2018-2019
World Turned Upside Down: Early Music of the U.S. & CanadaSaturday, September 22, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark Sunday, September 23, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Aerin Lund, mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Ricky Parkinson, bass Mary Danzig, fiddle • Lisa Chaufty, recorder and flute Peter Danzig, mandolin, mountain dulcimer, and banjo • Al Cofrin, cittern
Experience the musical birth of nations with vocal and instrumental music from the English and French colonies in North America through the Revolutionary War to the early United States. Folk duo Otter Creek, Lisa Chaufty (recorder) and Al Cofrin (cittern) join a vocal quartet in a concert that includes William Billings, the Sacred Harp tradition, early Canadian music, and Scottish and Irish tunes that made their way across the Atlantic.
Noël! A French Baroque Christmas
Saturday, December 15, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark Sunday, December 16, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Megan Lee, mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • John Bergquist, baritone
Jeffrey Smith, violin • Leslie Henrie, violin • Miyo Aoki, recorder • Lisa Chaufty, recorder Leslie Richards, viola • Eleanor Christman Cox, baroque cello • Loren Carle, harpsichord Celebrate the season with an evening of tuneful melodies and French refinement! This concert features Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Messe de Minuit pour Noël. In this rarely performed but great work, Charpentier weaves the melodies of traditional French Christmas carols into a special setting for the Christmas mass. We will also perform the original carols that he set, making this concert both a celebration of high art and a fun and festive experience for all ages.
This concert is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council.
Echoes of Old Gods: Music from the Fringes of Europe
Saturday, February 23, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark Sunday, February 24, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Nate Pence, countertenor• Christopher LeCluyse, tenor
Shulamit Kleinerman, vielle • Therese Honey, Gothic harp Utopia explores new musical territory with this concert of Medieval works from northern and eastern Europe. Shulamit Kleinerman (vielle) and Therese Honey (Gothic harp) join a trio of voices to bring this hauntingly beautiful and rarely heard music to life.
On with the Dance! Utopia's Ten-Year Renaissance
Monday, April 8, 7:30 PM Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Westminster College 1200 E 1700 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Aubrey Adams-McMillan • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • John Bergquist, bass Shulamit Kleinerman, Renaissance violin • Rotem Gilbert, Renaissance reeds and winds • Lisa Chaufty, recorder
Adam Cockerham, lute • Peter Maund, percussion • Eleanor Christman-Cox, cello
Utopia pulls out all the stops for this celebration of our tenth season. In partnership with Westminster College, the Utah Classical Guitar Society, and the University of Utah, we bring together a world-class collection of performers for an evening of Renaissance music that is truly not to be missed. Renaissance dance troupe Dance Balletti takes the stage with Utopia to bring an extra layer of sparkle to the evening. Please join us as we look forward to the next ten years!
2017-2018 
Requiem: Renaissance Music of Life and LossSaturday, October 28, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark Sunday, October 29, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Prof. Jane Hatter from the University of Utah will offer a pre-concert lecture before the October 29 concert at 4:15 PM.
Emily Nelson, soprano • Nate Pence, countertenor • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor
Logan Bradford, tenor • Brett Taylor, baritone • Kevin Smith, bass
Lisa Chaufty, recorder • Loren Carle, organ
This concert is made possible by a generous grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council.
 An English Country Christmas
Saturday, December 16, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark Sunday, December 17, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Antona Yost mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Ricky Parkinson, baritone
Bronwen Beecher, fiddle • Lisa Chaufty, recorder • Al Cofrin, cittern • Eleanor Christman Cox, baroque cello
Utopia celebrates the holidays with music from the farms and country manors of England. Bronwen Beecher (fiddle), Al Cofrin (cittern), and Lisa Chaufty (flute and recorder) join a vocal quartet to celebrate the season with Tudor Christmas songs, festive dances, and favorite English carols performed as they might have been from the days of Henry VIII to the times of Charles Dickens.  The Siren & the Nightingale: Music of Medieval France
Saturday, February 3, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark Sunday, February 4, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Nate Pence, countertenor• Christopher LeCluyse, tenor
Rotem Gilbert, recorder & bagpipe • Lisa Chaufty, recorder • Therese Honey, Gothic harp “The Siren and the Nightingale” traces three centuries of musical innovation from the emotional outpouring of twelfth-century troubadours to the intricate complexities of the fourteenth-century Ars Subtilior. Be transported by the mysterious, sensual, and joyful music of medieval France performed by special guests Rotem Gilbert (recorder and bagpipe), Lisa Chaufty (recorder), and Therese Honey (Gothic harp) with Salt Lake singers Emily Nelson (soprano), Nate Pence (counter-tenor), and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor).
