Bestor concert to benefit UVU piano scholarship

OREM — Emmy Award-winning composer and recording artist Kurt Bestor will perform a special benefit concert on Nov. 5 at the Riverside Country Club in Provo in support of the Rebecca Marriott Champion Piano Scholarship for Utah Valley University's School of the Arts.

Tickets for the event are sold out.

In March, the School of the Arts, at the request of Rebecca Marriott Champion, a member of UVU's board of trustees, founded the piano scholarship competition in Champion's name to recognize UVU's music department students and faculty with the vision that the scholarship would support piano students. Four UVU students participated in that first competition that included performances by guest artists.

"We're extremely grateful that a composer and musician of Kurt's caliber is so willing to help increase the number of music scholarships," Newell Dayley, dean of the School of the Arts at UVU, said in a release. "Because of the generosity of UVU friends like Kurt and Rebecca Marriott Champion, piano students at UVU are getting valuable performance competition experience while also vying for scholarships that will help them achieve their academic goals and prepare for professional opportunities."

For more than 20 years, Bestor has composed a variety of music in myriad styles and genres. His credits include 40 feature-length films, 16 popular CDs, numerous television themes and a mix of live shows. Bestor has presented his popular holiday shows for more than 16 years to sold-out audiences throughout the western United States.

Bestor has also performed internationally, conducting and performing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and the Estonian National Orchestra, among others.

Hilary Demske, a UVU assistant professor of piano and classical recording artist, will also perform at the benefit concert with Bestor.