Some of the best guests are worth road-tripping for! We travelled all the way down to Libby Gardner Hall at the University of Utah today to hear Master Keyboardists Richard Elliott and Jason Hardink perform as part of the NOVA Chamber Music Series. Established in 1977, NOVA is the oldest chamber music series in Utah and has taken a leading role in the arts community of Utah, providing an opportunity for Utah artists and audiences to explore vast and varied chamber music repertoires all year round. 

Richard Elliott is a NOVA collaborator and the Principal Tabernacle Organist for the Salt Lake Tabernacle and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Prior to his appointment as Tabernacle organist in 1991, he was an assistant professor of organ at Brigham Young University. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, and former student at the Peabody Conservatory and the Catholic University of America, he earned a bachelor of music degree from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Today he plays Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor for us on the University of Utah’s beautiful organ. 

Jason Hardink is the Artistic Director for NOVA, a position he has held since 2009. He is also the principle keyboardist for the Utah Symphony and an adjudicator for the Gina Bachauer and Oberlin International Piano Competitions, having earned his DMA from Rice University. Known for his thesis “Messiaen and Plainchant,” Jason shares with us three pieces by French composer Olivier Messiaen, including two movements from Vignt Regards sur L’Enfant Jésus, a 20-movement work about the reception of the birth of Jesus Christ. 

These two master musicians are worth every mile! 

Host: Steven Kapp Perry 

Repertoire: BACH Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor; MESSIAEN Prélude, Vignt Regards sur L’Enfant Jésus Mov. 14 & 11; 

Websites: novaslc.org; jasonhardink.com; mormontabernaclechoir.org; 

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