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Utah Symphony Premieres New Music to Celebrate Anniversary

Courtesy of the Utah Symphony

This weekend the Utah Symphony will perform and record the world premiere of music it commissioned to celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary.

Augusta Read Thomas composed a special piece of music for the orchestra she titled EOS, Goddess of the Dawn, named after the Greek deity.

“So this composition paints that picture. You have a very quiet beginning like the sun is rising, and then you start to hear the birds of the morning flickering through the different instruments of the orchestra, and before you know it you’re in an absolutely full blazing high-noon sunshine moment,” said Thomas.

Utah Symphony music director Thierry Fischer says he is delighted to work alongside Thomas this week as the orchestra fine-tunes the piece.

“She wrote a beautiful piece of music which is making us work really hard. It’s not easy. But challenges are motivating,” said Fischer.

EOS is the first of three commissions by contemporary American composers.  The Utah Symphony will release recordings of all three works in conjunction with its tour to Carnegie Hall in New York City next Spring. The Utah Symphony will perform the world premiere of EOS on Friday and Saturday at 8 PM at Abravanel Hall.  

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