The BYU Philharmonic Orchestra received overwhelmingly positive reviews in Fanfare magazine for their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. Fanfare is a national, bimonthly publication that reviews contemporary recordings of classical music. The quality of music from the BYU Philharmonic was not only compared to the work of other collegiate level orchestras, but also to professional orchestras in the United States and in Europe. As the university’s flagship orchestra, the School of Music faculty and students are appreciative of and excited for these kinds of reviews. Robert Markow, a writer for Fanfare, praised the orchestra on several levels. “After learning it was the flagship orchestra at Brigham Young University’s School of Music in Provo, Utah, I was prepared to dismiss it as no more than a vanity exercise,” wrote Markow, who reviewed the BYU Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler Symphony No. 3. “That would have been a grave mistake... What a revelation!” Kory Katseanes, Director of the School of Music, conducts the BYU Philharmonic orchestra. He said he is grateful for the praise, but he feels that credit needs to be given to the members of the orchestra. “These gratifying reviews are a reflection of their hard work and their capacity,” Katseanes said. “When we get praise as glowing as this, I think of these students and how grateful I am that they rose to this level.” Reviewers also shined the spotlight on a few individual students. Spencer Park, one of the orchestra’s principal horn players, and Ali Atkinson, a trumpet player, were both singled out by reviewers. One reviewer said that Park has “a glorious sound, perfect intonation, clean articulation,” and that “he could easily step into a first-horn position in any major orchestra tomorrow.” “I’m really happy that the BYU School of Music is being recognized nationally as a top-notch music school,” Park said. “With the help of these reviews, hopefully we can get more national attention, which I think we deserve.” Atkinson said that this recording of the Mahler symphony is a testimony to the talent and hard work the members of the orchestra put into their musical efforts. “We all expect so much of each other,” Atkinson said. “We keep each other accountable to high expectations, because where we’re headed is incredible.” The orchestra’s next concert is November 19 in the de Jong Concert Hall in the Harris Fine Arts Center. Tickets are available at arts.byu.edu. To purchase the BYU Philharmonic’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, click here. See the BYU Philharmonic at the Salt Flats, produced by the Laycock Center for Creative Collaboration:

BYU animation students learned firsthand from the director of the highest grossing animated movie of all time in a lecture on campus.

To prepare for her role as Mercedes in the production, BYU student Shae Robins spent time with Frank Wildhorn and the show’s musical director Gayle Lockwood this August prior to the start of rehearsals. This summer in New York, Tony Award-winning composer Frank Wildhorn sat in his apartment with Shae Robins, a BYU Music Dance Theatre

SOLD OUT! The Women’s Chorus and Men’s Chorus tickets are sold out, but you can still see their performances streamed live at liveconcerts.byu.edu. These two groups are versatile singers who perform a diverse repertoire extending from medieval and renaissance works to masterpieces of our own time.

Jonathan Furmanski, Audio/Video Conservator at the Getty Research Institute, will address us as part of the MOA’s fall Contemporary Art Lecture Series, featuring talks by artists and professionals from all over the world, film screenings, and speaker panels.

Brigham Young University’s Department of Theatre and Media Arts will present a performance of “Our Town” Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 21-22 and Dec. 2-11 in the Pardoe Theatre. The play will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, with additional Saturday matinee performances at 2:00 p.m.

Students and faculty of the College of Fine Arts and Communications’ Department of Communications took the lead October 24 at a presentation in the Hinckley Center for the President’s Leadership Council (PLC), a group of donors who match student, employee and alumni donations.

The Brigham Young University Department of Theatre Media and Arts will present the farcical comedy “See How They Run” by Philip King in the Margetts Theatre this November. Performances will be held Nov. 7-8, 12-15 and 18-22 at 7:30 p.m. with matinee performances onNov. 8 and 17 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets for the Saturday matinee performances are $8.00. For evening performances, student and BYU employee tickets will be $9.00, senior citizen tickets and alumni will be $12.00 and general public will be $14.00. For tickets, visit the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, call (801) 422-4322 or visit byuarts.com. The two-act play, directed by Barta Lee Heiner, is set entirely within the living room of a vicarage in a fictitious World War II era English village. With a cast of mismatched personalities including Russian spies and vicars, mistaken identities and slamming doors this play is one of hysterical farce and mayhem. Philip King wrote just the first act of this classic comedy in 1942 and later completed the second act in 1943. The completed play premiered on the West End in 1944 with some drama when three German guided missiles exploded near the theater during opening night. The play ran for 18 months with nearly 600 performances. The BYU cast includes Noelle Houston as Ida, Ann Lopez as Miss Skillon, Soren Barker as The Reverend Lionel Toop, Ali Kinkade as Penelope Toop, Alex Diaz as Corporal Clive Winton, Canute Peterson as The Intruder, Rodger Sorensen as The Bishop of Lax, Jordan Nicholes as The Reverend Arthur Humphrey and MIchael Abbott as Sergeant Towers. The technical crew for “See How They Run” includes Jennifer Reed, production manager Logan Hayden, scenic designer; Mckenzie Ottley, lighting designer; Marissa Pack, costume designer; Jacqueline Johnson, sound designer; Ward Wright, technical director; Abram Yarbro, dramaturg; and Sarah Barrus; stage manager.

At the annual Dance Assembly for the BYU campus community in the Marriott Center on October 28, the BYU Department of Dance presented a compilation performance called “Into the Mountains.' This entertaining, uplifting and fun program featured the best of dance art at BYU. The five BYU traveling dance groups: Ballroom Dance Company, Contemporary Dance Theatre, International Folk Dance Ensemble, Living Legends and Theatre Ballet performed highlights from their amazing, internationally-tested repertoire. Each number was selected specifically for this assembly, which was inspired by President Worthen’s Inaugural address to “go to the mountains.”

The Annual Dance Assembly is this Tuesday, October 28, at 11 a.m. in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University. Five performance companies–The Ballroom Dance Company, Living Legends, Theatre Ballet, The International Folk Dance Ensemble and Contemporary Dance Theatre–will present a variety of performances focused on the theme “Into the Mountains.”

Join us for this fast-paced interdisciplinary exchange of ideas as four of your favorite BYU professors discuss different topics related to our current exhibition CUT! Costume and the Cinema. Each speaker will offer a five-minute talk about their perspectives on costumes, cinema, and the cult of celebrity.

Pilgrimage is an aspect of the human experience that has persisted through time and different cultures. While each journey may have different destination, each pilgrim will be influenced through the experience that they have.This theme is addressed in Movement and Meaning, the sixth exhibition by the Department of Visual Arts’ Faith in Works Committee. Through the works of a diverse group of artists, the purpose and change that their own personal pilgrimage brings is examined. International artists Alinka Echeverria, Beth Krensky, Dane Johansen will be featured.This free exhibitions will be on display from October 2 to October 30 in the B.F. Larsen Gallery. The gallery is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and is located in the third floor of the Harris Fine Arts Center.View images from the exhibition here.