 Liaisons Charmantes: French and English Baroque
Monday, April 9, 7:30 PM Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Westminster College 1200 E 1700 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenorAlex Woods, Baroque violin • Aubrey Woods, Baroque violin
David Walker, theorbo • Loren Carle, harpsichord • Eleanor Christman-Cox
After decades of musical stagnation, England welcomed an influx of French music in the late seventeenth century. Utopia Early Music weaves together the exquisite harmonies and passion of French and English music of the seventeenth century, including works by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Henry Purcell, and their contemporaries.
2016-2017The Seven Deadly Sins
Saturday, October 29, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, October 30, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Admission: Pay as able (suggested $15 general / $12 senior / $10 student)
Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor
Lisa Chaufty, recorder • Loren Carle, harpsichord • Eleanor Christman Cox, baroque cello
Can
we interest you in a smidgen of sloth or a little drizzle
of lust? We don't blame you. In fact, we offer an entire concert in
lighthearted tribute to the seven famous foibles of humanity. Mining
material
from the Renaissance and Baroque, we've selected works that describe
the temptations and frustrations that have plagued us from the
beginning.
Celebrate Halloween with works by Purcell, Dowland, and that old master
of wrath and pride, George Frideric Handel. We won't tell anyone
that your purse is full of candy....
Saturday, December 17, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, December 18, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Admission: Pay as able (suggested $15 general / $12 senior / $10 student)
Emily Nelson, soprano • Megan Lee, mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Michael Chipman, baritone
Bronwen Beecher, fiddle • Lisa Chaufty, recorder • Therese Honey, Celtic harp • Eleanor Christman Cox, baroque cello
Utopia celebrates the holidays by bringing back our Celtic favorites! The program features songs and instrumentals in a solstice mode from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Fiddler Bronwen Beecher, Celtic harpist Therese Honey, flutist Lisa Chaufty, and cellist Eleanor Christman Cox join a vocal quartet to span the full range of the season, from festive reels to winter lullabies. Hear medieval Irish chant, songs from Renaissance Scotland, Irish and Welsh carols, and rollicking jigs and reels.
Secret Music: Rediscovering the Baroque Virtuosa
Saturday, February 25, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, February 26, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Admission: Pay as able (suggested $15 general / $12 senior / $10 student)
Something revolutionary happened in seventeenth-century Ferrara, Italy. The ladies in waiting of Duchess Margherita Gonzaga, selected for musical talent rather than high birth, sang with electrifying virtuosity. Soon this "secret music" gained fame as the Singing Ladies of Ferrara broke barriers of what it meant to be a female performer. Featuring rarely-performed works written for these virtuosas, our concert celebrates women composers and performers of Baroque Italy, including works by Barbara Strozzi, Bianca Maria Meda, and Isabella Leonarda. This concert is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council.
Emily Nelson, soprano • Melissa Heath, soprano • Gretchen Windt, mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Markel Reed, baritone Hasse Borup, violin • Leslie Henrie, violin • David Walker, theorbo • Loren Carle, harpsichord • Eleanor Christman Cox, Baroque cello
Wild and Sweet: The Many Faces of the Renaissance
Monday, May 15, 7:30 PM Vieve Gore Concert Hall
Westminster College
1200 E 1700 S, Salt Lake CityAdmission: $15 general, students FREE with valid ID from any institution (no children under seven, please) Utopia
Early Music and the Westminster voice faculty team up with visiting
artists Shulamit Kleinerman and Rotem Gilbert for a musical journey
through the Renaissance. From opulent late Medieval textures to the
clean formal perfection of the 16th century, this period saw a
blossoming of myriad styles that reflected mankind's shifting sense of
the world and his place in it. Our program traces these transformations
from the sophistication of Machaut to the clarity of Palestrina and
Dowland.
