Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 at St. Mary's Church

Last night I went back to St. Mary's Church in Park City for another wonderful Utah Symphony concert.  I always love hearing music performed in this church (it is an amazing venue) and last night was no exception because it was a lovely evening!  The orchestra began with Concerto Grosso by Ralph Vaughan Williams and I really enjoyed this piece.  Vaughan Williams composed it for students of various abilities and I thought it was very deep and sonorous in tone.  I especially loved the stirring beginning.  Next came Concerto No. 5 for Violin and Orchestra by my favorite composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with Geneva Lewis, in her Utah Symphony debut, as the soloist.  As with much of Mozart's work, this piece is light and airy and very accessible to the listener.  I loved the violin solo in the second movement because Lewis performed it with such delicacy and I loved the percussive sound created by the cellos and basses striking the strings with the wood of their bows in the third movement because it was so dramatic.  After the intermission, the concert concluded with Symphony No. 1 by Felix Mendelssohn (composed when he was just fifteen years old).  This is very lively and energetic and I especially loved the melody played by the clarinets and bassoons in the third movement and the fiery ending complete with timpani!  I really enjoyed watching guest conductor Stephanie Childress because it was exciting to see a young woman on the podium and she was incredibly dynamic.  Unfortunately, last night was the final concert at St. Mary's this summer but there are two more concerts at Deer Valley (go here for tickets) this weekend before the orchestra returns to Abravanel Hall for the 2022-2023 season (for which I am so excited).