Utah Symphony Sets Final Masterworks Concert in 75th Anniversary Season

Join the Utah Symphony for the final Masterworks concert in its 75th anniversary season and the triumphant conclusion of its two-year Mahler Symphony Cycle with Symphony No. 9 in D major, led by Music Director Thierry Fischer. Tickets, priced from $18-$79, are available for purchase through www.utahsymphony.org or by calling (801) 355-2787.

"All things, great and small, must come to an end. I think it is fitting that our amazing 75th anniversary season concludes with the final chapter of our Mahler Symphony Cycle since his music has been such an important part of our history, thanks to Maestro Abravanel," said Utah Symphony Music Director Thierry Fischer. "Symphony No. 9, the last step for Mahler and our project, is about the profound and often terrifying nature of existence, so we end our year of celebration with great humility and the knowledge that life, even in struggle, contains deep beauty. What a fantastic journey!"

The two-year Mahler Symphony Cycle, generously sponsored by Kem and Carolyn Gardner, began in September 2014 and concludes in May 2016 as the finale of the Utah Symphony's 75th anniversary season. It also paid tribute to the orchestra's former Music Director Maurice Abravanel, who was credited with building the Utah Symphony into a world class institution during his tenure as the orchestra's artistic director from 1947 to 1979. Among other achievements, the orchestra gained distinction as the first North American orchestra to record the complete Mahler Symphony Cycle under Maestro Abravanel between 1963 and 1974.

More than 40 years later, Mahler Symphony No. 1 was the Utah Symphony's first of several recordings to be released by Reference Recordings under Maestro Fischer. The most recent Mahler Symphony performance took place in February as part of the OC Tanner "Gift of Music" series granting the community access to a free concert with the Utah Symphony and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir inside the Salt Lake Tabernacle. This performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, also known as the "Symphony of a Thousand," renowned guest vocalists and choristers from The Madeleine Choir School, and was live recorded by Reference Recordings for later release in 2017.

Mahler's Symphony No. 9 in D major, composed in 1908 and 1909, is his last completed symphony composed. Many music historians view 1907, the year before he began work on the Ninth, as signaling the final chapter of Mahler's life. This particular year was marked with tragedy, including the death of his four-year-old daughter, as well diagnosis of his own fatal heart condition. Listeners often discern the presence of loss and transcendence borne of Mahler's experiences in 1907 within the Ninth Symphony.

Symphony No. 9 follows the template of a traditional symphony, in that it is comprised of four movements. Although this differs from the five and six movement symphonies he wrote in years prior, the composition is not lacking in genius. This symphony is expansive and contemplative, exploring the boundary between life and death with each note.

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