'If Music' is wonderfully executed

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SINGERS, BRADY ALLRED, CONDUCTOR; "If Music Be the Food of Love" (University of Utah Singers)****

The University of Utah Singers' latest CD is a wonderfully produced and executed double album.

The first disc contains selections from the program the group performed last year in winning the European Grand Prix International Choir Competition in Tolosa, Spain. The second disc has music from the program currently being performed on a month-long tour of England and France.

Under director Brady Allred, the singers have a professional quality to their performances. They are very talented and dedicated singers, and Allred knows how to hone their vocal skills.

Allred is also immensely talented, and it would be no exaggeration to call him one of the finest choral conductors in the country today. He has a wonderful relationship with this group, and under his guidance they sing with articulate and clean phrases. Their singing is expressive, dramatic, vibrant and always dynamic.

Both programs are wonderfully varied, ranging from American folk songs, hymns, gospel and spirituals to art songs, sacred music and contemporary pieces, all of which are sung with what has become the choir's trademark — eloquence, sincerity and artistry.

A few highlights from both albums: two compelling settings of "If Music Be the Food of Love" (by David Dickau and Jean Belmont); "Cloudburst" and "A Boy and a Girl" by Eric Whitacre, unquestionably one of the most interesting choral composers today; a delightful set from Stephen Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods;" a heartfelt rendition of "How Can I Keep From Singing" (arranged by Ronald Staheli); and a rousing "Let Me Fly" (arranged by Robert DeCormier).

This is music-making of the highest order. One can enjoy this album for its sheer entertainment value, but also, and perhaps most importantly, for its intrinsic artistic value.

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