In Friday’s (4/19) Salt Lake Tribune (Utah), David Burger writes, “After two consecutive weekends serving up the works of Tchaikovsky, the Utah Symphony hopes audiences are ready to consume a little more. On Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27, the orchestra will present the world premiere of a commissioned work by British composer Simon Holt, whom music director Thierry Fischer called ‘the Tchaikovsky of the 21st century.’ Holt will be visiting Utah for the first time to hear the debut of his 15-minute composition ‘Ellsworth 2.’ … Fischer and Holt have been friends for more than a decade; Fischer noted that he has conducted 10 of Holt’s compositions in the past. … As he began to think about the composition, Holt—who often uses visual art to inspire his writing—found himself ruminating about ‘Painting for a White Wall,’ by American artist Ellsworth Kelly. A minimalist, Kelly is associated with the abstract Color Field movement that sprang up in the 1940s and 1950s in New York City, where he lived. … To Fischer, the ‘contemplative’ composition is about colors, not just literally, but figuratively. Holt agreed that the colors conjure feelings, whether expressed in music or on a wall.”
Posted April 19, 2013