Emily Nelson, soprano • Aubrey Adams-McMillan, mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Jared Lesa, baritone Shulamit Kleinerman, Renaissance strings • Rotem Gilbert, recorders and double reeds • Loren Carle, harpsichord
2015-2016 Orpheus' Lyre: Music of the Italian BaroqueSaturday, October 3, 8:00 PM and Sunday, October 4, 6:00
Cathedral Church of St. Mark Utopia Early Music transports you to Baroque Italy for the blossoming of a musical revolution. Yearning for the expressive purity they imagined in antiquity, composers stretched as never before to create music that would stir the passions and feed the human soul with divine fire. A quartet of voices and virtuosic strings, including Bay Area lutenist Adam Cockerham, bring skill and vibrancy to rarely heard works from this crucial moment in music history.
Emily Nelson, soprano • Gretchen Windt, mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Jared Lesa, baritone Alex Woods, violin • Aubrey Woods, violin • Adam Cockerham, theorbo • Eleanor Christman Cox, baroque cello
Angel Song: A Medieval Christmas Saturday, December 5, 8:00 PM and Sunday, December 6, 5:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Featuring meditative chant, breathtaking multi-voice textures, and rollicking Medieval dances, Angel Song: A Medieval Christmas will offer a special moment of holiday celebration for all ages. The program will include a scene from 13th century liturgical drama, The Play of Daniel, which has enjoyed a recent popular revival but has never been performed in Salt Lake. Additionally, Utopia will stretch its horizons to include medieval works from Eastern Europe. This concert is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council. Emily Nelson, soprano • Megan Lee, mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Shulamit Kleinerman, vielle • Therese Honey, Gothic harp
Monday, February 29, 7:30 PM Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Westminster College Utopia Early Music joins area musicians on a nautical adventure, presenting songs of the sea from across the centuries. Early American and British boat songs and chanteys sail alongside hornpipes and ballads from the coasts of Europe.
Emily Nelson, soprano; Christopher LeCluyse, tenor; Aubrey Adams-MacMillan, mezzo-soprano; Michael Chipman, baritone; Ricky Parkinson, bass; Bronwen Beecher, fiddle, Lisa Chaufty, recorder; Michael Lucarelli, guitar; Loren Carle, harpsichord and bodhran, Kimi Kawashima, piano; Emily Williams, piano
Cancionero: Music of Three Spains Saturday, April 16, 8:00 PM and Sunday, April 17 , 5:00 PM, Cathedral Church of St. Mark Utopia finishes its season with Spanish flair! For eight centuries the blending of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish cultures left its mark on Spanish music. The musical influences that came together to produce flamenco and found their way into Latin American music were first expressed in pilgrim songs from Santiago da Compostella, the music of Sephardic Jews, and folk traditions of Muslim Spain. Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Gretchen Windt, mezzo-soprano • Ricky Parkinson, bass Lisa Chaufty, recorder • Adam Cockerham, lute
2014-2015
My Bonny Lass She Smelleth: PDQ Bach and More Saucy Songs of the Seventeenth Century
Saturday, October 18, 8:00 PM and Sunday, October 19, 5:00 PM at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Utopia
Early Music kicks off the new season with a weekend of fun and frolic
featuring selections from The Short-Tempered Clavier and The Art of the
Ground Round by P.D.Q. Bach (a.k.a. Peter Schickele). To keep things
historical, Utopia presents these “exquisite” masterworks alongside
their legit, if still saucy, forebears: naughty songs from Elizabethan
England, seventeenth century drinking songs, and even the humorous side
of that other Bach.
For
this concert, Utopia features local singers and historical instruments.
Co-founders Emily Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor)
will be joined by Gretchen Windt (mezzo-soprano), Geoffrey Friedley
(tenor), Ricky Parkinson (bass), Lisa Chaufty (recorder and flauto traverse) and Pamela Palmer Jones (harpsichord)
Saturday, December 6, at 8:00 PM and Sunday, December 7, at 5:00 PM at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Utopia
celebrates the holidays with music of transporting beauty from the
lands of the Celts. The program features songs and instrumentals in a
solstice mode from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Cape
Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Fiddler Bronwen Beecher, Celtic harpist
Therese Honey, flutist Lisa Chaufty, and cellist Eleanor Christman Cox
join a vocal quartet to span the full range of the season, from festive
reels to winter lullabies. Hear medieval Irish chant, songs from
Renaissance Scotland, settings of tunes from Wales and the Isle of Man,
and Robert Burns’s original “Auld Lang Syne.”
