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Show Special Award Goes s To asstro Abruanel ,estro Maurice was recenUy the Special Service ? 2 by the Utah till mVIS COUNTY students ill reaped the benefits of Cductor. With the ISetion of the symphony "Since at Sunset Junior S, n.000 Dav's Coun'y Sits have had the oppor- to hear the Utah wphony this season Teachers, students and ,'ncipals have all been, frilled ,he heavenly S lie brought into their lives S ,lA ihe school concerts. rir CONCERTS presented , Davis County this year , Lrt held at Woods Cross "! nh School, Bountiful High Jjool, Davis High Scno1' N Sunset Junior High. Two ': tncerts were held at each t. jjnoi, with one concert for ; tngb school andor junior , jdi students and one for the "' elementary students. xnese concerts nave been -jde available through the Jiislature. The Utah ' Siiiiphony's student assem-i5: assem-i5: jy concerts are almost i jique in America. OTHER orchestras send a ; mall group or chamber jdKstra, but each year the Utah Symphony in full strength gives more than 75-nncerts 75-nncerts in schools throughout the state. No praise could be too high lor Maestro Abravanel and it role he has played in his adopted home of Utah in "' bringing the Utah Symphony L mo the schools. IN HIS second season as musical director and conduc-tor conduc-tor he took the full orchestra into the local high schools and " 0 junior high schools to give student concerts. It was in ' M. the first time any major symphony orchestra had performed per-formed in the schools. It was several years before other 8 orchestras followed his sample. , An American citizen of Spanish-Portugese ancestry, Maurice Abravanel was born in Salonika, Greece and was reared in Lausanne, Swit-wrland. Swit-wrland. His conducting career started at the early age of sixteen. '- AFTER MANY successful mnduciing engagements in ' Europe and Australia,... toanel came to New York Ic become the youngest con-.. con-.. ductor ever engaged by the Metropolitan Opera. Under the Maestro's j musical direction the Utah ' Symphony has grown from ten concerts in 1947 to 185 t concerts annually. A vital . part of his energy is devoted to school concerts and to 1 choral and orchestral con-' con-' certs involving hundreds of students with the symphony. "'- CONVINCED that good music builds character, he las brought thousands of students into intimate contact tth great music. He loves young people and gets a great trill from watching the glow their eyes when they dis-roer dis-roer one of the world's cul-' cul-' ural treasures- great music Performed by the great I orchestra he has helped to J build. J Maestro Abravanel has often of-ten said, "You would never i consider a person educated L. ta didn't know something tout Shakespeare or "Wibrandt, and it is just as 'fportant that our young ..- ' MAURICE ABRAVANEL people become acquainted with Beethoven, Brahms and Bach, as well as Stravinsky, Leroy Robertson and other composers of our time." THE STUDENTS have felt his communication, particularly par-ticularly this year. He sent a tape speaking to the students " before the concert and they have responded to the opportunity oppor-tunity of hearing the symphony through various messages. Following are quotes from various letters sent by elementary students: "I had lots of fun listening to the Utah Symphony and I wish it hadn't ended." "I'm glad I could go. I love the concerts. I've been to a lot of concerts but that was the best almost. I especially like Norwegian Nor-wegian Dance, it was so cute. Thanks for letting us go." "THANK YOU for making it possible to go to the Utah Symphony Orchestra. It was great. I liked the harp best. It was beautiful. I want to tell you it was the greatest Symphony I ever heard really." "I liked the concert very much. It seemed like 5 minutes, but it was an hour. I thought the last song, "William Tell Overture" was neat. When we were on the way to the bus, Mr. Abravanel was on his way to his car-- some of us got to shake his hand. We said we would never wash our hand. I sure did tike it - it was cool. If I had another chance to go to one I sure would." "IT WAS really neat. It was the first time I have been to a ;; concert. It was neat to watch - them play the instruments. I would like to say again I really enjoyed it." "I liked the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the best orchestra of all orchestras." "THE MUSIC was beautiful and sweet. I am very privileged to be able to go to the concert and listen to such fine music. I am glad I live in Utah and some of us got to shake Mr. Abravanel's hand and we said we would never wash our hands. We had lots of fun." "I like the sound of music. I like the "Fifth Symphony." One can understand why the children love the Masetro when you watch him conduct the William Tell Overture and put his whole body and soul into giving the young people a beautiful experience. THANK YOU Utah Music Educators. Maurice Abravanel well deserved that Special Service Award which was given to an individual in the community who has given so much to music education. |