Utah Symphony to perform in Austad Auditorium

Marvin Hamlisch will conduct the Utah Symphony at Weber State University, October 16. Hamlisch is an award-winning composer of more than 40 motion picture scores. "He's fantastic," said Melissa Seamons, Marketing Manager for the Ogden Symphony Ballet Association and WSU alumna. "I haven't actually seen him perform live yet, but I've seen him on TV." Hamlisch has won three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globe awards; one of his shows, "A Chorus Line," received the Pulitzer Prize. His portfolio includes original compositions and/or musical adaptations for "The Way We Were," "The Sting," "Sophie's Choice," "Ordinary People," "The Swimmer," "Three Men And A Baby," "Ice Castles," "Take The Money And Run," "Bananas" and "Save The Tiger." Hamlisch directed and arranged Barbra Streisand's 1994 and Millenium concert tours in the U.S. and England as well as her television special. He is currently the Principal Pops Conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pops Conductor for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and the Pops Conductor for the National Symphony (the first person to have that position). Seamons said the Utah Symphony is brought to Ogden many times per year to perform at the Val A. Browning Center. There are usually five classical performances, five pops concerts and three ballets with Ballet West. They also organize a children's dance theater. Jemay Whatcott, a WSU music student, saw the Utah Symphony perform about two years ago. "It was fabulous," she said. "It was beyond imagination that the symphony could come together and be so thought provoking." The Utah Symphony show on Oct. 16 begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Austad Auditorium in the Browning Center. Tickets can be purchased for a student discount price of two for $16.00 during the week of the performance at the Ogden Symphony Ballet Association office, at 638 26th Street in Ogden. Tickets can also be purchased starting an hour before the show at the Browning Center. The Utah Symphony was founded in 1940 and made its first recordings under the direction of Maurice Abravanel, the Music Director from 1947 to 1979. The orchestra does many performances in Utah as well as Wyoming, Nevada and Idaho throughout the year. They traveled to Austria and Germany in April 2005. Four times per year the orchestra accompanies the Utah Opera at the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City. They also perform together at the Deer Valley Music Festival every summer in Park City. Students get discount prices for most Utah Symphony performances. The price is usually $8.00 per ticket with some exceptions. Tickets can be purchased by calling 801-533-NOTE (6683) or 801-355-ARTS (2787) for Salt Lake, and 801-399-9214 for Ogden performances.