Concert Archive
2023-2024
In Color: Western Medieval Meets Raga
Musical ideas have been exchanged between the Eastern and Western worlds since the days of the Silk Road, when music, instruments, and ideas traveled along with traded goods between China, India, Europe, and the Middle East. In this program, we will uncover ancient connections between very different musical styles and create new ones.
Joining forces with Hindustani raga musicians, we will place European Medieval songs side by side with North Indian classical ragas, with musicians from both traditions working together on new collaborations. Our musical pairings will be based on similarities of musical scale or emotional tone, with creative improvisation. These two musical styles go together surprisingly well: both styles are rooted in melodic line and drone (instead of chords), both styles use unusual musical scales, and both were heavily influenced by Persian music. Raga singer Soma Sarkar Preciado and tabla player Debanjan Bhattacharya will perform with soprano Emily Nelson and visiting artists, Medieval fiddle player Niccolo Seligmann and Persian flute specialist Kelariz Keshavarz.
This concert is made possible in part by a generous grant from The Salt Lake City Arts Council.
Saturday, October 14, 7:30 PM
Sunday, October 15, 5:00 PM
Emily Nelson, voice & tanpura • Soma Sarkar Preciado, voice & harmonium • Niccolo Seligmann, vielle • Kelariz Keshavarz, flute • Debanjan Bhattacharjee, tabla
Celtic Christmas
Utopia celebrates the holidays by bringing back our Celtic favorites! The program features songs and instrumentals in a solstice mode from Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Fiddlers, harp, bodhrán and flute join a vocal quartet to span the full range of the season, from festive reels to winter lullabies. Hear Medieval chant, songs from Renaissance Scotland, Irish and Welsh carols, and rollicking jigs and reels.
Saturday, December 3, 7:30 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, December 4, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Monica Hyman, alto • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Ricky Parkinson, bass
Bronwen Beecher, fiddle • Ben Spigle, Irish flute
Therese Honey, Celtic harp • Eleanor Christman, cello • Cindy Spigle, bodhrán
Menagerie: Beasts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
There is no shortage of creatures that slither, swoop, and pad through the pages of ancient music! Gothic harp, recorder, and Medieval hurdy-gurdy join a vocal quartet to celebrate the gentle lamb, the loyal hound, the glorious phoenix, and the industrious silkworm, to name a few. With Medieval chant and trouvère song, jolly Renaissance madrigals, and delicate ars subtilior textures, our concert will revel in the chirps, bahs and rustlings of the animal world. Recommended age 7+
Saturday, February 10, 7:30 PM
Sunday, February 11, 5:00 PM
Emily Nelson, soprano • Mandi Barrus, mezzo-soprano • Elijah Hancock, tenor • Yvette Gilgen, bass • Lisa Chaufty, Baroque flute • Haruhito Miyagi, Medieval hurdy-gurdy • Therese Honey, Gothic harp
Ein Keloheinu: The Life and Music of Salamone Rossi
In collaboration with Renaissance violinist Shulamit Kleinerman, our concert highlights composer Salamone Rossi, whose Jewish faith gives us a fascinating glimpse of how religious life dictated professional and social mobility in 15th century Italy. A quartet of voices, two violins, harpsichord, and cello complete this evening of Rossi's brilliant and varied works. The concert will include primary source readings and descriptions about what life was like for a minority-culture composer and performer working in Italy at the dawn of the Baroque era.
Saturday, April 6, 7:30 PM
Sunday, April 7, 5:00 PM
Emily Nelson, soprano • Monica Hymas, mezzo-soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Yvette Gilgen, bass • Shulamit Kleinerman, violin • Micah Fleming, violin • Pamela Palmer Jones, harpsichord • Eleanor Christman, baroque cello
2022-2023
Echoes of Old Gods: Music from the Fringes of Europe
Utopia revisits one of our favorite programs of medieval works from northern and eastern Europe, featuring works from Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia, Finland, Ukraine, and other cultures of eastern Europe and northern Africa. Shulamit Kleinerman (vielle) and Therese Honey (Gothic harp) join a trio of voices to bring this hauntingly beautiful and rarely heard music to life.
Saturday, October 8, 7:30 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, October 9, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Nate Pence, countertenor
Therese Honey, Gothic harp • Shulamit Kleinerman, vielle
Celtic Christmas
View Celtic Christmas on YouTube
Utopia celebrates the holidays by bringing back our Celtic favorites! The program features songs and instrumentals in a solstice mode from Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Fiddlers, harp, bodhrán and flute join a vocal quartet to span the full range of the season, from festive reels to winter lullabies. Hear Medieval chant, songs from Renaissance Scotland, Irish and Welsh carols, and rollicking jigs and reels.
Saturday, December 3, 7:30 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, December 4, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Nate Pence, countertenor • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Ricky Parkinson, bass
Bronwen Beecher, fiddle • Mary Louise Otterstrom, fiddle • Ben Spigle, Irish flute
Therese Honey, Celtic harp • Eleanor Christman Cox, cello • Cindy Spigle, bodhrán
Written on the Wind
View Written on the Wind on YouTube
With spring in the air, Utopia brings an intimate evening of music for flute, recorder, and that other wind instrument: the voice. Our program explores the shared human emotions of desire, excitement, and insecurity brought on as we emerge from the grip of winter once again. And, oh yes, there will be birds! Our program features works by Purcell, Quantz, Boismortier, and more.
