Broadway singer and opera soprano Lisa Vroman has performed all over the world, but says, “Who wouldn’t want to go back to beautiful Utah? You never forget the first time you fly in and you’re in the basin and you see mountains all around you.”
An alumna of the State University of New York and Carnegie Mellon University, Vroman has starred in a number of operatic and musical roles since her 1990 Broadway debut in "Aspects of Love." Now she’s bringing her talents back to the Deer Valley Music Festival for the fifth time as she kicks off its 14th season in Park City on July 1, joining the Utah Symphony for the “Patriotic Celebration” concert at Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheatre at 7:30 p.m. The festival goes until Aug. 5 and includes 12 performances at the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheatre and four chamber concerts at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church.
This year’s lineup includes The Beach Boys (July 8), Leslie Odom Jr. (July 15), “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Concert” (July 22) and Beethoven and Haydn (July 26) among others. With the exception of Diana Krall’s performance (July 21), the Utah Symphony will perform with or be the principal artists at each concert. A full lineup, along with times and ticket sales ($15 for youths, $36 general admission), can be found on the Deer Valley Music Festival website.
Vroman said Utah offers the perfect outdoor venue for a patriotic concert.
“The view is spectacular in Utah, and outdoor venues are just such a joy,” she said. “… I can’t imagine a more beautiful setting for this piece. I think it needs to be sung all over the place.”
That piece is “A Letter from Sullivan Ballou,” an operatic song set to the words of a real-life Civil War letter that will be featured in Vroman's upcoming performance. In 1861, Sullivan Ballou was a 32-year-old public servant, according to pbs.org. When war broke out, he joined the Rhode Island Militia, leaving behind his 24-year-old wife Sarah and their two young sons. On July 14, 1861, a week before the First Battle of Bull Run, Ballou penned a heartbreakingly beautiful letter to his wife, professing that “my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break. … If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you.”
Ballou was killed in the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. The letter was never mailed (and Sarah never remarried), but it was found among Ballou’s personal belongings after the battle and several copies were made, though the original was lost. And in 1999, composer John Kander published a composition that set Ballou's letter to music, which Vroman is now performing with the Utah Symphony.
“(The song is) about being away and being in war and how he’s feeling, and (he’s) saying all of those things to his wife if he doesn’t make it, so it’s just an amazing, poignant letter,” Vroman said. “Beautifully written. The words are gorgeous. … A lot of times we do the same music on these patriotic concerts, but this is a unique little gift.”
Another “unique little gift” of the festival is how it brings families together and allows them to experience new kinds of music, Vroman said.
“I love the fact that so many people can come with their families and sit on the hill and really just enjoy each other and hear live music,” Vroman said. “That is the key to everything … maybe (people will) be interested in coming (to the symphony) from here on out if they get a chance to experience it, especially with their families.”
Vroman also said it’s important for children to experience music.
“Let kids watch the orchestra,” she said. “… We see (some kids) up the hill, standing and conducting and jumping and dancing, and it’s great for them to be inspired by the music. That’s a beautiful thing.”
If you go …
What: The Deer Valley Music Festival
Where: Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater and St. Mary's Church
When: July 1 to Aug. 5
Admission: $15 youths (ages 8-18), $36 general admission
Web: www.deervalleymusicfestival.org
Kaitlyn Bancroft is a communications major in the news media emphasis at Brigham Young University. Currently she interns at the Deseret News in the Arts and Entertainment section. Email her at kbancroft@deseretnews.com