By JOANNE BUTTERFIEL
Two BYU students will be among the featured guest soloists performing with the Utah Valley Symphony in the annual Young Artists Concert tonight and Thursday.
Christopher Holmes and Dianna Rhodes will perform, along with seven other young musicians, both evenings at 7:30 p.m. in the Provo Tabernacle. The Utah Valley Symphony is under the direction of Clyn Barrus, chair of the Department of Music at BYU.
Rhodes, a senior at BYU from Highland, Utah, majoring in music performance and pedagogy, will perform Serly’s “Rhapsody of Folk Tunes for Viola and Orchestra.”
Rhodes said she began playing the piano at age five, taking violin lessons at age eight, and it wasn’t until her freshman year of college that she began playing the viola.
Rhodes has been involved with the chamber orchestra, a touring group, and the Philharmonic at BYU.
“My next step is to go on to graduate school to get more training,” she said. “It really opens up my options.”
Holmes, a sophomore from Provo, Utah, majoring in vocal performance, will perform a vocal piece with the symphony, entitled “La Calunnia,” from Rossini’s Barber of Seville.
“I started taking vocal lessons at age 13 and I became more and more interested,” Holmes said. “I was involved with musicals and operas throughout high school.”
Holmes said a degree in vocal performance won’t do a whole lot to help find a job, but concerts like this bring experience.
The Young Artists Concert is an annual concert featuring young musicians from around Utah County and other parts of rural Utah. There is a competition in September each year, and the winners are featured at the concert in January.
Rhodes said the Utah Valley Symphony is a normal size symphony, consisting of strings, winds, brass and percussion. The performs five to seven concerts a year during an orchestra season, Rhodes said.
The concert will also feature Ryan Johnson, Michael Abegg, Mindy Fackrell, Kalotini Unga Latu, Camilyn Bacon, Cecilia Hone and Daniel Gledhill.
Tickets cost $5 for general admission, and $4 for students and senior citizens and will be available at the door. Free parking is available next to the Provo Tabernacle at the NuSkin terrace.
