In August Thierry and the Utah Symphony and Opera embark on the Great American Road Trip, performing free outdoor classical music concerts in rural populations of Utah. The tour aims to  forge connections with new communities and celebrate the state’s rich natural and cultural heritage.

The Great American Road Trip is a collaboration with the Utah Office of Tourism and the Natural History Museum of Utah and will take music outside of the four walls of the concert hall into the landscapes of the state’s national parks and monuments. The tour will highlight the natural elements through song, classical repertoire and storytelling and exciting outreach opportunities and events. Thierry and his musicians are accompanied on the tour by Native American composer/musician Brent Michael Davids, soprano Abigail Rethwisch and baritone Andrew Paulson. The tour features music by Brent Michael Davids, iconic American works by Bernstein, Copland and Rodgers and Hammerstein as well as famous pieces by Mussorgsky, Dvorák, Mozart and Rossini.

The Great American Road Trip begins at the O.C. Tanner Amphitheater near Zion National Park on 29 August and also visits Bluff on 31 August and Split Mountain in Dinosaur National Monument on 2 September. It also includes chamber concerts at the Cedar Breaks National Monument and Goblin Valley State Park, educational events in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Utah and star-gazing with the Committee for Dark Skies Studies.

Thierry travels to Berlin this month for a concert with the Scharoun Ensemble at the Berliner Philharmonie on 22 June 2017. The ensemble is comprised of leading members of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Thierry leads the ensemble in a programme of Isang Yun Distanzen and Michael Jarrell …un temps de silence…, which is heard for the first time in a version for chamber ensemble. Thierry and the ensemble are joined for …un temps de silence… by soloist Emmanuel Pahud, for whom the flute concerto was written.

Utah Symphony announced today the extension of Thierry Fischer’s contract as Music Director until summer 2022, 11 years since he first took up the position.

During the first six years of his tenure thus far, highlights have included: the orchestra’s first concert at Carnegie Hall in 40 years, CD recordings of Mahler and contemporary repertoire on Reference Records; a deal with Hyperion for the complete Saint-Saens Symphonies going foward; a ground-breaking tour of Utah’s national parks followed by an award-winning documentary; and just last month an outreach initiative in Haiti (the first of its kind).

A hallmark of Fischer’s tenure has been the performance of complete symphonic cycles including Beethoven (2011/12), Mendelssohn (2012/13), and Nielsen (2013/14). In 2014/15, Fischer began a two-season Mahler symphony cycle in honour of the Utah Symphony’s former music director Maurice Abravanel, under whose baton the orchestra recorded the first complete cycle by an American orchestra of all nine Mahler symphonies. He has also programmed a multi-season exploration of the works of Stravinsky, which included Fischer’s Utah Opera debut conducting The Rake’s Progress, and during the 2016/17 season three full composer cycles featuring all five Beethoven piano concertos, all four Brahms symphonies, and all four Ives symphonies. Under Fischer’s guidance, the Utah Symphony has developed a commissioning programme of contemporary works, including works by Nico Muhly, Andrew Norman, Augusta Read Thomas, Simon Holt and Michael Jarrell.

In addition to extending his contract with the Utah Symphony, Fischer remains Principal Guest Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he began his tenure in March 2017.

Thierry travels to Florence this week for a concert at the city’s Maggio Musicale Festival on 21 May. Thierry joins the Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Festival at the Opera di Firenze, where he leads performances of Ives Unanswered Question, Brahms Alto Rhapsody and Berlioz Symphonie fantastique. The Maggio Musicale is part of Florence’s Calendimaggio (or May Day) celebrations, which also include La Campagna dentro le mura (The Countryside within Historic City Walls), which explores the nearby pre-Renaissance hilltown of Buggiano Castello, and the educational and cultural events of the Festival of Europe.

Thierry then returns to Salt Lake City to close the Utah Symphony’s regular season at Abravanel Hall on 26 and 27 May. Thierry conducts the orchestra in a programme of Tchaikovsky Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Varèse Amériques and Stravinsky The Rite of Spring.

Thierry travels to Seoul for the third time this year to conduct the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on 12 and 13 May 2017 in an all-French programme at the Seoul Arts Center. He will conduct Dutilleux Timbres, espace, movement, Berlioz Symphonie fantastique and Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, with soloist Bertrand Chamayou. Thierry says of the programme:

“In French music, I always find a clear fusion between words and sounds; it has the rare capacity to audibly render the fragility of human speech. I am also strongly attracted, especially in the music of Dutilleux, to the idea of hidden mysteries, like the silence of infinite spaces. In French music, everything does not necessarily happen immediately. It is similar to the way we store all sorts of things in our subconscious, but it is only after a long time that those visions flourish. So, after having performed German and Russian music in my last two visits to Seoul, I really wanted to experience French musical poetry with the orchestra that I hope will resonate with the audience.”

Thierry’s first season as Principal Guest Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic continues on on 20 April when he rejoins the orchestra for a concert at the Seoul Arts Center Orchestra Festival. Thierry conducts a programme of Isang Yun Ouvertüre, Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5 and Dvorák Violin Concerto with rising violinist Christel Lee. Thierry returns to the orchestra in May for two performances of an all-French programme featuring pianist Bertrand Chamayou.

Elsewhere this month, Thierry conducts the Utah Symphony and pianist Yefim Bronfman in performances of two Beethoven Piano Concertos – No.3 and No.4 – as well as Berg 3 Orchesterstücke.

Thierry begins his tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic this month, conducting two concerts at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul on 9 and 10 March 2017. He is joined for the performances by Truls Mørk, who performs Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1. Brahms Symphony No.1 and Haydn Symphony No.1 complete the programme, which is intended to showcase the flexibility of the orchestra.

Later in the month, Thierry returns to the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, his first return since his debut last season. The programme pairs Debussy La Mer with Wim Hendrickx Aquarius’ Dream. Other concerts include two performances with the Basque National Orchestra at the Musika Musica Festival in Bilbao and two concerts with the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Thierry and the Utah Symphony are joined by François Leleux at Abravanel Hall on 24 February for the US premiere of Michael Jarrell’s new oboe concerto, which was composed for Leleux. The concerto is part of a programme also featuring Hummel Introduction, Theme and Variations and Brahms Symphony No.4.

This is the highlight of his month in Utah in which he also conducts Ives’ Symphony No.4, which composer Bernard Herrman praised as “one of the greatest symphonies ever penned. It is the great American symphony that our critics and conductors have cried out for.”

Thierry and the Utah Symphony are joined by cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan for three concerts this month: at the Browning Center in Ogden on 2 February and at Abravanel Hall on 3 and 4 February. The programme for the concerts features Brahms Academic Festival Overture and Symphony No.2 and Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1.

Later in the month, Thierry conducts the Utah Symphony in concerts featuring Mozart Requiem with soloists Joélle Harvey, Sarah Coit, Benjamin Butterfield and Derrick Parker and also Michael Jarrell Oboe Concerto, for which they are joined by François Leleux.