared Oaks leads the Ballet West Orchestra. balletwest.org (CRN)
Music by Prokofiev and Elgar. Utah Symphony/Andrew Manze with Simon Trpčeski. April 24-25.
Aside from the Enigma Variations, Elgar’s music has been noticeably absent from Utah Symphony programs. Therefore, it will be a rare treat to hear his Symphony No. 2 under the baton of guest conductor Andrew Manze, who’ll be making his Utah Symphony debut. Rounding out the program is Prokofiev’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 3, with Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski in his first appearance since debuting in Abravanel Hall in 2019. utahsymphony.org (ER)
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