Utah Symphony
Artists’ Profiles
Artists’ Profiles
Fawzi Haimor
Conductor
Fawzi Haimor was General Music Director of the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen from September 2017 until the end of 2020. Highlights of the 2022–23 season include concerts with The Florida Orchestra with works by Cerdenia, Marsalis, Ellington, and Gershwin and his debut with Utah Symphony. Fawzi Haimor has conducted many orchestras including the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, WDR Funkhausorchester in Cologne, Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, Orquesta Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, the Oulu Sinfonia, and Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. In the US, he has worked with The Florida Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, New West Symphony, and the New Mexico Philharmonic, among others.
Ashley Fabian
Soprano
Described as “a joy to watch and hear” (Daily Camera), soprano Ashley Fabian is quickly garnering recognition for her artistry in both comedic and dramatic roles. In concert Ms. Fabian has appeared as the Soprano soloist for Brahm’s Ein deutsches Requiem with the Erie Philharmonic and has also been a soloist in Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Messiah, Faure’s Requiem, Charpentier’s Te Deum, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and a fully staged production of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.
Ms. Fabian has been the recipient of awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Orpheus Vocal Competition, Central City Opera, and the Grand Concours Franco-American Competition. In addition, she was a finalist in the Tenor Viñas Competition, Mildred Miller Competition, Cooper-Bing Competition, and Piccola Opera Competition. She holds a M.M. from The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a B.A. and Artist Diploma from The College of Charleston.
Jack Swanson
Tenor
This season, tenor Jack Swanson, a Stillwater, MN native, premieres the title-role in Paola Prestini’s Edward Tulane with the Minnesota Opera, makes debuts with the Austin Opera as Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the Utah Opera as Tonio in La Fille du Régiment (a role debut, as well) and the Atlanta Opera as the title-role in Candide. In concert the tenor joins the Houston Symphony and Yitzhak Perlman for the Mozart Requiem and the Mercury Chamber Orchestra in Houston for Handel’s Messiah. Future engagements include debuts with the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Houston Grand Opera and returns to the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and the Norwegian Opera.
Last season, Jack Swanson debuted with a number of European companies: the Teatro Regio in Torino as Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the Opéra National de Lorraine as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (a role debut) and the Opéra National du Rhin as Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte (a role he had just debuted for his return to the Oper Frankfurt). In the summer he returned to the Santa Fe Opera in his signature-role of Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Christopher Clayton
Baritone
Baritone Christopher Clayton is quickly establishing himself as a rising talent on the operatic stage. He has appeared with companies such as Utah Opera, Portland Opera, Opera Birmingham, Chautauqua Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Opera Idaho. Recent Engagements have included Alvaro in Florencia en el Amazonas, Friedrich Bhaer in Adamo’s Little Women with Utah Opera, and Tonio in Pagliacci with Opera Birmingham. Christopher received a Professional Studies Certificate and Master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music. At Manhattan School he studied with Maitland Peters and worked closely with Warren Jones and Dona Vaughn. He has received prizes and grants from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Violetta Pollara DuPont Vocal Competition the Marian Anderson Vocal Competition, the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition, the Chautauqua Opera Guild and the Oratorio Society of New York.
Dr. Barlow Bradford
Symphony Chorus Director
Over the course of his extraordinary musical career, Dr. Barlow Bradford has distinguished himself as a conductor, composer, arranger, pianist, organist, and teacher. As an orchestral and choral conductor, he co-founded the Utah Chamber Artists in 1991 and has led that organization to international acclaim for its impeccable, nuanced performances and award-winning recordings including an INDIE from NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors & Manufacturers) for the CD Welcome All Wonders, released in 1996 on the BWE label.
Utah Chamber Artists was featured on NPR’s “The First Art,” a program dedicated to choral music and performed as a featured ensemble with the Boston Pops and Utah Symphony. Under his baton, Utah Chamber Artists also toured Israel with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, performed as the guest choir at the American Choral Directors Association national convention, and joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on their national television broadcast. Dr. Bradford’s focused, energetic conducting style led to his appointment as music director of the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City and associate director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Prior to that, he was director of orchestras at the University of Utah.
Melanie Malinka
Chorus Director - The Madeleine Choir School
Over the course of his extraordinary musical career, Dr. Barlow Bradford has distinguished himself as a conductor, composer, arranger, pianist, organist, and teacher. As an orchestral and choral conductor, he co-founded the Utah Chamber Artists in 1991 and has led that organization to international acclaim for its impeccable, nuanced performances and award-winning recordings including an INDIE from NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors & Manufacturers) for the CD Welcome All Wonders, released in 1996 on the BWE label.
