Utah Valley Symphony has new home

Starting with the new season, the Utah Valley Symphony will have a new home.

For years, the orchestra has performed in the Provo Tabernacle. From now on, the new state-of-the-art Covey Center for the Arts, located at 425 W. Center St. in Provo, will be the ensemble's permanent home.

The symphony's inaugural concerts in the new hall take place this week. Music director Bryce Rytting has chosen a program that includes one work that the Utah Valley Symphony has never performed: Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F major ("Pastoral"). Also on the program is J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major and Stravinsky's score to the ballet "Petrushka."

These concerts will be dedicated to the memory of A. Harold Goodman, who took a small community orchestra of 30 players and transformed it into the 80-member Utah Valley Symphony. He led the orchestra from 1963-66.

The orchestra is also expanding its performances. There will now be three performances of each concert, with open seating at the Tuesday concerts and reserved seating at the Wednesday and Thursday performances.

Here is the schedule for the Utah Valley Symphony's 2007-08 season (all concerts begin at 7:30 p.m.).

• Tuesday-Thursday: Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral"); J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 1; Stravinsky, "Petrushka"

• Dec. 4-6: Christmas concert with violinist Jenny Oaks Baker playing music from her CD "O Holy Night"

• Jan. 22-24, 2008: Side-by-Side Concert, with musicians from area high schools performing with the symphony

• March 11-13, 2008: Young Artists Concert, featuring local young musicians

• April 29-30 and May 1: Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 ("Italian"); Copland's "Appalachian Spring"

If you go

What: Utah Valley Symphony, Bryce Rytting

Where: Covey Center for the Arts, 425 W. Center St., Provo

When: Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

How much: Tuesday, $20; Wednesday and Thursday, $40

Phone: 801-852-7007

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E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com