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ELEVATED
CONCERT SERIES
PREMIERE CONCERT EXPERIENCES, WORLDWIDE
CHANTICLEER INVITATIONAL
MARCH 11, 2024
Location: Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Participating Ensembles: Clearfield Choir, Springville Choir, PGHS Choir and American Fork Choir
RIVERSIDE CHURCH, NYC
MARCH 17, 2024
Participating Ensembles: SHHS Choirs, SHHS Bands, SHHS Orchestra
ST PAUL THE APOSTLE CHURCH, NYC
MARCH 18, 2024
SALEM HILLS HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR
Salem Hills High School opened its doors in 2008 to a community of 10th, 11th, and 12th graders from the Salem, Payson, Elk Ridge, Woodland Hills, and West Mountain areas of Utah. Under the direction of Justin Bills (Brigham Young University ‘08, ‘13) since 2008, the Salem Hills choral program consists of nearly 200 student singers making up 5 separate choruses: Concert Choir, Singers, Serendipity (an advanced Women’s Chorus), Men’s Camerata, and Women’s Chorale.
Since 2008, the choirs have performed across the United States in the Hollywood Bowl, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, St. James Cathedral in Seattle, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Our Lady of Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles, and in Carnegie Hall in New York City.
In October 2018, the SHHS Singers were invited to be a featured choir for the Conference of the Utah Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Then in March 2020, they were honored to be able to sing in the Western Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association.
CONDUCTORS
JUSTIN BILLS
Justin is the Director of Choirs at Salem Hills High School, a position he’s held since 2008. His choirs have been invited to and have sung nationwide in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, The National Cathedral, Libby Gardner Hall, and the DeJong Concert Hall. In March 2020, Justin had the distinct honor of conducting the Salem Hills High School Singers at the Western Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Salt Lake City. He received both Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Music from BYU. Justin conducted choirs for the Saturday evening Sessions of the October 2011 and April 2013 General Conferences of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Justin is also an actor and music director at the Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy and the Hale Center Theater in Orem. His favorite credits include Titanic the Musical, A Tale of Two Cities, The Secret Garden, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes, Daddy Long Legs, Hello Dolly, Peter and the Starcatcher, Into the Woods, The Drowsy Chaperone, Les Misérables, Fiddler on the Roof, In the Heights, and Big River. Justin and his amazingly talented wife, Cecily live with their two sons Clark and Wyatt in Salem.
RYAN ADAIR
Before coming to Salem Hills High School, Mr. Adair spent four years as the Director of Bands at Desert Hills High and Middle Schools in St. George, Utah, as well as serving on Salem Hills' Marching Band staff for eight years. Throughout his teaching career he has instructed marching, percussion, jazz, and concert ensembles, and has had various opportunities to work as an arranger/composer. Ryan earned his Bachelor of Music with an Emphasis in Commercial Music from Snow College, and his Master of Music in Music Technology from Southern Utah University. Ryan regularly gigs professionally as a trombonist in the pop, jazz, classical and novelty ensembles, including party bands, concert bands and polka bands across the state of Utah. Ryan and his wife Caitlyn, have two sons - Hunter (4) and Levi (born April 2021).
