A single work - James DeMar's' "An American Requiem" - will be featured on the next Tanner Gift of Music concerts Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1 and 2, in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
Performing on the free 7:30 p.m. program will be the Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir, directed by the composer.DeMars also conducted the work when it was performed by the Tabernacle Choir last August at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center - a performance now available on CD and cassette on the new Bonneville Worldwide Entertainment label.
The Tanner Gift of Music concerts will be the 75-minute work's first complete public performances in Utah.
Soloists for the November performances will be soprano Audrey Luna, mezzo-soprano Linda Childs, tenor Robert Breault and the renowned bass-baritone Simon Estes, all of whom likewise took part in the Kennedy Center performances.
A native of Minnesota, DeMars is on the Arizona State University music faculty. He is also founder/ director of the Taos Chamber Ensemble. Written in 1993, "An American Requiem" was commissioned by the Art Renaissance Foundation.
The concerts are made possible by an endowment grant from the late Obert C. Tanner, his widow, Grace, and the O.C. Tanner Co., noted Elder Henry B. Eyring, chairman of the Tanner Gift of Music Committee.
Free reserved-seat tickets will be made available in October on a first-come, first-served basis, with ticket distribution points to be announced later.