Utah Symphony Presents Full Length Film CASABLANCA as The Orchestra Performs The Soundtrack Live To Picture

The ever-popular Films in Concert series continues with cinema landmark "Casablanca" in Concert with Utah Symphony playing the romantic soundtrack at 7PM in Abravanel Hall on March 1 and 2. The Utah Symphony under direction of Utah Symphony Associate Conductor Conner Gray Covington will play Max Steiner's moving score live while the entire film plays on the big screen. Tickets, priced from $18 to $69 ($10 for students), are available for purchase through www.utahsymphony.org or by calling (801) 355-2787.

As a part of Utah Symphony's 2018-19 Films in Concert series, Utah Symphony will play the soundtracks of features like the Academy Award® winner for Best Picture "Casablanca" on March 1 and 2; "Star Wars: A New Hope" with an epic score by John Williams will hit the screen on May 9, 11 and 13; and the fourth Harry Potter film in the series, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire™ In Concert," will conclude the Films in Concert series on June 20, 21, and 22.

"This film series shows our commitment to creating exciting programming that inspires a whole new generation of symphony goers," said Utah Symphony | Utah Opera President and CEO Paul Meecham.

Utah Symphony Associate Conductor Conner Gray Covington will conduct over 180 performances of classical, education, film, pops, and family concerts by the end of his second season with the Utah Symphony. After picking up the violin at age 11, Mr. Covington further studied with Dr. Martha Walvoord and conducting with Dr. Clifton Evans at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in violin performance. He has worked with several symphonies around the U.S. before his engagement with Utah Symphony as Associate Conductor.

The romantic drama "Casablanca" is lauded as one of the greatest movies of all times by the American Film Institute. "Casablanca" sweeps you up in the action as Rick (Humphrey Bogart) struggles to do what is right for himself and for his long-lost love Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). Max Steiner's World War II era soundtrack embodies the feelings of love and political sentiment amongst a group of rebels and refugees.

Max Steiner once said, "I never run out of tunes. Music is always in my mind. Sometimes I wake up at three in the morning and begin tossing. My wife will say, 'Daddy, why don't you write it down?' So I get up, put it on a paper, and go back to sleep."

Austrian-born composer Max Steiner wrote his first operetta at age 12 and composed professionally when he turned 15. When he moved to Los Angeles in 1929, he composed film scores and quickly became attributed as the "father of film music" by his colleagues. At first, music in movies was considered unrealistic and unnatural, but by adding music to romance and action scenes, Steiner changed Hollywood's perception of music in films. Today Steiner is highly regarded as one of the best film score composers of his day along with Alfred Newman, Dimitri Tiomkin, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

PROGRAM

The Utah Symphony presents

"Casablanca" in Concert

March 1 & 2 | 7 PM | Abravanel Hall

Conner Gray Covington, conductor

Film Series Sponsor: Zions Bank

Symphony Season Sponsor: George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation

Tickets, priced from $18 to $69 ($10 for students), are available for purchase through www.utahsymphony.org or by calling (801) 355-2787. Tickets increase $5 on the day of the performance.

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