ARTIST PROFILES
While working for Utah Symphony, I had the opportunity to sit down with many amazing artists and talk to them about their lives and careers. Here are four of my favorites with Concertmaster Madeline Adkins, Principal Trumpet Travis Peterson, violinist Hilary Hahn, conductor Tito Muñoz and violinist Augustin Hadelich.
SOUND AND VISION: CONCERTMASTER MADELINE ADKINS’ TRANSFORMATION INTO A SYMPHONIC ROCK STAR
Screenshot from UtahSymphony.org
“I decided I wanted to be a concertmaster at age 15,” Madeline Adkins said resolutely.
After encouragement from her teacher, Adkins floated the idea of becoming a violin soloist for about three weeks but quickly decided that being a concertmaster was the perfect fit for her. “You get the best of both worlds,” her teenage-self reasoned…
COME AS YOU ARE: A LOOK INSIDE THE LIFE OF TRUMPET PLAYER TRAVIS PETERSON
Screenshot from UtahSymphony.org
In 2013, principal trumpet player Travis Peterson was nearing the end of his time with the New World Symphony Orchestra and searching high and low for the next big step in his career. He was on his thirty-someteenth audition for a place in a professional orchestra and was frustrated by his job prospects.
“I was on the cusp of being selected of all these otherauditions—I was in the final three of all of them. I thought I would have made it into at least one of them, but after 10 auditions, I started to wonder what was up,” Peterson recalled.
Frustrated and feeling the pressure to make major life decisions, he called his wife, Andrea, who was on vacation with her family in Utah…
Q&A WITH HILARY HAHN
Screenshot from UtahSymphony.org
The Utah Symphony and Hilary Hahn go way back! Since her first appearance with us at the age of 12 we have both grown and developed artistically. It always makes for an incredible and productive reunion when we return to the stage together.
The 2021-22 season has been our best collaboration to date, not just because we managed to bring her to Utah twice this season, or because of the incredible repertoire we performed with her, but as our Artist in Association, she has been serving our community through opportunities to connect with music in creative ways.
We asked her to reflect on her residency and history with us, and she provided wonderful insight into her work here and beyond.
WORLDS COLLIDE IN UTAH
Screenshot from UtahSymphony.org
In Spanish they say, “el mundo es un pañuelo.” The world is a handkerchief. This is to say, that often the world feels so small, you can wrap it and all of its people up in a napkin. It especially feels this way in the world of classical music—many musicians in different orchestras around the world have performed together; are friends with various soloists; are connected through students or classmates; or have worked under the baton of different conductors. The six degrees of separation becomes closer to three when you work in this industry.
The same is true for violinist and Augustin Hadelich and conductor Tito Muñoz who have worked together once before in 2020 and are now coming together again for a fabulous program on our 2021-22 season. While they have had different backgrounds and experiences in music, they have remarkably similar philosophies when it comes to their craft.