Utah Symphony

The Utah Symphony is a professional orchestra headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its principal performance venue is Abravanel Hall, a concert hall that opened as Symphony Hall in 1979 and was renamed in honor of longtime music director Maurice Abravanel in 1993. The orchestra presents subscription concerts in Salt Lake City, travels to communities across Utah and the wider Intermountain West, performs educational programs, and collaborates with Utah Opera on the opera company’s annual productions at Capitol Theatre. It also shares a summer residency with Utah Opera at the Deer Valley Music Festival in Park City and maintains a Utah Valley presence based at the Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at Utah Valley University in Orem. The organization’s modern institutional history began during the Great Depression. As part of the Federal Music Project, Reginald Beales established the Utah State Sinfonietta, initially a five-member ensemble that expanded and toured widely. When federal arts funding ended, local supporters incorporated the Utah State Symphony Orchestra on April 4, 1940. Hans Henriot conducted its first concert on May 8 of that year and subsequently became its director. The ensemble grew into a 52-member part-time orchestra before Maurice Abravanel became music director in 1947. Abravanel transformed the orchestra into a full-time professional ensemble and gave it a national profile through extensive touring and recordings. Its Vanguard and Vox releases included major cycles of Mahler and Tchaikovsky, along with works by composers including Varèse, Milhaud, Gottschalk, Honegger, and Satie. The orchestra’s Mahler cycle was the first complete Mahler symphony cycle recorded by an American orchestra. Abravanel also expanded the organization’s education work, making school and community concerts a central part of its regional mission. He concluded his tenure in 1979, the same year the orchestra moved from the Mormon Tabernacle into its first purpose-built concert venue. After Abravanel, the music directorship passed to Varujan Kojian, Joseph Silverstein, Keith Lockhart, and Thierry Fischer. The orchestra maintained a commitment to both standard symphonic repertoire and contemporary American music. In 2002, the governing boards of Utah Symphony and Utah Opera consolidated the two organizations, creating Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, while preserving the symphony as the orchestra’s performing identity. Fischer’s 2009–2023 tenure included commissions and performances of new works such as Augusta Read Thomas’s EOS (Goddess of the Dawn), Andrew Norman’s percussion concerto Switch, and Zhou Tian’s Transcend, written to commemorate the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following Fischer’s departure, the orchestra appointed David Robertson as its first creative partner, beginning in the 2023–2024 season. Markus Poschner was named music director-designate in 2024 and is scheduled to become music director in the 2027–2028 season. Delyana Lazarova was appointed principal guest conductor beginning in the 2025–2026 season, becoming the first woman to hold that position. The orchestra continues to combine large-scale concert programming with education, regional touring, opera accompaniment, festival performances, and community engagement.

Efforts to establish a symphony orchestra in Utah predated statehood. A Salt Lake Symphony formed in 1892 and gave one concert before disbanding. The Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra operated from 1902 to 1911, while the Salt Lake Philharmonic existed from 1913 until 1925. These earlier groups provided a local tradition but did not become the direct institutional predecessor of the modern Utah Symphony. The organization that developed into the Utah Symphony emerged during the Great Depression through the Federal Music Project, part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Project Number One. Reginald Beales was hired to create a musical ensemble in Utah and organized the Utah State Sinfonietta with five core members. The group expanded rapidly, toured extensively, and performed in communities throughout the state. When federal arts support ended, local supporters organized a successor institution. On April 4, 1940, they formed the Utah State Symphony Orchestra, with Fred E. Smith serving as president. Its first concert took place on May 8, 1940, under conductor Hans Henriot, who was subsequently engaged to direct the orchestra. The ensemble grew to 52 part-time musicians. Maurice Abravanel became music director in 1947 and led the orchestra for more than three decades. His tenure was the decisive period in the institution’s professional development. Abravanel expanded it into a full-time orchestra, built its national reputation, toured with it, and supervised an ambitious recording program. Recordings for Vanguard and Vox included complete Mahler and Tchaikovsky symphony cycles and works by a wide range of twentieth-century and earlier composers. The Utah Symphony’s Mahler recordings represented the first complete Mahler symphony cycle made by an American orchestra. The Mahler recording project received major recognition, including the Bruckner Society of America’s Mahler Medal of Honor in 1965 and an International Gustav Mahler Society award for the recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in 1975. Abravanel also made education a major institutional priority. The orchestra presented school and community concerts both in the Salt Lake Valley and on tours across the Intermountain West. This combination of professional performance and public access became a defining feature of the organization. In 1979, Abravanel completed his music directorship. That year the orchestra left its long-standing home at the Mormon Tabernacle and moved into Symphony Hall, its first dedicated concert venue. The hall was renamed Abravanel Hall in 1993. The orchestra moved to a year-round schedule by 1980. Varujan Kojian succeeded Abravanel, followed by Joseph Silverstein and Keith Lockhart. During the Silverstein and Lockhart years, the orchestra continued to perform established repertoire while supporting contemporary American composers. Thierry Fischer became music director in September 2009 and led the orchestra through a period that included new commissions and projects connecting orchestral music with Utah history and broader contemporary culture. A major structural change occurred in July 2002, when the governing boards of Utah Symphony and Utah Opera agreed to consolidate the two organizations. The resulting Utah Symphony | Utah Opera structure combined the orchestra’s symphonic work with Utah Opera’s productions and administrative organization. The merger was unusual nationally and was described at the time as one of only two consolidated symphony-and-opera companies in the United States. The Utah Symphony retained its identity as the orchestral arm of the combined institution. Fischer’s tenure was extended during the COVID-19 period and concluded in 2023. His programming included commissions such as Augusta Read Thomas’s EOS (Goddess of the Dawn), Andrew Norman’s percussion concerto Switch, and Zhou Tian’s Transcend, which commemorated the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. After Fischer, the organization developed a creative-partner role for conductor David Robertson, who had first appeared as a guest conductor in 2020. Robertson began as the orchestra’s first creative partner in the 2023–2024 season. Markus Poschner first conducted the orchestra as a guest in 2022 and returned in 2023. In November 2024, Utah Symphony announced him as its next music director, effective in the 2027–2028 season, with the music director-designate title taking effect immediately. Delyana Lazarova, who first guest-conducted the orchestra in 2024, was named principal guest conductor beginning in 2025–2026. She became the first woman appointed to that position. The orchestra’s current work spans subscription concerts, regional touring, education, opera accompaniment, summer festival programming, new commissions, and performances in Utah Valley.