For
this concert, Utopia co-founders Emily Nelson (soprano) and Christopher
LeCluyse (tenor) will be joined by local favorites Gretchen Windt
(mezzo-soprano), Michael Chipman (baritone), Lisa Chaufty (recorder and
flute), Bronwen Beecher (fiddle), and Eleanor Christman Cox (cello).
Visiting artist Therese Honey (Celtic harp) joins Utopia from Houston.
The Dance of Love: Romantic Songs from Machaut to BrahmsMonday, February 23, 7:30 PM
In
an epilogue to Valentines’ Day, Salt Lake’s Utopia Early Music will
join members of the Westminster voice faculty in a fabulously diverse
collection of songs on the countless shades and dimensions of love.
Emily
Nelson, soprano • Aubrey Adams-McMillan, mezzo-soprano • Christopher
LeCluyse, tenor • Michael Chipman, baritone • David Walker, lute • Emily
Williams, piano • Kimi Kawashima, piano
Poignant Pleasures: Music of the French Baroque
Saturday, May 9, 8:00 PM, and Sunday, May 10, 5:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
French composers of the 17th and 18th centuries
spun music of refined taste, luscious harmony, and poignant detachment.
How one performs this music is as important as the music itself. Utopia
and a skilled complement of strings present music of Marin Marais,
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Andre Campra, Francois Couperin and other
masters of je ne sais quoi Emily
Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) will be joined by
local virtuosi Alexander and Aubrey Woods (Baroque violins) and Eleanor
Christman Cox (Baroque cello). Visiting artist Adam Cockerham (theorbo)
joins Utopia from the San Francisco Bay Area.
New Song: A Musical Reformation Thursday, July 2, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Utopia
Early Music explores the connections between sacred and secular music
throughout the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in "New Song: A
Musical Reformation." Hear the origins of favorite Protestant hymns and
Bach chorales in chant, love songs, and madrigals as well as the
Catholic response with music of extreme passion and intimacy. Several
selections will require audience participation! This special concert is
sponsored by the Cathedral Church of St. Mark in conjunction with the
General Convention of the Episcopal Church.
Christopher
LeCluyse (tenor) will be joined by Melissa Heath (soprano), Aubrey
Adams-McMillan (mezzo soprano), Michael Chipman (baritone), Alexander
and Aubrey Woods (Baroque violins), Leslie Richards (viola), and Eleanor
Christman Cox (Baroque cello). Visiting artist Jonathan Rhodes Lee
(organ) joins Utopia from Chicago.
2013-2014
Harvest Song: Music of Medieval Germany
Friday, October 4, 8:00 PM
Saturday, October 5, 8:00 PM
Sunday, October 6, 5:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Salt Lake City
Long
before Wagner romanticized the medieval Meistersinger or Carl Orff
wrote the ultimate soundtrack for cinematic battle, German medieval
music thrived on its own terms. During the Twelfth Century Renaissance,
the music of the troubadours found expression in the songs of the German
Minnesänger, Hildegard von Bingen spun her ecstatic chants, and
wandering clerics penned the saucy and soulful Carmina Burana. Gothic
harp, recorder, and medieval fiddle join our voices in songs of earthly
and heavenly love, loss, and revelry, from the chapel to the tavern.
Emily Nelson, soprano • Geoffrey Friedley, tenor • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Ricky Parkinson, bass
Lisa Chaufty, recorder • Shulamit Kleinerman, vielle • Therese Honey, Gothic harp
Star in the East: An Early Music Christmas
Friday,
December 6, 8:00 PM; Saturday, December 7, 6:30 PM; and Sunday,
December 8, 5:00 PM at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Salt Lake
City.
