Crown & Cosmos: A Stellar Close to SUU's Music Season
Published: April 14, 2025 | Author: Kol Gibson | Read Time: 3 minutes
Southern Utah University’s Department of Music invites the community to experience the final concert of the 2024–2025 Music Masterworks Series: Crown and Cosmos, held on Friday, April 18, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. in the Heritage Center Theater. This spectacular evening will feature the SUU Concert Choir and OPUS Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Andrew Briggs, and the SUU Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Xun Sun.
The evening will open with Gustav Holst’s The Planets, as the SUU Symphony Orchestra performs movement one, Mars, the Bringer of War, and movement six, Uranus, the Magician. Mars conveys the horror of war through dissonance and relentless off-kilter time signature, while Uranus is a series of lilting dance-like phrases that eventually fade into silence.
The program will continue with a succession of choral groups, starting with the SUU Concert Choir accompanied by Charity Whittaker, then the OPUS Chamber Choir accompanied by Tracey Bradshaw, and finally, a combined men’s chorus from both choirs accompanied again by Bradshaw.
A brief presentation by Dr. Doug Ipson about the life and legacy of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will precede the final performance of Mozart’s Coronation Mass, which the combined SUU choirs and orchestra will perform, conducted by Dr. Briggs. This is one of the composer’s most popular masses, often used by the Imperial court in Vienna in the early nineteenth century for royal and imperial coronations. Soloists for the Coronation Mass include sopranos Mia Ellingson and Ember Moat, mezzo-soprano Olatz Unamuno Omagogeascoa, tenor Zachary Smith, and bass Lawrence Mbaki.
"These works feature glorious moments for the performers and the audience," said Dr. Briggs. "Bringing together students, faculty, and community members for such an ambitious program is an honor, and we hope audiences leave feeling uplifted and awed."
Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for SUU alumni, and $5 for youth and non-SUU students. SUU students, faculty, and staff receive free admission with a valid SUU ID. Tickets are available online and at the Heritage Center Theater ticket office before the concert.
Don’t miss this unforgettable night of music. Crown & Cosmos promises to be an inspiring and transcendent close to the 2024–2025 Music Masterworks Series. For more information about Music at SUU, visit www.suu.edu/pva/music.
About the College of Performing and Visual Arts
The College of Performing and Visual Arts (CPVA) at Southern Utah University comprises 41 academic programs including liberal arts (BA/BS) and professional (BFA, BM, BMEd) degrees in art, design, dance, filmmaking, music, and theatre. It includes graduate programs in the fields of arts administration (MFA, MA), music education (MME), and music technology (MM). More than 60 full-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 900 majors in the College. CPVA presents over 100 performances, lectures, presentations, and exhibitions each year which are complemented by the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA) and Shakespeare Studies at SUU, and is affiliated with the Tony award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF). Southern Utah University is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD), National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) making SUU the first public university in the state of Utah to be accredited by all four associations. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, visit www.suu.edu/pva.Tags: Orchestra Music Community College of Performing and Visual Arts
Contact Information:
Kol Gibson
435-865-8667
kolgibson@suu.edu