Guest Artists
Salt Lake Symphony is committed to keeping Utah music alive by working with local soloists and composers.
Guest artists from past seasons
Kenneth Fuchs
Kenneth Fuchs has composed music for orchestra, band, chorus, and
various chamber ensembles. With Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
Lanford Wilson, he created three chamber musicals, The Great Nebula in
Orion, A Betrothal, and Brontosaurus, originally presented by Circle
Repertory Company in New York City. His music has been performed in
the United States, Europe, China, and Japan.
Michael Chipman
Michael Chipman is a versatile singer whose performance interests range from art song to Baroque music to contemporary opera. He recently recorded the role of Roderick Usher in Gordon Getty’s new opera Usher House with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and sang the baritone solo in Bach’s Cantata 47 with Utah Chamber Artists. In November 2005 he made his Carnegie Hall debut singing the baritone solo in Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. Other recent performances include the role of Ceprano in Rigoletto with Hawaii Opera Theatre and a concert tour of London and Paris with Utah Chamber Artists as the baritone soloist in the Requiems of Fauré and Howells. Upcoming performances include Pinellino in Gianni Schicchi with Utah Opera, Marquis de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Poulenc’s Banalites at the Intermezzo Summer Chamber Music Festival and the Howells Requiem at the Deer Valley Music Festival.
Erin McOmber
Erin McOmber has most recently sung the role of Clorinda (La Cenerentola) with La Musica Lirica (Novafeltria, Italy) with Maestro Joseph Rescigno. In 2010 and 2011 she took the stage as Blanche (Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites) at the University of Utah under the baton of Dr. Robert Baldwin, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) with the Paradigm Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Joel Rosenberg, Fiordiligi and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at "Concerts at the Presidio" in San Francisco, and as a soloist with the University of Utah A Cappella Choir.
Jenny Oaks Baker
Jenny Oaks Baker is one of America’s most accomplished classical
violinists. She began playing the violin at age four, and made her
solo orchestral debut in 1983 when she was only eight years old. She
received her Master of Music degree from the renowned Juilliard School
in New York City and her bachelor’s degree in violin performance from
the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Jessica Napoles
Jessica Napoles is an Associate Professor of Choral Music Education at
the University of Utah, where she teaches coursework in Choral
Rehearsal Techniques and Choral Methods. Her passion is in working
with treble voices, training music education students to be effective
teachers, and collaborating with local schools in partnerships for her
students to gain teaching opportunities.
University of Utah Women's Chorus
The University of Utah Women’s Chorus is a nonauditioned ensemble
comprised of students from majors across the university. Dr. Jessica
Napoles created the group in 2006, identifying a need for the
university to have a group that was open to all students with a desire
to sing, without the perceived barrier of an audition. Beginning with
just six students, the ensemble has grown in both number and quality
under her leadership through five years.
Phillip Bimstein
“Phillip Bimstein uses the voices, natural sounds and culture of
his adopted home in his compositions, and he practices politics with
music in mind.“
- National Public Radio’s All Things Considered
Phillip Bimstein’s works have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln
Center, Kennedy Center, Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto Festival,
London’s Royal Opera House, on PBS, NPR, MTV, and by ensembles such as
Relâche, Turtle Island String Quartet, Modern Mandolin Quartet and the
California E.A.R. Unit. He has received grants and awards from the
NEA, Meet The Composer, American Composers Forum, Austria’s Prix Ars
Electronica and a recent Emmy Award.
Red Rock Rondo
Red Rock Rondo is an Emmy Award-winning ensemble consisting of six of
Utah’s best-known musicians: composer Phillip Bimstein, Kate
MacLeod, Hal Cannon, Charlotte Bell, Flavia Cerviño-Wood and
Harold Carr, performing on piano, guitars, violins, oboe, English horn,
concertina, harmonica, bass and vocals. Their music is a well-crafted
synergy of popular, folk, jazz and classical, woven into a truly
original New Americana style.
Kelly DeHaan
Kelly DeHaan received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in choral
education and choral conducting from the University of Utah. During
his undergraduate studies, Kelly co-taught singing for the students in
the Actor’s Training Program at the U. Kelly has been teaching high
school choir at his beloved West Jordan High School since 1997 and
received the Utah High School Activities Association Music Educator
of the Year Award in 2009. He has been the guest conductor for
the Utah State Junior High Honor Choir twice and has been honored to
conduct several district honor choirs as well. He is devoted to his
students.