Utopia
presents our favorite works for the holiday season from around the
world and across time, from medieval chant and English carols to early
American hymns, French noëls, Italian lullabies, and a German
Christmas oratorio. Festive and warm, these pieces speak directly to
the heart. A full complement of strings and voices share their musical
gifts: Emily Nelson, soprano; Clara Hurtado-Lee, soprano; Christopher
LeCluyse, tenor; Michael Chipman, baritone; John Lenti, lute; Alexander
and Aubrey Woods, violin; and Eleanor Cox, baroque cello.
From
meditative to joyous, Utopia brings Christmas favorites from around the
globe. The haunting O Antiphons, chanted since the seventh century,
punctuate a program that includes Claudio Monteverdi’s festive psalm
“Beatus Vir,” instrumental noëls by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, selections
from Heinrich Schütz’s Christmas Story, and Handel’s “For unto Us a
Child Is Born” sung in true Baroque style. Medieval English carols
resound alongside an American hymn by William Billings and the fervent
Epiphany song “Star in the East,” from the Sacred Harp tradition. The
Cathedral Church of St. Mark, offers its special support for this
concert as it prepares for Christmas.
Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15 at 8:00 PM, and Sunday, March 16 at 5:00 PM at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark
For
this concert, Utopia features local virtuosi trained in playing
historical instruments. Co-founders Emily Nelson (soprano) and
Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) will be joined by Jayne Drummond (Baroque
oboe), Miyo Aoki and Lisa Chaufty (recorders), and Eleanor Christman Cox
(Baroque Cello). Regular guest David Walker (theorbo and Baroque
guitar) joins us from Louisville, Kentucky. Together, this ensemble will
perform works by high Baroque greats on a human scale. All-wood
woodwinds and gut strings bring a warm, vibrant, and sensuous sound to
solos and duets from Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas, songs by George
Frideric Handel, vocal and instrumental works by Henry Purcell, and
sonatas by Georg Philipp Telemann and Francesco Barsanti.
The Black Dragon: Music from the Time of Vlad Dracula
Monday, May 12 Vieve Gore Concert Hall
Utopia
joins the Bay Area's Cançonièr in an experience of 15th-century music
from the cultural crossroads of eastern Europe during the reign of the
infamous Vlad the Impaler, including a German ballad about the historic
Dracula, music of the Byzantine court and church, Italian and French
dances, Balkan folk songs, Turkish music, and the Lamentation for the
Fall of Constantinople by Guillaume Dufay.
2012-2013
Utopia Early Music and Ostraka: Music from the French Court Monday, October 22, 8:00 PM Vieve Gore Concert Hall Nationally
touring string trio Ostraka and Salt Lake’s own Utopia Early Music
present refined repertoire from seventeenth-century France, including
intimate lute songs, passionate duets, and fiery instrumental
variations. Performers will be Utopia’s Emily Nelson (soprano) and
Christopher LeCluyse (tenor); and Ostraka’s John Lenti (lute and
theorbo), David Walker (Baroque guitar), and Josh Lee (viol).
Heaven to Earth: A German Baroque Christmas
December 7, 8:00 PM December 8, 8:00 PM December 9: 5:00 PM
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Salt Lake City
“Heaven to Earth: A German Baroque Christmas” journeys from expectation and longing to celebration
and fulfillment. Presenting works of Johann Sebastian Bach, his
contemporaries, and predecessors. Utopia's two founding members will be
joined by eight other musicians, including two guest artists from San
Francisco. A vocal quintet, two violinists, organ, and viola da gamba
will perform works by Bach, Johann Hermann Schein, Samuel Scheidt,
Heinrich Schütz, Dietrich Buxtehude, and others, including selections
from Bach's Christmas Oratorio and settings of German Advent and
Christmas songs that are still sung today.
Utopia’s
founders, Emily Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) team
up with Valerie Hart Nelson (mezzo-soprano), Tyler Nelson (tenor), Ricky
Parkinson (bass), Leslie Henrie (violin), Rebekah Blackner (violin),
Jonathan Rhodes-Lee (organ), Christopher Wootton (organ), and Josh Lee
(viola da gamba) for a lush baroque sonority.