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA INVITATIONAL
APRIL 12, 2024
LOCATION: SVU, LEXINBURG, VA
Participating Ensembles: Westlake HS Band, American Fork HS Orchestra
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UTAH
CHAMBER CHOIR TOUR
MAY 7-MAY 23, 2024
LOCATION: CROATIA + ITALY
Exact concert times and locations TBD
The University of Utah Chamber Choir was established in 2010 under its present director, Dr. Barlow Bradford. The choir has become renowned for its beauty of sound and refined musicianship, producing memorable and meaningful performances year after year. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Chamber Choir presents an annual season of four concerts and performs for university and community events. Over the past decade, the choir has toured across the continental U.S., Hawaii, Canada, Costa Rica, Spain, France, China, and Taiwan. In 2014, they garnered international acclaim by winning the Grand Prix de la Ville de Tours. After returning in 2015 to participate in the championship round, they secured the European Grand Prize, regarded as the “world cup” of amateur choral musicianship. In 2020, the choir was selected to perform for the Western ACDA Conference held in Salt Lake City. In 2022, they commissioned the world premiere of “The 42 Project”, a work commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s Major League Baseball integration. The U of U Chamber Choir is known for performing varied repertoire, and they have had the privilege of commissioning and presenting world premieres of choral works by composers such as Eric Barnum, Stephan Paulus, Christopher Bradford, and Ēriks Ešenvalds. In 2015, they were invited to perform at Abravanel Hall with the Utah Symphony as the featured choir for the American Choral Directors Association National Conference where they sang the world premiere of Ešenvalds' "Whispers on a Prairie Wind." Countless recordings of the group are accessible on their YouTube channel, "University of Utah Choirs." The U Chamber Choir is not exclusive to students pursuing studies in music and celebrates the diverse endeavors of its members. Any student who exhibits advanced vocal skill and musicianship—as well as an outstanding dedication to the art of choral singing—is eligible to participate. Auditions are held every year and acceptance is considered a year-long commitment and includes a choral performance scholarship.
Over the course of his extraordinary musical career, Dr. Barlow Bradford has distinguished himself as a conductor, composer, arranger, pianist, organist, and teacher. As an orchestral and choral conductor, he co-founded the Utah Chamber Artists in 1991 and has led that organization to international acclaim for its impeccable, nuanced performances and award-winning recordings including an INDIE from NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors & Manufacturers) for the CD "Welcome All Wonders," released in 1996 on the BWE label.
Utah Chamber Artists was featured on NPR's "The First Art," a program dedicated to choral music and performed as a featured ensemble with the Boston Pops and Utah Symphony. Under his baton, Utah Chamber Artists also toured Israel with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, performed as the guest choir at the American Choral Directors Association national convention, and joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on their national television broadcast. Dr. Bradford's focused, energetic conducting style led to his appointment as music director of the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City and associate director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Prior to that, he was director of orchestras at the University of Utah.
His compositions and arrangements have garnered much attention for their innovation and dramatic scope, from delicate, transparent intimacy to epic grandeur. His most recent composition, "From the Fowl's Perspective," received its world premiere when presented to an elated audience during a performance by the Honolulu Symphony in October 2005. Many of Bradford's arrangements have been recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and performed regularly by such noted ensembles as the Dallas Symphony Chorus, New York Choral Artists, and the Utah Chamber Artists. His music has been recorded on Telarc, Clarion, Bonneville, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir labels. A full CD of his exuberant arrangements of Christmas Carols, "Joyous Day," featuring the Utah Chamber Artists, is on the Clarion label.
Dr. Bradford's performance career began in his early teens when he won numerous competitions in both organ and piano performance, including the National Young Artists Competition and the Utah Symphony Salute to Youth. He soloed on both instruments with the Utah Symphony and has concertized throughout England and North America. Still a much sought-after recitalist, he combines technical virtuosity and deep musical sensitivity to create memorable musical experiences for audience and performers alike.
As a teacher, Dr. Bradford taught courses in music theory, conducting, arranging, composition, private piano and organ at the University of Utah and Brigham Young University Hawaii. He received his doctorate of musical arts from the University of Southern California, where he was awarded the Kodolfsky Graduate Fellowship, the Music Faculty endowed Scholarship, the Leo Podolsky Piano Performance Award, the Mary Van Lear Memorial Scholarship, and was voted by the faculty as "Most Outstanding Student" in both conducting and keyboard collaborative arts. He studied conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival and received bachelor of music in piano performance from the University of Utah. His teachers and mentors include Gustav Meier, Daniel Lewis, Nina Svetlanova, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Gladys Gladstone, Lennox Larsen and Robert Cundick.
CANTORUM CHAMBER CHOIR TOUR
June 20-28, 2024
Location: Croatia and Italy
Exact concert times and locations TBD