Internationally acclaimed composer and conductor, Bob Chilcott, will be featured at the Cache Valley Choirfest on Saturday. Over 350 youth from 11 children’s choirs from all over Utah will present a world premiere of one of his pieces, commissioned specifically for this concert.
After three years of patient waiting, the time has finally come for youth from all over Utah to have the opportunity to work with composer, conductor, and former member of the “King’s Singers,” Bob Chilcott. He is especially well known for his compositions for children’s choirs.
“I talked with Bob a year ago at our national ACDA conference and we were talking about texts," said Sylvia Munsen, the Artistic Director and conductor of the Cache Children’s Choir, the local choir which will be hosting the Choirfest.
"Eventually what it came to was, because this is the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare, he wanted to do a piece with a text by Shakespeare. So he’s used sonnet number eight 'Music to Hear,' a beautiful text which has beautiful melodies that resonate so well with that text. It's so exciting,” Munsen said.
“The power of having these 10, 12, 14 year olds have the opportunity to do a world premiere with the conductor composing is a very unique experience, a very powerful experience which will last with them throughout their lives. I’m convinced that we will be listening to Bob’s music 50 years from now. So when they’re grandmas and grandpas they can say ‘I did a world premiere with that composer,’” she said.
This concert is scheduled to begin Saturday afternoon at 4:00 in the Kent Concert Hall at Utah State University.