Harp of Éire: Six Centuries of Irish MusicMarch 8, 8:00 PM at Holy
Family Catholic Church, South Ogden Saturday, March 9, 8:00
PM Sunday, March 10, 5:00 PM
Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Salt Lake City
Celtic harp, fiddle, and flute lead listeners on a journey from the
earliest Irish chant to favorite nineteenth-century ballads. Utopia’s founders,
Emily Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) are joined by Antona
Yost (mezzo-soprano), Ricky Parkinson (bass), Lisa Chaufty (flute &
recorder), Bronwen Beecher (fiddle), and Therese
Honey (Celtic harp)
for a sparkling frolic through six hundred years of Irish music. From the tuneful to
the tearful, this nation’s beautiful tradition has the power to lift the
spirits and stir the soul. In addition to familiar nineteenth-century
favorites like “Danny Boy,” we present little-heard songs from the
fourteenth-century Dublin Troper, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century harp tunes, and twenty-first century
settings of traditional Irish texts.
The Morning Trumpet: American Medieval Friday and Saturday, May
10 and 11, 8:00 PM at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Salt Lake City
British settlers came to
the New World to escape the Old but unknowingly recreated the sounds of their
ancestors. Folk duo Otter Creek helps Utopia explore the parallels between
early American, medieval, and Renaissance music. Utopia’s founders, Emily
Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) are joined by Valerie
Hart-Nelson (mezzo-soprano), Ricky Parkinson (bass), Mary Danzig (fiddle), and
Peter Danzig (mandolin, guitar, banjo, and mountain dulcimer) for an evening of
robust frontier tunes and their older European cousins. Hear songs by William
Billings (the first named Anglo-American composer), ballads of the French and
Indian Wars, Sacred Harp tunes, and Gospel and folk favorites like “Wayfaring
Stranger” alongside monastic chant, Notre Dame polyphony, and the exquisite
interweavings of Dunstaple, Byrd, and Palestrina. The family resemblance may
surprise you! Emily Nelson, soprano and Christopher LeCluyse, tenor
with Valerie Hart Nelson, mezzo-soprano • Ricky Parkinson, bass
Mary Danzig, fiddle • Peter Danzig, mandolin, guitar & banjo
2011-2012
Istanpitta: Chevrefoil
Monday, September 12, 7:30 PM
Vieve Gore Recital Hall
Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory
Westminster College
1700 S 1200 E, Salt Lake City
Utopia
joins the nationally touring medieval ensemble Istanpitta to
recount the adventures of the heroic knight Tristan and his ill-fated
love for the beautiful Irish princess Isolde. "Chevrefoil" brings to
life the version of this story told by Marie de France, whose
French-language poetry circulated in England a century after the Norman
Conquest. Songs and dances from three centuries depict the passion,
intrigue, and sorrow of this timeless story.
Utopia's
Emiy Nelson, soprano, and Christopher LeCluyse, tenor, join some of the
most skilled interpreters of medieval music: Tom Zajac,
wind instruments; Al Cofrin, medieval lute; Shulamit Kleinerman, vielle;
Therese Honey, harp; and Peter Maund, percussion.
Flor de Navidad: Music of Old and New Spain
Friday, December 9, 8:00 PM
Erbin Hall Oratory
Madeleine Choir School
Saturday, December 10, 5:30 PM
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
4615 S 3200 W, West Valley City
Sunday, December 11, 5:00 PM
Erbin Hall Oratory
When Spain’s ships landed in the Americas, the encounter would change both Spain and the New World forever. The blending of European, Native American, and African cultures can be heard today in everything from salsa music and reggaeton to the famous habanera from Bizet’s *Carmen*. “Flor de Navidad” marks the beginning of that mixture, celebrating the Christmas season with exhilarating dance songs from Mexico and Guatemala, choral works written in the language of the Aztecs, and a mysterious duet from the Spanish cathedral of Zaragoza. These works are as genuine and personal as they are pleasing,
expressing the union of the human and the divine. This concert is supported by a generous grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council and will feature spoken explanations and program notes in both Spanish and English.