• 2025

  Delyana Lazarova scheduled to become principal guest conductor

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  Lazarova’s two-season appointment begins with the 2025–2026 season and makes her the first woman to hold the post.

• 2024

  Markus Poschner named music director-designate

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  Poschner was appointed to become music director in the 2027–2028 season.

• 2023

  David Robertson begins creative-partner role

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  Robertson became the orchestra’s first creative partner after earlier guest-conducting appearances.

• 2009

  Thierry Fischer becomes music director

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  Fischer began a music directorship that included contemporary commissions and projects connecting the orchestra with regional history.

• 2002

  Merger with Utah Opera

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  The governing boards consolidated Utah Symphony and Utah Opera, creating Utah Symphony | Utah Opera.

• 1980

  Year-round schedule established

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  The orchestra expanded its season into a year-round operating schedule.

• 1979

  Move to Symphony Hall

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  The orchestra moved from the Mormon Tabernacle into its first dedicated concert facility, later renamed Abravanel Hall.

• 1947

  Maurice Abravanel begins music directorship

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  Abravanel began the long tenure that transformed the ensemble into a full-time orchestra with a national recording and touring profile.

• 1940

  Utah State Symphony Orchestra organized

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  Local supporters formed the Utah State Symphony Orchestra on April 4, following the end of federal support for the Utah State Sinfonietta.

• 1892

  First recorded Salt Lake symphony initiative

  [1]Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org

  The first documented attempt to establish a symphony orchestra in the Utah area presented one concert before disbanding.

A major regional American orchestra combining professional symphonic performance with statewide access, music education, opera collaboration, contemporary commissions, and festival programming.

• Symphonic concerts

  Salt Lake City subscription concerts

  The orchestra’s core concert offering consists of subscription series and individual performances in Salt Lake City, principally at Abravanel Hall. Programs combine canonical orchestral repertoire, works by living composers, guest artists, and thematic programming.

• Music education

  Education and community concerts

  Education is a longstanding part of the orchestra’s mission. The Utah Symphony presents concerts for students and communities, receives Utah State Legislature support for educational performances, and takes programs to communities throughout Utah and the Intermountain West.

• Opera services · 2002

  Utah Opera accompaniment

  As part of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, the orchestra provides the pit orchestra for four Utah Opera productions each year at Salt Lake City’s Capitol Theatre.

• Festival performances

  Deer Valley Music Festival residency

  The Utah Symphony and Utah Opera maintain a summer residency at the Deer Valley Music Festival in Park City, extending the organization’s performance activity beyond its regular Salt Lake City season.

• Regional performance series

  Utah Valley division

  The orchestra operates a Utah Valley division based at the Noorda Center for the Performing Arts at Utah Valley University in Orem, providing performances and engagement for audiences south of Salt Lake City.

• Classical recordings

  Recordings

  Under Maurice Abravanel, the orchestra recorded for Vanguard and Vox. Its catalog included complete Mahler and Tchaikovsky symphony cycles and works by composers such as Varèse, Milhaud, Gottschalk, Honegger, and Satie.

• 2024

  Appointment of Markus Poschner as next music directorOther

  Background

  Following Thierry Fischer’s completed tenure and Poschner’s guest appearances with the orchestra, Utah Symphony selected him for its next long-term artistic leadership role.

  Action taken

  Poschner was named music director-designate immediately and is scheduled to become music director in the 2027–2028 season.

  Aftermath

  The appointment establishes a planned succession for the orchestra’s principal artistic leadership.

  Source

• 2024

  Appointment of Delyana Lazarova as principal guest conductorOther

  Background

  After her first guest-conducting appearance with the orchestra in May 2024, Lazarova was selected for a recurring artistic leadership position.

  Action taken

  The orchestra appointed Lazarova principal guest conductor for the 2025–2026 season onward, with an initial two-season contract.

  Aftermath

  Lazarova became the first woman appointed to the orchestra’s principal guest conductor position.

  Source

• 2002

  Consolidation with Utah OperaM&A

  Background

  The governing boards of Utah Symphony and Utah Opera chose to combine the two organizations, creating a unified symphony-and-opera institution.

  Action taken

  The organizations formed Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, with the Utah Symphony continuing as the orchestra within the consolidated structure.

  Aftermath

  The merger created an uncommon combined arts organization and enabled the orchestra to support Utah Opera productions while continuing its concert, touring, education, and festival activities.

  Source

• 1979

  Move into a dedicated concert hallStrategy

  Background

  After decades of performing at the Mormon Tabernacle, the orchestra sought a purpose-built home suited to a professional, full-time ensemble.

  Action taken

  The orchestra moved into Symphony Hall, which was later renamed Abravanel Hall.

  Aftermath

  The move established a permanent concert base in Salt Lake City and strengthened the orchestra’s institutional identity.

  Source

1. 1Utah Symphonyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Utah Symphony official websiteutahsymphony.org