SALT LAKE CITY — Hours of practice and perfection culminated in one special performance during the 58th annual Salute to Youth concert Tuesday featuring 10 of Utah’s best young musicians performing alongside the Utah Symphony.
"The talent on display tonight was amazing. It's such an honor and a pleasure for the Deseret News to sponsor this event," said Doug Wilks, editor of the Deseret News. "We know the hard work and practice it takes to perform at such a level. The future is bright for each of the students."
The newspaper has sponsored the event since the concert’s inaugural year.
The evening began with Sabrina Allen, 13, who seemed to stir the audience with her introductory piano performance alongside the Utah Symphony. Her graceful movements suggested pure passion and delight throughout her performance of the third and fourth movements of Weber’s Konzertstück in F minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 79.
Rachel Call, 15, and Sanne Christensen, 16, excelled in their collaboration of call-and-response musicianship in the third movement of Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Piano in D minor. The elegance of Christensen’s piano playing provided a perfect contrast with Call’s playful violin work.
Christensen told the Deseret News following their performance that the experience was “exhilarating being on stage, playing with a big symphony.”
The two musicians performed their individual parts within the concerto with obvious skill and finesse, but Rachel and Sanne’s true mastery of the music showed when their parts combined into a flawless unison during several climatic moments.
Sarah Baker, 12, is the daughter of renowned violinist Jenny Oaks Baker, but Sarah’s cello performance of the first movement of Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto in A minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 33 easily set her apart as a skilled musician in her own right.
The night's performance marked an important comeback for the young musician following an August scare when Sarah's cello was stolen and miraculously recovered while on a family trip to Italy.
Sarah now calls the instrument her "miracle cello” and she made the instrument sing with a vibrancy that matched her obvious enthusiasm.
Olivia Owens, 11, dedicated her performance of the first movement in Lalo’s “Symphonie espagnole” to her beloved violin teacher Deborah Moench, who had planned to retire at the end of the last school year until discovering Olivia had been selected for this year’s Salute to Youth.
Moench chose instead to continue instructing Olivia into the summer months and leading up to the concert. The performance was beautiful — both musically and sentimentally.
The audience appeared greatly moved by Olivia’s performance alongside the Utah Symphony, but likely no one was so moved as Moench, who could have only experienced something even more special as the strains from Olivia’s violin kissed each note with experience and poise.
Avery Gunnell, 16, performed the third movement of Chopin's Concerto No. 2 in F minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 21 to a refreshed audience following a short intermission. During the performance however, there was hardly a moment when Avery's hands were not flying along the keyboard.
When McCall Andersen,16, and Erika Hubbard,17, were deciding separately what music they would play together for the Salute to Youth concert, they both came together with the same selection.
The two violinists treated audience members to the first movement of Arnold's Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra, Op. 77. Precision and emotion combined in a performance that could only be described as beautifully haunting and eerily pleasant.
Flutist Aniah Young, 18, was the only wind instrumentalist among the performers. She chose to perform Hanson's Serenade for Flute, Harp and String, Op. 35 because she loved the soaring high notes and challenging runs, and these characteristics were loved by an appreciative audience as well, as revealed in their standing ovation.
Young’s crisp performance lifted audience members with the distinct impression of flying through a majestic landscape. She leaned in and out with the notes as she took the orchestra soaring with her.
David Ban, 15, was the only male among the musicians, but he certainly represented them well with a bright and mesmerizing performance of Liszt's "Hungarian Fantasy" for Piano and Orchestra.
The two years, on-and-off, practicing this piece allowed David to play it quite jovially and with a bright elegance perfectly suited for a finale.
In a short interview before the performance, David said, "music will always be a part of me. I want to keep playing for a long time."
And with the talent and musicianship each Salute to Youth musician exhibited, audiences would likely agree — they want to keep listening for a long time.