Among Utah's numerous community orchestras, the Taylorsville Symphony is by far the youngest.
Founded last year, the orchestra is set to celebrate its first anniversary Saturday with a concert of works by J.S. Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Elgar. There will also be selections from Richard Rodgers' "The Sound of Music."
"The heavier works are for the orchestra and the lighter pieces are for the audience," said Richard Brunson, the orchestra's 33-year-old music director. "You have to think of them, too."
Brunson has been with the orchestra from its start. When the city of Taylorsville, under Mayor Janice Auger's initiative, announced its decision to sponsor its own orchestra in January 2003, Brunson applied and was appointed music director. They gave their first concert in May 2003.
As with any new music organization, the Taylorsville Symphony has experienced its share of growing pains. "We're still growing," Brunson said. "In the last year, we had several people who played with us for awhile and then decided not to stick with it. Right now we have about 35 to 40 musicians, depending on what we're playing. We have a core membership of dedicated musicians, but we would like to have more."
Brunson said that the orchestra is made up of a wide range of people and ages. "We have a good mix of players. Our principal bassoon, Ryan Van Liere, studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, and our concertmaster, Pablo Alfaro, is a former member of the Mexico City Philharmonic. We have a lot of music teachers, and some of the others played in high school or college."
Brunson has a background in both instrumental music and in conducting. He took up the French horn when he was 13 and began conducting when he entered Brigham Young University. There, he played the French horn in the Philharmonic and in the Chamber Orchestra. He studied choral conducting with Mack Wilberg and instrumental conducting with Clyn Barrus. Brunson received his master's degree in orchestral conducting from BYU in 1998.
Brunson was born in Virginia but grew up in Taylorsville, where he makes his home with his wife, Mika, and their two children. For the past six years, he's been teaching instrumental music at Alta High School in Sandy.
He has plans for the orchestra and sees a bright future. "As they continue to play together, we can do more difficult things." But as far as programming goes, adding more works to their repertoire depends to a large degree on expanding the orchestra. "It's difficult finding the right works. Right now we don't have a regular brass section, and we need to fill out the strings.
"We have devoted members who enjoy playing in the orchestra. There are a lot of community orchestras in Utah, so the area is pretty saturated. But as word gets out about our orchestra, I hope we can get more people to join us."
Saturday's program includes Bach's Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin, with Alfaro and principal oboe Wendy Langeberg; Mozart's overture to "The Magic Flute;" Haydn's Symphony No. 104 in D major, "London;" Elgar's "Nimrod" Variation from the "Enigma" Variations; and selections from "The Sound of Music," arranged by Robert Russell Bennett.
If you go ...
What: Taylorsville Symphony
Where: Taylorsville High School, 5225 S. Redwood Road
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
How much: Free
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com