| Utah Chamber Artists | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Salt Lake City, Utah, USA |
| Genres | Worship Classical Renaissance Contemporary |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Website | Official website |
The Utah Chamber Artists, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, was established in 1991 by Music Director Barlow Bradford. The ensemble consists of forty singers and forty players who together create a balance and sonority rarely found in a combined choir and orchestra. Besides presenting the traditional and revered repertoire of the past, the group provides audiences with the finest contemporary works and regularly commissions new music. The musicians perform out of their love for great music and a genuine desire to enrich the lives of their listeners.
Utah Chamber Artists is a major artistic force along the Wasatch front in Utah, but they also enjoy a broader reputation. The choir has been heard on the National Public Radio program "First Art," appeared on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's weekly broadcast, performed with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and sung on various occasions with the Utah Symphony. Dale Warland and Paul Salamunovich have also been guest conductors during the ensemble's regular concert series. In 1996, the choir was invited to perform with the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Bradford conducted the ensembles in a concert tour of Israel which culminated in a studio recording of the John Rutter "Requiem."
Utah Chamber Artists orchestra and choir have recorded several compact discs. Their first, "Welcome All Wonders; A Christmas Celebration," was awarded an "Indie" from NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors & Manufacturers..) Utah Chamber Artists has just completed a second Christmas CD, "Joyous Day," which includes Barlow Bradford's innovative arrangements of familiar carols.
The choir and orchestra offer a concert season in Salt Lake City in addition to touring and recording. Their range is extensive, which is manifest by the musicians' proficiency and enjoyment in performing music from all eras. They are as equally at home with music of the Renaissance as they are with jazz and popular music. These concerts feature the choir and orchestra in tandem as well as highlighting each group separately. Under the baton of Barlow Bradford, all is imparted with mastery, artistry and insight.
Over the course of his extraordinary musical career, Dr. Barlow Bradford has distinguished himself as a conductor, composer, arranger, pianist, organist, and teacher. As an orchestral and choral conductor, he co-founded the Utah Chamber Artists in 1991 and has led that organization to international acclaim for its impeccable, nuanced performances and award-winning recordings - including an INDIE from NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors & Manufacturers) for the CD "Welcome All Wonders," released in 1996 on the BWE label.
Utah Chamber Artists was featured on NPR's "The First Art," a program dedicated to choral music and performed as a featured ensemble with the Boston Pops and Utah Symphony. Under his baton, Utah Chamber Artists also toured Israel with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, performed as the guest choir at the American Choral Directors Association national convention, and joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on their national television broadcast. Dr. Bradford's focused, energetic conducting style led to his appointment as music director of the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City and associate director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Prior to that, he was director of orchestras at the University of Utah.
His compositions and arrangements have garnered much attention for their innovation and dramatic scope, from delicate, transparent intimacy to epic grandeur. His most recent composition, "From the Fowl's Perspective," received its world premiere when presented to an elated audience during a performance by the Honolulu Symphony in October 2005. Many of Bradford's arrangements have been recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and performed regularly by such noted ensembles as the Dallas Symphony Chorus, New York Choral Artists, and the Utah Chamber Artists. His music has been recorded on Telarc, Clarion, Bonneville, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir labels. A full CD of his exuberant arrangements of Christmas Carols, "Joyous Day," featuring the Utah Chamber Artists, is on the Clarion label.
Dr. Bradford's performance career began in his early teens when he won numerous competitions in both organ and piano performance, including the National Young Artists Competition and the Utah Symphony Salute to Youth. He soloed on both instruments with the Utah Symphony and has concertized throughout England and North America. Still a much sought-after recitalist, he combines technical virtuosity and deep musical sensitivity to create memorable musical experiences for audience and performers alike.
As a teacher, Dr. Bradford taught courses in music theory, conducting, arranging, composition, private piano and organ at the University of Utah and Brigham Young University Hawaii. He received his doctorate of musical arts from the University of Southern California, where he was awarded the Kodolfsky Graduate Fellowship, the Music Faculty endowed Scholarship, the Leo Podolsky Piano Performance Award, the Mary Van Lear Memorial Scholarship, and was voted by the faculty as "Most Outstanding Student" in both conducting and keyboard collaborative arts. He studied conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival and received bachelor of music in piano performance from the University of Utah. His teachers and mentors include Gustav Meier, Daniel Lewis, Nina Svetlanova, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Gladys Gladstone, Lennox Larsen and Robert Cundick.