From Salsa to Symphony—get to know newly appointed Utah Symphony Assistant Conductor Jessica Rivero Altarriba. The Ghostlight Team welcomes Maestra Altarriba to Utah and learns about her path to the podium. With a joyful commitment to audience engagement and a vision for the future of symphonic programming, she's a vibrant addition to our organization and our community.

Ghost Light Episode 9.5 - Get to Know Jessica Rivero Altarriba

For over 50 years, John Williams has delighted millions of listeners with his epic film music. Compositionally sophisticated and melodically inventive, his more than one hundred cinematic scores are masterpieces of virtuosic story-telling. In one of their patented Deep Dives™️, film score devotees Jeff and Carol talk about John Williams' life and amazing body of work, while sharing their personal experiences of Williams' music, both as listeners and performers. 

For tickets to Utah Symphony's January 2025 performance of the Film Music of John Williams, visit: https://utahsymphony.org/event/id/33383/

Ghost Light Episode 9.6 - The Music of John Williams

Though there is a children’s chorus, a children’s ballet, and adults playing children, "Hansel and Gretel" is much more than a children’s opera. In preparation for Utah Opera’s presentation of this beloved fairytale, Jeff and Carol talk about the opera’s backstory and why it’s one of the more underrated and sophisticated scores of the late nineteenth century.

Ghost Light Episode 9.7 - Humperdinck's "Hansel & Gretel" Prelude

From riots to radicalism to Disney and dinosaurs, Igor Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" blasted on the classical music scene in May of 1913 and has been captivating audiences ever since. In one of their Deep Dives, Jeff and Carol talk about the man behind the music, the stories around the premiere, and the music that still sounds modern more than a century later (even though it isn't).

Episode 9.8 - The Rite of Spring Deep Dive

This week Jeff and Carol sit down with Utah Symphony's Music Director Emeritus Thierry Fischer to talk about his upcoming Mahler mini-festival. Thierry also catches us up on his life since leaving Salt Lake City (hint: busy and fulfilling), his passion projects, and his new role of grandfather! 

Episode 9.9 - Catch Up with Music Director Emeritus Thierry Fischer

You've heard the aria and you've seen the iconic sad commedia clown face. Now join Jeff and Carol as they look beyond the greasepaint into the bleeding heart of Ruggero Leoncavallo's visceral opera. 

Episode 9.10 - Leoncavallo's Pagliacci Prelude

Jeff and Carol invite musicologist Catherine Mayes to help unpack the thorny topic of exoticism and colonialism in Western Music. This is part one of a three-episode introduction to Utah Opera's upcoming production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly.

Episode 9.11 - Madame Butterfly Prelude Part One

If at first you don’t succeed, rewrite it four times—just ask Puccini. In this season’s final opera prelude, Jeff and Carol explore Madame Butterfly, from its rocky premiere to eventual triumph. They delve into the opera’s complex cultural backdrop, examine its literary roots, and confront the tension between the troubling elements within its story and its lasting popularity with opera audiences. 

Episode 9.13 - Madame Butterfly Prelude Part Two

What does it take to reimagine "Madame Butterfly" for today’s stage? Director Matthew Ozawa and mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen join us for a candid conversation about creativity, representation, and reshaping a classic from the inside out.

Episode 9.14 - Madame Butterfly Prelude Part Three

From its dramatic opening that gave its composer “no peace,” to its sparkling finale, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor has been delighting listeners for almost two centuries. To open the USUO Ghost Light Podcast’s tenth season, Jeff and Carol uncover the artistic partnership behind this landmark (and revolutionary) work and consider why it remains a cornerstone of the concerto repertoire.

Episode 10.1 - Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto

The stage is dark, but the conversation is just beginning. Welcome to Utah Symphony | Utah Opera's Ghost Light podcast, a behind the curtain look into the world of classical music and opera and the artists who make it. Hosted by Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson. Produced and edited by Robert Bedont.

New tracks tagged #jeff counts