West Jordan High School Concert Choir
West Jordan High School has a proud history of singing that began in 1983. During the past 15 years that tradition has grown under the direction of Kelly DeHaan. The singing Jaguars have continued to receive only the highest superior ratings at region and state festivals.
Michael Huff
Dr. Michael Huff is the Artistic Director and Conductor of Utah’s newest choir, Utah Voices, Artistic Director of Heritage Festivals’ Festival of GoldTM Series, and has recently joined the faculty of Utah State University’s Caine College of the Arts where he is Director of Special Programs, and a Visiting Professor with the Department of Music.
Utah Voices
About Utah Voices Utah Voices was created by a handful of dedicated, hard-working people who truly love to sing. It is the culmination of the dreams and united vision of individuals who are passionate about making music. We desire to provide a unique and fulfilling musical opportunity to those who sing with us as well as those for whom we perform. We will strive to ensure that Utah Voices has a lasting position in our community and in the wonderful world of choral singing. In the beautiful words of the talented composer Gerald Finzi, "...as surely as birds must sing, so long as words exist and man is capable of feeling, there will be song."
Jennifer Larson
Ms. Larson has been described by USA Today as possessing a "golden
voice." She enjoys a solo performing career that encompasses
appearances with many of the nation’s finest orchestras and chamber
ensembles, a growing catalogue of recordings, and successful
performances in major operatic roles.
Kirsten Gunlogson
Grammy nominated Mezzo-Soprano Kirsten Gunlogson’s voice has been
described as “rich”, “creamy” and “beautifully dramatic”. Known for
her convincing interpretation of trouser roles and charmingly feminine
portrayals Ms. Gunlogson has distinguished herself as an impressive
singing actress. Ms. Gunlogson has performed with Indianapolis Opera,
Palm Beach Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Arizona Opera, Utah Opera,
Tulsa Opera, Toledo Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Opera,
Nashville Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Sarasota Opera. Upcoming
performances include the role of Maddalena in Rigoletto with
Utah Opera and the role of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with
Baltimore Lyric Opera as well as a performance of Strauss Lieder with
the Salt Lake City NOVA Chamber Music Series.
Robert Breault
Tenor Robert Breault enjoys an international career that features an
extraordinary breadth of repertoire. His warm, flexible voice and
superb artistic sensibilities combine to make him a consummate singing
actor. As Opera News noted, “Besides a ductile tenor that allows him
to negotiate a full dynamic span, from silvery head tone to ringing
forte, even within a single phrase, Breault offers truly superb
diction.” Opera News also praised him for making “an excellent
impression, his mellifluous tenor boasting clarity of both tone and
diction; clearly reveling in high notes, he sang with notable dynamic
variety.” Opera Canada wrote in 2009, “Tenor Robert Breault made his
EO (Edmonton Opera) debut with distinction as the Duke of Mantua. He
looks the part of a man who can seduce women with more than just his
power and wealth, and he has a lustrous voice.”
Steve Meredith
A gifted vocalist with a tone described as “seamless and superb”
(Arizona Republic), Dr. Steve Meredith is a highly sought-after
concert performer. A favorite of the late Robert Shaw, Dr. Meredith
sang Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and 9th Symphony under his direction
with orchestras throughout the United States.
Jong-hun Bae
Jong-hun Bae is an Assistant Conductor for the Salt Lake
Symphony and the Utah Philharmonia, also a Chief Conductor for the
University Campus Symphony at the University of Utah. He has worked
with several conductors including Marin Alsop, Christian Badea, Oliver
von Dohananyi, Hans Graf and others. Further conducting studies have
been with Kenneth Kiesler, Jorma Panula, Donald Thulean, Daniel
Sommerville and others.
Susan Duehlmeier and Bonnie Gritton
Susan Duehlmeier and Bonnie Gritton have performed throughout the United States, Europe, China and Israel. They have collaborated with numerous orchestras including the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Czech Radio Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, and the Armenian Philharmonic. They have performed at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Boston, Dvorak Hall of Rudolfinum in Prague, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall and Lutoslawski Hall in Warsaw, Royal Academy of Music in Glasgow, the Jerusalem Center and Bosendorfer Hall in Vienna.