Utah Symphony

The Utah Symphony ranks among the leading orchestral ensembles of the American West, where it developed a refined execution standard and a recognizable sonic profile across the lengthy directorship of Maurice Abravanel. Nearly 120 albums document its recording history under Abravanel and subsequent leaders, with many appearing originally on Vanguard and Vox. Early-2020s audiophile editions revived several of these titles, including Abravanel’s 2024 reissue of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, performed with pianist Grant Johannesen.

After earlier attempts to sustain an orchestra in Salt Lake City collapsed, the Utah State Sinfonietta began operations in 1935 under a U.S. Works Progress Administration program and gave more than a thousand concerts by the end of the decade. When federal support ceased, local business leaders established the Utah State Symphony Orchestra in 1940. Hans Heniot became its first music director. The name changed to Utah Symphony in 1946, and the following year Bruno Walter’s student Maurice Abravanel arrived on a one-year contract. He rejected a high-paying post at Radio City Music Hall in New York and guided the ensemble through repeated financial shortfalls, sometimes serving without compensation while shaping an ensemble of distinctive character. That goal was realized: Utah Symphony LPs formed central holdings in many American collections, and digital reissues have preserved Abravanel-led performances such as Berlioz’s Requiem, Op. 5. The orchestra also produced the first complete Mahler symphony cycle by any ensemble and recorded the full Tchaikovsky symphonies.

During Abravanel’s tenure, concerts took place in Salt Lake City’s Mormon Tabernacle. A new Symphony Hall opened in 1980 and was renamed Abravanel Hall in 1993 in recognition of its distinguished acoustics. Abravanel retired in 1979; Varujan Kojian (1980-1983), Joseph Silverstein (1983-1998), Keith Lockhart (1998-2009), and Thierry Fischer—whose contract runs through 2027—followed in succession. The orchestra collaborated regularly with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Opera, the two organizations merging in 2002. Although the pace of new recordings moderated, critically praised releases have continued. Fischer has emphasized contemporary repertoire, issuing Dawn to Dust in 2016 with works by Augusta Read Thomas (whose EOS: Goddess of the Dawn was commissioned by the orchestra), Nico Muhly, and Andrew Norman. The ensemble’s recording of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 (“Organ”) appeared in 2019. Further Hyperion projects followed, among them Messiaen’s Des canyons aux étoiles in 2023. In the early 2020s the Vox label issued several Abravanel performances in its “Audiophile Edition,” including a 1976 Grieg anthology released in 2024.