{"id":5941,"date":"2011-09-07T19:52:28","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T19:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=5941"},"modified":"2025-11-14T16:46:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T23:46:49","slug":"utah-chamber-artists-collage-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/utah-chamber-artists-collage-concert\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Chamber Artists\u2019 Collage Concert"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Jennifer Napier-Pearce<\/p>\n

Walking into the Cathedral of the Madeleine is sensory overload. Vibrant colors and murals adorn every column and sanctuary of the building\u2019s dramatic Gothic interior. Ornate wood carvings and delicate sculptures decorate the confessionals and shrines. Twenty-one stained glass windows depicting saints and Christian holy events draw the eye upward. But it was the acoustical possibilities that immediately appealed to a younger Barlow Bradford. \u201cThe European cathedrals were traditionally the great choral spaces,\u201d Bradford says. \u201cIt\u2019s that reverb time that is just inherent in these buildings that is so fun for a choir. It just puts this magic halo around the music.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1995, Bradford wanted to create a surround-sound experience that would showcase the harmonic talents of his recently-formed ensemble, Utah Chamber Artists (UCA), and was looking for an equally impressive setting. UCA had performed at the reopening of the newly-renovated Cathedral of the Madeleine a couple of years earlier and Bradford knew the Cathedral fit the bill hands down. \u201cWhile we\u2019ve tried different venues for the Collage in addition to the Cathedral, we\u2019ve never found anything that is even in the ballpark for the overall experience,\u201d Bradford says.<\/p>\n

The Collage
\nConceptually, the Collage is a theatrical event featuring accomplished soloists, carefully choreographed lighting and UCA singers performing in different parts of the Cathedral. The evening is topped off with an exquisite demonstration on the Cathedral\u2019s 4,066-pipe organ.<\/p>\n

UCA Executive Director Becky Durham, who co-created the Collage, says the trick is using the building\u2019s natural echo to the group\u2019s advantage.
\n\u201cFor the first number for the first performance, we had Copland\u2019s \u2018Fanfare for the Common Man\u2019 with the brass players in the back (of the Cathedral) and no one knew it was coming,\u201d Durham remembers. \u201cIt really was a shock. In fact, we never did it again because we didn’t want anyone to suffer from cardiac arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

For that first concert, Durham enlisted the help of Chip Dance, current stage manager for the Utah Symphony, and he\u2019s been a partner in the Collage ever since. \u201cChiefly, he is a lighting guy and really knows his stuff,\u201d Durham says. \u201cThis year, Chip is trying something he has wanted to do for a long time and that is shooting lights through the windows from the outside once it’s dark. The windows are gorgeous and this will feature them in a way they’ve never been showcased before.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s performance includes the music of Victoria, Walton, Bradford, Miskinis, Gjeilo, Howells, and Mozart with soloists Douglas O\u2019 Neill on the organ and cellist John Eckstein.<\/p>\n

Bradford says a highlight will be the world premiere of a piece by acclaimed composer J.A.C. Redford. Redford spent much of his youth in Utah before starting a career in Hollywood as a composer, orchestrator and conductor for films such as Newsies, Avatar, Wall-E, and more recently The Adjustment Bureau and The Help. The premiere of \u201cRest Now, My Sister\u201d is a deeply personal and solemn tribute to Redford\u2019s sister-in-law who was brutally murdered last year in Salt Lake City\u2019s Fairmont Park. Bradford says this piece comes at the darkest moment in the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking this journey depicting joy, going through difficulty and then coming out of it. And what we have at the central point of the concert \u2013 the lowest of the depths, if you will, is [Redford\u2019s] requiem piece,\u201d Bradford says. \u201cThis brings it to a very immediate human experience, that this is part of our lives right now. This is not a requiem from 500 years ago, and this is something that we have to know: that there is pain, there is trial, but there is also joy and there is also triumph from the pain and that\u2019s what we\u2019re giving in this concert. There is this ability to rise above and find this other-worldly peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Intimacy
\nFor the performers, the Collage presents a singular experience as well as a challenge. In stocking feet, the 40 performers must stealthily roam from one location in the Cathedral, perform, then noiselessly move to the next spot.<\/p>\n

Matt Hope, a first tenor who has been with UCA for 20 years, says singing behind the Chancel Screen in the front of the Cathedral is a highlight. \u201cThere is an intimacy felt amongst the group, creating a sound that, for the audience, seems to come from nowhere,\u201d he says. \u201cI enjoy the theatrics of it all, and appreciate the fact that the organization is serious about creating a multi-sensory experience for our audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each year, audiences fill the cathedral to capacity, expecting the best from this ensemble. And for audience members, that experience can be transformative. Andrea Deming recalls attending the UCA Collage concert in 2008. “The whole time they sang, I closed my eyes and let the music paint pictures in my head,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was amazing! I’ve never had that experience with music before.”<\/p>\n

Utah Chamber Artists<\/a>\u00a0performs its Cathedral Collage Concerts Monday, September 19 and Tuesday, September 20 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, 331 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Performances are free to the public and begin at 8 p.m. For more information, visit\u00a0www.utahchamberartists.org<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Napier-Pearce previews the Utah Chamber Artists’ Collage Concert this month at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,58],"tags":[559,558],"class_list":["post-5941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-15-bytes","category-music","tag-cathedral-of-the-madeleine","tag-utah-chamber-artists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/slideshowchamber.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-27 20:41:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5941"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98799,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941\/revisions\/98799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}