Utah Chamber Artists was featured on NPR’s “The First Art,” a program dedicated to choral music and performed as a featured ensemble with the Boston Pops and Utah Symphony. Under his baton, Utah Chamber Artists also toured Israel with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, performed as the guest choir at the American Choral Directors Association national convention, and joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on their national television broadcast. Dr. Bradford’s focused, energetic conducting style led to his appointment as music director of the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City and associate director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Prior to that, he was director of orchestras at the University of Utah.
Utah Symphony Chorus
Rich Adams
Sara Baylor
Nate Benincosa
Grace Bingham
Skyler Blummel
Emma Chambers
Lexie Davis
Jake Fowkes
Dacia Gray
Julie Hadlock
Maren Hansen
Dave Hansen
Emily Hansen
John Hayward
Mika Holbrooks
Yu-Feng Huang
Brandon Huegley
Leslie Jenkins
Ashley Judd
Scott King
Emily Larson
David Layton
Anna Lucero
April Lund
Hal Mauchley
Nathan McKeller
William Mollenkamp
Ryan Oldroyd
Matt Robertson
Melissa Settler
Michelle Skylar
Talia Stivener
Mitch Sturges-Kershisnik
Seth Sturges-Kershisnik
Julia Thomas
Connor Thompson
University of Utah Chorus
Soprano
Madison Ackroyd
Nathalia Alvarez
Rebecca Baker
Abbey Casper
Patricia Chase
Mishelle Cipriani
Isabel Cossa
Zahra Falahati
Evelyn Gibson
Marybeth Groth
Skyley Gutierrez
Meg Johnson
Clara Mendez
Allison Pierce
Julia Prager
Alex Renola
Anna Roelofs
Courtney Sales
Hallie Steadman
Karley Swallow
Alyssa Vandenberg
Hannah VonHatten
Lily Winsett
Alto
Aubrey Adam-McMillan
Mary Andrews
Clara Buchanan
Zoe Caldwell
Mara Davis
Erin Dickes
Amelia Eastland
Jourdan Elterman
Danielle Hayward
Audrey Johnson
Elissa Jones
Kate Jones
Charlotte Knudson
Sage Madsen
Allie Marsh
Makenna McMullin
Emmalyne Parke
Olivia Raines
Savannah Squire
Zoe Stevens
Jessica Sutherland
Lauren Tian
Anna Woods
Tenor
Kayvon Alipour
Brayden Beck
Logan Bingham
Dillan Burnett
Kaden Conrad
Ricardo Cornejo
Jon Gibson
Jonah Gray
Max Huang
Brandon LaBarge
Isaac Lee
Caden Lewis
Caleb Martin
William Pearce
Max Ricks
Rob Swenson
Will Tepner
Daniel Watts
Bass
Scott Bigler
William Dreyer
Jackson Fowers
Travis Hall
Ethan Hepworth
Porter Hiatt
Kameron Kavanaugh
Ethan Kendrick
Eric Kingston
Hanjun Lee
Logan Luker
Caleb Spjute
Matthew Tang
Carl Tensmeyer
Abraham Zhong
The Madeleine Choir School
Anaya Alt
Elena Cabrera
Martin Cabrera
Renzo Foster
Lucy Fowler
Rhys Golley
Vanessa Gomez
Amelia Hanley
Arina Ispolatova
Elliott Jeppsen
Ella Johnson
Miles Keeton
Anders Millican
Madison McGinley
Samantha McGinley
Ethan Molina
Noah Nix
Meg Nuvan
Joshua Peterson
Daniel Quinlan
Mateo Sigala
Ailano Soriano Vargas
Pavlos Tsoutsounakis
Alexandra Young
Musical preparation: Melanie Malinka, Director of Music, The Madeleine Choir School
Located in downtown Salt Lake City, The Madeleine Choir School is far more than a music school. MCS offers students strong character formation and a holistic approach to exceptional age appropriate learning. MCS music curriculum is unmatched and also provides outstanding instruction in the humanities, mathematics and the sciences, as well as foreign languages, visual arts, theology, and athletics.
The choristers in Grades Five through Eight regularly assist with the worship life at the Cathedral of the Madeleine and participate in the Annual Concert Series. During the academic year they can be heard at the Cathedral’s 5:15 p.m. Mass Monday through Thursday, and on Sundays at the 11:00 a.m. Mass. The students travel on international and national performance tours to Italy every four years, and just returned from Rome, Assisi, Florence and Milan. The Choristers of the Madeleine Choir School regularly collaborate with the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera and other arts organizations, including the Grand Teton Music Festival.
Please visit utmcs.org for a list of scheduled admissions events, or contact our Director of Admissions at admissions@utmcs.org or 801-323-9850 ext. 103.