Friday, March 2, 8:00 PM
Holy Family Catholic Church
1100 E 5550 S, South Ogden
Saturday, March 3, 8:00 PM
Erbin Hall Oratory
Madeleine Choir School
Sunday, March 4, 5:00 PM
Erbin Hall Oratory
The
Black Death, the Hundred Years War, floods, famine and a
prolonged economic slump shaped life in14th century Europe, sparking
peasant rebellion and urban riot. Little wonder that French composers
sought control in a “New Art” that opened music to heights of complexity
and expression. A breath of fresh air to some and a scandal to others,
this daring new style joyfully wrung out the full range of rhythms made
possible by the latest notation. At its apex was the great French poet
and composer Guillaume de Machaut. Meanwhile in northern Italy,
composers like Francesco Landini and Johannes Ciconia followed on the
age of Dante with their own take on the new style. “Love’s Sanctuary”
revels in the tuneful, refined and fascinatingly avant-garde textures of
this boldly experimental period, showing how the old can sound new.
Generous Beauty: A Musical Tour of Baroque Italy Friday, May 11, 8:00 PM Sunday, May 13, 5:00 PM St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Salt Lake City
Utopia
Early Music finishes its third season with “Generous Beauty: A Musical
Tour of Baroque Italy.” Join us on our romantic Italian adventure—a
musical treat for Mother’s Day weekend!
“Generous
Beauty” tours Italy in time and space, bringing you the early
innovations of Monteverdi and his contemporaries—including women
composers Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi—as well as the late
baroque sounds of Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti, Giovanni
Battista Pergolesi, and Antonio Vivaldi. Discover Italy’s gift to the
world in the passion, playfulness, and sensuality of this music.
Utopia’s
founders, Emily Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse (tenor) team
up with Tyler Nelson (tenor), Ricky Parkinson (bass), Lisa Chaufty
(recorder), Pamela Palmer Jones (harpsichord), and Frances von Seggern
Bach (viola da gamba) for a lush baroque sonority.
2010-2011 What Fright'ning Noise is This? Friday, October 29 8:00PM Sunday, October 31 5:00PM St Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Salt Lake City
All Hallows' Eve approaches. The veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest. You find yourself in a Gothic cathedral
by flickering candlelight. A ghostly figure appears before you
and begins to keen …. Purcell! Utopia’s second season gets off to a spine-tingling start with a program of Baroque music
celebrating the ghostly, the ghoulish, and the macabre. Pieces include Henry
Purcell’s “Bess of Bedlam” and music from The Indian Queen, Antonio Soler’s diabolical Sonata No. 15 in D minor, and Marin Marais’
musical presentation of a gallbladder operation.
Please join us for this celebration of spookiness, featuring
Emily Nelson, soprano, Christopher LeCluyse, tenor, Nelson LeDuc,
baritone,
Lisa Chaufty, recorder, Pam Jones, harpsichord, Christopher
Wootton, organ, Frances Bach, viola da gamba, and extra-special guest,
Vicki Boekman, who is flying to us (perhaps on a broomstick?) from
Seattle to play recorder.
Lily in Winter: A Medieval Christmas Friday, December 3, 8:00 PM St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Salt Lake City Saturday, December 4, 7:00 PM Holy Family Catholic Church, South Ogden Sunday, December 5, 7:00 PM St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Salt Lake City Find
refuge from the ugly sweaters and animatronic snowmen of the season in
the passion and depth of medieval music. Our program spans over five
centuries, varying in texture from Gregorian chant to rollicking English
carols. Gothic harp, medieval fiddle, and percussion join Utopia's
voices to create a soundscape of beautiful intensity. Readings from
medieval mystics including Julian of Norwich and Meister Eckhart frame
these festive and moving works.
Emily
Nelson, soprano; Valerie Hart-Nelson, contralto; Christopher LeCluyse,
tenor; Therese Honey, Gothic harp; Shulamit Kleinerman, vielle; Nick
Foster, percussion
Flowers of Edinburgh: Five Centuries
of Scottish Music Friday, February 25, 8:00 PM, and Sunday, February 27, 5:00
PM, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City, Utah. The windswept moors and crags of
Scotland have long yielded some of the tenderest flowers of the British musical
tradition. From spritely airs to mournful laments, Scottish music charms
listeners with its tuneful melodies. This program is unusual in its scope as we
stride the centuries from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. Sources
range from thirteenth-century Orkney to Renaissance lute song collections,
baroque settings of Scottish tunes by Francesco Geminiani, and the
nineteenth-century Scots Musical Museum, compiled by Scotland’s favorite son,
Robert Burns. Pieces include toe-tapping reels and elegant trio sonatas,
sentimental love songs, chilling murder ballads, and even a sixteenth-century sales
pitch by itinerant plow salesmen.
