Utah Symphony Presents 'Under the Stars and the Stripes' Tonight, 6/25

The Utah Symphony will make a rare visit to Utah County for a performance at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre in Orem tonight, June 25 @ 8pm. The concert, called "Under the Stars…and the Stripes" features a program full of patriotic and pop favorites. General admission tickets are $14 for adults and $12 for children (age 3-11), students (w/ID) and seniors (age 65+). Patrons can bring a blanket or rent a chair for $1.00. Reserved seating areas with a chair range from $14-20.

Tickets are available in advance from 10am-6pm weekdays and Saturdays from 12Noon-6pm at the main office of the SCERA Center for the Arts, 745 South State, Orem, by calling (801) 225-ARTS, online at www.scera.org or at the Shell 60 minutes prior to the concert.

The Symphony has put together a largely patriotic program to "help patrons kick off their 4th of July celebration a week early," says SCERA President & CEO Adam J. Robertson. The program, under the direction of Utah Symphony Associate Conductor Vladimir Kulenovic, will feature The Star Spangled Banner (Smith/Key); Fanfare for The Common Man (Copland); Armed Forces Salute; Colonel Bogey March (Alford); Music for the Royal Fireworks (Handel); South Pacific Symphonic Scenario (Rodgers & Hammerstein); Main Title from Stars Wars Suite for Orchestra (Williams); Overture to Candide (Bernstein); Raiders March (Williams); and the always rousing and popular 1812 Overture (Tchaikovsky). Since his professional conducting debut in 2006 with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, Associate Conductor Vladimir Kulenovic has conducted performances with the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Beethoven-Orchester Bonn, Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein, Aspen Music Festival AACA Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, Indian Hill Orchestra, Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra, Juilliard Conductors' Orchestra, Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Institute Symphony Orchestra and Boston Conservatory Orchestra.

Mr. Kulenovic studied with Kurt Masur at the Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar in New York in 2008 and 2009, as well as at the Beethoven-Orchester Bonn and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, where his final performance with the Verbier Festival Orchestra was internationally televised on Medici TV. Mr. Kulenovic spent the summer of 2010 as a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, and has also conducted in other prestigious music festivals worldwide, including the National Arts Centre Conducting Programme, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and the Mozarteum Internationale Sommerakademie in Salzburg. Mr. Kulenovic was awarded the prestigious Alfred B. Whitney Prize for the highest scholastic achievement at the Boston Conservatory where he graduated summa cum laude, as valedictorian, earning degrees in Conducting and Piano Performance. As a pianist, Mr. Kulenovic was awarded the Second Prize at the Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Paris.

Founded in 1940, the Utah Symphony has become an eminent presence in the American music scene through its distinctive performances worldwide and its well-known recording legacy. Previous to its official founding, the Utah Symphony's first incarnation was as a Works Progress Administration Orchestra from 1935 to 1940.

The orchestra became recognized as a leading ensemble largely through the efforts of Maurice Abravanel, its Music Director from 1947 to 1979.

Under Joseph Silverstein, whose tenure as Music Director began in 1983, and Keith Lockhart, Music Director from 1998 to 2009, the orchestra has continued its commitment to the music of our time, recording and premiering a number of great American works. Since 2009 to present, Thierry Fischer is serving as the seventh and current Music Director of the Utah Symphony.

Maurice Abravanel Hall, current home of the Utah Symphony, is acclaimed as one of the world's great concert halls - having won awards for both superb architecture and extraordinary acoustics. In addition to performing more than 70 subscription concerts annually in Abravanel Hall, the Symphony regularly travels around the Intermountain West, and has served communities in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and Idaho. In April 2005, the orchestra embarked on its first European Tour in 19 years, visiting concert halls in Austria and Germany.

The orchestra participates in the Utah Opera's four annual productions at Salt Lake's Capitol Theatre. In addition, the Utah Symphony performs numerous concerts as part of the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera's Deer Valley Music Festival, held each summer in the Park City mountain community. Funding from the Utah State Legislature makes it possible for the Symphony to perform for over 55,000 students each year, both in Abravanel Hall and schools throughout the state.

With its many subscription, education and outreach concerts and tours, the Utah Symphony is one of the most engaged orchestras in the nation.