Join UtahPresents and the School of Music for Wild Up’s “We The People” on Feb. 2 and Libby Gardner Concert Hall. Wild Up is an experimental classical ensemble, led by artistic director and conductor Christopher Rountree, united around the belief that no music is off limits. The group works with students and community members to create an original performance, inspired by songs of change and activism.
School of Music students and community members will participate with musicians from Wild Up in the performance of “We The People.” The concert promises to deliver a reflection on issues of social justice with music as the performance medium.
The material is improvisational in nature, and will require a quick turnaround from rehearsal to the stage for the student and community performers. They will spend the week prior to the performance in rehearsal with Wild Up musicians in preparation for the public performance.
The student and community involvement have been led by Kris Johnson, director of jazz studies for the School of Music. Professor Johnson is an award-winning jazz trumpeter, composer and educator. He has appeared on an impressive list of albums including two Grammy-nominated releases: Tony Bennett’s “A Swingin’ Christmas” and Karen Clark Sheard’s “All In One.” Johnson is a trumpeter and arranger with the Count Basie Orchestra. In 2013 he was featured in the standup-comedy film “Make Me Wanna Holla” starring Sinbad.
Wild Up is a modern music collective; a Los Angeles-based group of musicians committed to creating visceral, thought-provoking happenings. Wild Up believes that music is a catalyst for shared experiences and that a concert venue is a place to challenge, excite and ignite a community of listeners. Wild Up has been called “Best in Classical Music” and “…a raucous, grungy, irresistibly exuberant… fun-loving, exceptionally virtuosic family” by Zachary Woolfe of the New York Times, “Searing. Penetrating. And thrilling” by Fred Child of Performance Today and “Magnificent” by Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times.
Tickets are $25 for the general public and just $5 for U students with Arts Pass (UCard). Faculty and staff save 10 percent with UCard.
Tickets and info can be found here.