Sitting in a small practice room backstage at Abravanel Hall, less than one hour after he’d performed the third movement of J.C. Bach’s Cello Concerto in C Minor in front of a large audience, Scott Pickett was reflecting on the magnitude of it all.
It was the intermission of the 65th annual Salute to Youth concert — a Deseret News-sponsored tradition that features young musicians showcasing their virtuosity with accompaniment from the Utah Symphony — so Pickett only had a few minutes to chat.
But at the end of our brief conversation, when asked if there was anything else he wanted to add about participating in the prestigious opportunity, Pickett responded with the no-frills flair of a 13-year-old.
“I was just so relieved when it was done,” he said with a little sigh.
That’s not to say he didn’t enjoy it, though.
Like all of his fellow Salute to Youth performers, Pickett — who started playing the cello when he was 4 — has dreamed of a moment like this.
For all seven of the young musicians who took the Abravanel Hall stage Wednesday night, the Salute to Youth concert was a major milestone, marking their first time performing with the Utah Symphony.
And based on the dynamic performances, it was clear no one was taking the moment for granted.
Sixth time’s the charm
Of all the performers, perhaps no one was more familiar with the rigorous Salute to Youth audition process than Octavia Gordon.
The 17-year-old violinist has tried out for six years — and made it to the finals the last three years.
But Wednesday night marked her first time making it onto the Abravanel Hall stage.
Before diving into the first movement of Malcom Arnold’s Concerto for Two Violins with her music partner, 18-year-old Grant Brady, Gordon quickly scanned over the audience to get a sense of her surroundings. It’s a routine she’s developed over time to help ease her nerves.
“Sometimes I’m a little shaky, but I wasn’t today, thankfully,” the Olympus High School junior said backstage in a practice room, about 45 minutes after her Salute to Youth debut.
She and Brady, a senior at the Waterford School in Sandy, had the honor of opening the 65th annual concert with their performance. They were in sync as they played the 1960s piece, digging into their strings with a similar gusto and moving their bows in unison.
Gordon attributed their togetherness to slow, painstaking practice. But the two also share a similar music training. They both started with the same teacher, Deborah Moench, and currently study with Eugene Watanabe at the Gifted Music School in Salt Lake City.
While they were both locked in during their performance, they were all smiles as the enthusiastic applause washed over them after the final note.
And backstage during the intermission, with a large spread of snacks laid out on the table between them, the friends seemed completely at ease.
“I was glad that we were first,” Brady said with a smile.
The 2 youngest stars of the night shine bright
Following the opening number, the two youngest performers of the night — 10-year-old Gabriel Taylor and the 13-year-old Pickett — each got a chance to shine.
At 10, Taylor made history as the first guitarist to perform in a Salute to Youth concert.
While young, he stepped onto the stage with an impressive confidence. Wearing a shiny red shirt and black pants, he sat on a stool, propped his guitar up on his right leg and began to play Heitor Villa-Lobos’ guitar concerto.
The second he started playing, as his tiny fingers raced up the fingerboard, a few people in the concert hall could be seen turning to each other with wide eyes.
Pickett was up next, and had an enthusiastic welcome as he walked across the stage. Before beginning his piece, he gave his cello a little twirl, which got some laughs from the audience.
The young teen played with a composure that belied his age. When he got to the cadenza — one of his favorite parts of the piece — the symphony behind him stopped playing to allow the deep register of his cello to ring clearly throughout the hall.
Throughout his childhood, Pickett has frequently attended Utah Symphony concerts at Abravanel Hall. To now have been on the other side of the stage is an accomplishment the 13-year-old never could have dreamed would happen so soon.
“It’s still kind of unreal,” he said.
‘The biggest dance’
Violinist and Gifted Music School co-founder Watanabe, who has trained many Salute to Youth performers over the years, has previously described the annual concert as a kind of “musical prom.”
“It’s the biggest dance to be invited to for the students,” he told the Deseret News in 2019.
And for some of the performers Wednesday night, it was a literal dance.
At times, 17-year-old Adrian McGill seemed to be dancing as he played the first movement of Mozart’s Oboe Concerto in C Major to close out the first half of the concert.
He was visibly at ease on stage as he performed the lighthearted piece — a comfort that came in part, he joked, because he’s been playing it for “too long.”
While solo musicians will often close their eyes to concentrate on their playing, McGill, a senior at Corner Canyon High School, seemed to get a further adrenaline rush from actually looking at and engaging with his audience.
After a brief intermission, where 15-year-old Shelby Gan could be heard warming up backstage, the pianist opened the second half with a spirited take on the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concert No. 3.
Gan’s fingers danced across the keys of the black Steinway & Sons grand piano as she navigated octaves, arpeggios and chromatic scales. The West High School student played with both power and delicacy, and elicited a soft “Wow!” from someone in the audience when it was finished.
Wyatt Christensen, who closed out the night with the George Gershwin classic “Rhapsody in Blue,” appeared to have invited everyone he knew to his Utah Symphony debut.
The audience went wild before he played a single note — and went even wilder after he played all of the notes.
The 16-year-old student at Hillcrest High School told the Deseret News earlier this week that “Rhapsody in Blue” is a piece he’s been drawn to for a few years now — it’s a song he used to listen to on repeat while on bike rides.
His passion for the jazzy number was palpable. Throughout his performance, he bobbed his head and swayed and tapped his feet.
Even though Christensen has lost track of how many times he’s played it — let alone listened to it — “Rhapsody in Blue” still clearly excites him.
And he wanted it to have that same effect on those listening Wednesday night.
Because at its core, the annual concert is about celebrating the musicians’ hard work. In sharing their passion for music, the young artists also hope they’ll inspire future Salute to Youth performers down the road to keep this long-standing tradition going strong.
