Fall Recitals - September 20

The Orchestra of Southern Utah presents

Fall Recital Series 2016 September 20th

Tales from the Musical Side

Directed by Sally Hunter Jensen

(Poster design by Rollan Fell)

The Orchestra of Southern Utah, under the direction of Sally Hunter Jensen, presents the third of four annual fall recitals! A group of musical storytellers are scheduled to perform, "Tales From the Musical Side," Tuesday, September 20, 7:30 pm on stage in the Heritage Theater.

Sally Hunter Jensen

"The hand selected musicians for my evening are varied, studied and excited to hone their craft as they weave their stories right before your vary ears," states Jensen who urges the town to attend, support OSU and to be thoroughly entertained for a small suggested donation of $8 for adults and $5 for students.  Sally Hunter Jensen has performed in the OSU recitals for many years and will be narrating the recital.

Julia Tawa comes from a family of musicians and performers.  It wasn't until college, nearly four years ago, she really felt the urge to explore her knack for song-writing and singing.  Her musical style ranges from soulful to operatic to bluesy.  Improvising the majority of her performances, she thrives on the experience of singing 'in the moment'.  Her unique and minimalistic style often creates songs that can't be performed in the same way twice.

Brad Gregory is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and moved to Cedar City in July 2014 to accept a faculty position in the Department of Psychology at Southern Utah University.  Prior to his relocation, Brad taught at Anderson University in South Carolina from 2012 to 2014.  He obtained his B.A. in Psychology from NC State University, M.A. in Exercise Physiology from the University of North Carolina (Go Tarheels!), and his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from NC State University in 2011.  

Primarily an oboist, Brad currently holds the Principal Oboe position with the Orchestra of Southern Utah, and has previously performed with the Raleigh Symphony and Raleigh Civic Symphony on oboe and English horn. 

"Earth", written by Takatsugu Muramatsu for flute and piano, revolves around a soaring melody line which, despite changes in key and rhythm changes throughout, is present in various forms throughout the piece.  Beginning slowly and with great sonority, the theme emerges as new layers of accompaniment from the piano begin to unfold underneath which serve to drive the melodic flight upward.  For the first half of the piece, "Earth" quickly increases in speed and intensity as the flute soars into higher and higher realms to restate the powerful main theme.  As the pace continues to quicken, the flute switches from the sonorous theme to a playful, lilting melody which - despite what the ear would have you believe - is patterned after the same main theme, now played in an entirely new rhythm.  As the tempo soon reaches an all-time high, and as the flute ascends to join the piano an emphatic pinnacle of intensity, the melody instantly disappears and the piano takes center stage to rein in the heightened energy.  These slow, measured, almost ominous chords quickly reset the momentum, paving the way for the flute to emerge as it re-establishes the resonant main theme.  From here, the melody quickly builds until the last key change yields one final restatement of the theme in a culmination of soaring ascendancy from both musicians.  The piece finishes with a slow, haunting echo of a segment of the theme before fading away into a quiet, calm, definitive resolution.  Reminiscent in places of Lord of the Rings, "Earth" by Takatsugu Muramatsu emerges as a resounding, reverberant melody that seems to soar high above the ground!

As a founding member of the West Winds (a flute trio based here in Cedar City), Brad is excited to perform both as a soloist as well as a trio member throughout the area.  This is Brad's first public performance of "Earth" and hopes you enjoy is as much as he enjoys performing it for you!

Tracey Bradshaw received her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and pedagogy from Brigham Young University, where she was the recipient of the prestigious E. Mona Smith scholarship in piano performance.  She accompanied the BYU Singers for three years and toured with the group through Europe and the Middle East. Professionally, Ms. Bradshaw has accompanied numerous instrumentalists, vocalists, and choirs, including the Dale Warland Singers in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  She has taught piano previously at Southern Utah University, Dixie College, and Southern Virginia University.  Currently, she is a staff accompanist at Southern Utah University and works as a music engraver.

The Southern Utah String Quartet joins with Dr. Roland Stearns on guitar for the first movement of the Guitar Quintette C Major G.453, composed in 1798, when Luigi Boccherini was around 55 years old.  The prolific composer was born in Italy, studied cello in Rome, and spent his later life in Spain.  His compositions elevated the cello and viola to equal melodic status with the violins.

Roland Stearns comes from a family of guitarists, singers, and pianists. He has studied in Madrid, Spain, and later, at the Salzburg, Austria. He completed his doctoral work under the widely respected performer and pedagogue, James Bogle (1940-2013), and has taught at a number of American colleges and universities, currently at SUU.

Stearns' broader interest in early music stems both from family, experiences in Europe, and in extensive collaborative work with noted American luthier, Eric Sahlin, to produce both modern and historic instruments. He headed the University of Alaska-Anchorage guitar program before moving to southern Utah.  He continues to further his life long research into a newer technical approach to modern guitar that seeks to improve student awareness of - and capacities for - reconciling the very different approaches among various historical lute techniques and those of modern guitar.

The Southern Utah Quartet musicians are members of the Orchestra of Southern Utah, active teachers, and have performed in countless community events for nearly 30 years.  Sara Penny and Suzanne Stewart on violin, Leah Brown on cello, and welcoming Shaylin Clark on viola for this season.

Sandi Milne has been a singer, songwriter, actor and educator for over 30 years. As a singer she has worked with a variety of popular LA bands and released a solo album of originals, (which can be found on iTunes). As an actor she was a founding member of the famous LA based theatre company THE OPEN FIST where she performed in multiple productions, staged managed for THE EVIDENCE ROOM, performed the one-woman hit MY MATISSE at the famed COHO THEATRE in Portland Oregon and in film performed in the upcoming YA feature LIFE AT THESE SPEEDS (with Graham Rogers, Billy Crudup and Tim Roth) and starred in the feature thriller NURSERY RYME. As an educator Ms. Milne has taught music and theatre to scores of children in both private and school settings and has done groundbreaking work using music with children of special needs.

The "Z" Train is an eclectic group of local musicians that just love to get together and make music. They play a variety of genres that include jazz, blues and pop. They feature Kelsea Burton on vocals, Austin Clark on trumpet, Waylon Hadlock on sax, Trevor Walker on keys, Hayden Clark on guitar, Trekker Burt on bass, and Carylee Zwang on drums.

Bill Brough is a 1982 graduate of Southern Utah State College, whose interest in playing guitar and writing songs began when he was 15. At the age of 17 he wrote and staged a musical version of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” at Skyline High School in Salt Lake City. Following an LDS mission to France he connected with Sally Hunter at SUSC, and they performed locally as Billy & Sally. As a student he also composed a cantata, “Passion Play,” that was performed by the combined choirs and orchestra of SUSC. Following graduation, Bill pursued a career as a songwriter in Los Angeles, where he worked for a time in the Stevie Wonder organization, before returning to school for his MBA. He currently owns and operates Bottom Line Bookkeeping & Tax Service in Sandy, Utah while still writing, recording and performing music. In 2014 Billy & Sally reunited for a number of performances throughout Utah, including a set at Groovefest in Cedar City, and at the OSU recitals that year.