Utopia co‐founders Emily Nelson (soprano) and Christopher LeCluyse
(tenor) are joined by local musicians Lisa Chaufty (recorder), Pam Jones
(harpsichord), Frances von Seggern Bach (viola da gamba and cello), Cynthia
Douglass (Celtic harp) and Michael Lucarelli (guitar).
That's What She Said: Saucy Songs of the 17th Century Friday, May 27, 8:00 PM Saturday, May 28, 8:00 PM Salt Lake Recital Hall We
Utopians strive for musical refinement, noble emotions, and the
flawless delivery of obscure texts. But sometimes we just want a good
laugh. That is why we are breaking out some of our favorites of the
English language, with special attention to the adventurous, the
narrative, and yes, the bawdy. Pieces will include Renaissance
madrigals, ballads, catches, and songs of wit and mirth by Henry Purcell
and his contemporaries. A WORD OF ADVICE: Hire a sitter for the little
ones, unless you wish to explain a few things to them after the
concert. Emily Nelson, soprano; Christopher LeCluyse, tenor; Mitchell Sturges, tenor; Lisa Chaufty, recorder; David Walker, lute
2009-2010
The Flawed Pearl:Music of the English and Italian Baroque Pieces range from rousing satire to deepest tragedy, including some of the catchiest tunes in the repertory!
Emily
Nelson (soprano), Christopher LeCluyse (tenor), Miyo Aoki (recorder),
Jonathan Oddie (harpsichord) and Polly Gibson (viola da gamba).
Friday, Sept. 11 at 8:00PM
Sunday, Sept. 13 at 5:00PM
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
231 East 100 South, Salt Lake City
The Siren and the Nightingale: French Medieval Meets Folk.
An
iridescent panther with sweet breath. An enchanted maiden clothed in
leaves and flowers. These creatures, born hundreds of years ago in the
French imagination, are carried to us through the mists of time by
haunting music. Hear the story of a lady rescued from peril, and
another whose lover was killed in a joust. Come and tap your toe to an
ancient tune and let your imagination dance in the autumn night!
Saturday, November 7, 8:00 PM and Sunday, November 8 , 5:00 PM at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral
Emily
Nelson, soprano, Christopher LeCluyse, tenor, Shulamit Kleinerman,
vielle, Bronwen Beecher, fiddle, Peter Maund and Nick Foster,
percussion.
Our
concert will trace American music from colonial beginnings all the way
across the Rocky Mountains into our own Salt Lake Valley. This
music contains the purest religion, the tenderest love and the most
bloodcurdling violence that early music has to offer. Some of it is
funny, too!
Saturday, February 5, 2010 8:00 PM Sunday, February 7, 2010 5:00 PM
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
231 East 100, Salt Lake City Emily Nelson, soprano, Christopher LeCluyse, tenor, Catherine Coda, mezzo-soprano, Nelson LeDuc, baritone, Bronwen Beecher, fiddle, Nick Foster, guitar.
The
Baroque was born amid the clamor of the Reformation and
Counter-Reformation. Believers seeking a more immediate experience of
the divine poured their passion into music. Set amid the reflective
season of Lent, this concert journeys into the dark night of the soul
confronted with mortality and mystery. Selections include François
Couperin’s haunting Leçons de ténèbres along with works by Buxtehude, Schütz, Legrenzi, and Rigatti.
Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Rebecca Hample, soprano • Catherine Coda, soprano • Matthew Bryner, baritone
Lisa Chaufty, recorder • Vanessa Bridge, recorder • Jennifer Streeter, organ and harpsichord • Leslie Richards, viola da gamba
Friday, March 12,
2010 8:00 PM, Holy Family Catholic
Church, South Ogden Saturday, March
13, 2010 8:00 PM, Sunday, March 14,
2010 5:00 PM, St. Mark's Episcopal
Cathedral,
Salt Lake City
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