Saturday, April 1, 7:30 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, April 2, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor
Lisa Chaufty, Baroque flute • Rachel Webb, Baroque flute
Kevin Payne, theorbo • Eleanor Christman Cox, Baroque cello
Alternate Routes: Diverse Stories of the Italian Baroque
View Alternate Routes on YouTube
Join Utopia to explore the worlds of composers and performers from diverse walks of life in Baroque Italy at the dawn of opera. The concert will feature showstopping vocal works by Barbara Strozzi, Claudio Monteverdi, and selections from early opera, such as Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggerio. We will also highlight works written by Antonio Vivaldi for orphaned violin virtuosas that he taught at the Ospedale della Pieta, as well as works by Salmone Rossi, Isabella Leonarda, Vincente Lusitano, and more. Dr. Jane Hatter, Professor of Music History at The University of Utah, will offer a pre-concert talk 30 minutes before each performance. This concert is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council.
Saturday, May 20, 7:30 PM (pre-concert talk at 7:00 PM)
Sunday, May 21, 5:00 PM (pre-concert talk at 4:30 PM )
Emily Nelson, soprano • Melissa Heath, soprano • Nate Pence, countertenor • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Elijah Hancock, tenor • Yvette Gilgen, bass
Alex Woods, violin • Aubrey Woods, violin
Bill Simms, theorbo • Loren Carle, harpsichord • Eleanor Christman Cox, baroque cello
2021-2022
What Fright'ning Noise is This?: A Baroque Halloween
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 return gets off to a spine-tingling start with a program of Baroque music celebrating the ghostly, the ghoulish, and the macabre.
Saturday, October 16, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, October 17, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • Yvette Gilgen, bass
Micah Fleming, baroque violin • Jeffrey Smith, baroque violin • Loren Carle, harpsichord • Eleanor Christman Cox, baroque cello
Lily in Winter: A Medieval Christmas
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.
Saturday, December 4, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, December 5, 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
Call of the Sea
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.
Saturday, March 5, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, March 6, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • John Bergquist, baritone • Ricky Parkinson, bass
Mary Louise Otterstrom, fiddle • Mandy Danzig, mandolin, mountain dulcimer, and banjo
Poignant Pleasures: Music of the French Baroque
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.
Saturday, May 21, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, May 22, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Emily Nelson, soprano • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor
Alex Woods, violin • Aubrey Woods, violin
Adam Cockerham, theorbo • Loren Carle, harpsichord • Eleanor Christman Cox, baroque cello
2019-2020
Menagerie: Beasts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Saturday, October 12, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, October 13, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Admission: Pay as able (suggested $15 general / $12 senior / $10 student)
Emily Nelson, soprano • Nate Pence, countertenor • Christopher LeCluyse, tenor • John Bergquist, bass
Therese Honey, Gothic harp • Lisa Chaufty, recorder and flute
There is no shortage of creatures that slither, swoop, and pad through the pages of ancient music! Gothic harp and recorder join a vocal quartet to celebrate the gentle lamb, the loyal hound, the glorious phoenix, and the industrious silkworm, to name a few. With Medieval chant and trouvère song, jolly Renaissance madrigals, and delicate ars subtilior textures, our concert will revel in the chirps, bahs and rustlings of the animal world.
A Celtic Christmas
Saturday, December 21, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, December 22, 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 • Ricky Parkinson, bass
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.
Fortune's Wheel: The Extraordinary Life of Christine de Pizan
Saturday, March 14, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, March 15, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
Admission: Pay as able (suggested $15 general / $12 senior / $10 student)
Emily Nelson, soprano • Nate Pence, countertenor• Christopher LeCluyse, tenor, John Bergquist, bass
Rotem Gilbert, Renaissance reeds and winds • Lisa Chaufty, recorder
Therese Honey, Gothic harp • Peter Maund, percussion
Christine de Pizan was an intellectual pioneer at the dawn of the Renaissance. An early feminist and humanist, she started conversations that still ripple through our daily lives. Using music and spoken translations of Christine's writings, our concert will give an entertaining and eye-opening overview of her life, times, and creative work. Medieval lute, percussion, and recorder join a vocal quartet for this lively celebration of International Women’s History Month.
This concert is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council.
2018-2019
World Turned Upside Down: Early Music of the U.S. & Canada
Saturday, September 22, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
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 Loss
Saturday, 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
Utopia Early Music and the newly formed Utopia Chamber Singers present Ockeghem’s Requiem, the earliest polyphonic setting of the mass for the dead, alongside works by his students and contemporaries. Voices weave a tapestry of shifting sounds in works that pay tribute to lost loved ones and seek solace through music. Secular pieces offer a lighter counterpoint to this meditative music.
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
A
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, tenor
Alex 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.
2016-2017
The 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....
A Celtic Christmas
Saturday, December 17, 8:00 PM Cathedral Church of St. Mark
Sunday, December 18, 5:00 PM 231 E 100 S, Salt Lake City
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
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 City
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 Baroque
Saturday, 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
Call of the Sea
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)
A Celtic Christmas
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 Brahms
Monday, 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.
Baroque Winds
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 Music
March 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 Emily 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.
Love's Sanctuary: New Music of the Fourteenth Century
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.
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.
The American Muse
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.
Sacred Darkness
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