The Ghost Light Podcast (Utah Symphony | Utah Opera)

Co-hosts Carol Anderson and Jeff Counts discuss the comedy, energy, music, and emotion of a colorful cast living out an unexpected overnight delay.

John Holiday from season 19 of NBC’s The Voice makes his Utah Opera debut in his signature role in the opera that has entertained audiences around the world and speaks to us of the realities of our shared humanity – Jonathan Dove and April de Angelis’ critically acclaimed opera, Flight.

We interview a LOT of composers on the podcast. But many of the composers we’d like to interview are no longer with us. So we’re forced to talk about them instead. Jeff and Carol discuss the creation of Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in this Deep Dive episode.

What does Mr. Rogers, the flute, music education, passing out on stage, and the Utah Symphony have in common? Guest soloist DeMarre McGill.

While a guest soloist with the Utah Symphony in May 2021, Seattle Symphony principal flutist DeMarre McGill joined co-hosts Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson.

They discuss the state of the classical music world, what it’s like growing up in a musical family (his brother is the principal clarinet for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra), his advice to young musicians, and a story of a time when he fainted on stage DURING a performance.

Hear their conversation on the first episode of season six of the Ghost Light Podcast.

Vocal Coach Nova Thomas joins the Ghost Light Podcast to discuss operatic voice types and the Fach system.

Pinchus Zukerman sits down with the Ghost Light Podcast.

Israeli director Omer Ben Saedia joined the Ghost Light Podcast prior to the opening of Utah Opera’s production of Peter Brook’s “La tragedie de Carmen” to discuss her thoughts about the current state of the world of opera.

Just prior to the recording of the upcoming USUO: On Demand performance with the Utah Symphony, guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas joined the Ghost Light Podcast.

In Pablo’s mind the guitar is an instrument that transcends borders. It’s “an expression of diversity.” From the Troubadour tradition to flamenco, blues, jazz, and bluegrass, and so many other genres, the guitar is a unifying instrument because of its versatility.

School and community outreach are an important element of Pablo’s career and mission. “I do what I do because I believe and have experienced a better world through music in our lives. Music is a perfect vehicle to tell stories, transmit values, erase borders, celebrate diversity, and bring people together by sharing our emotions.”

As a child of parents who were teachers, the concept of changing the world around in you in whatever way you can was a major theme in his youth. As a young guitarist he found joy in playing in venues such as nursing homes. “We have the opportunities as musicians to humanize settings that would ordinarily be harsh.”

In 2006 Pablo Sáinz Villegas founded the philanthropic project “The legacy of music without borders.” Whose mission is to bring music to people as a mean to humanize their environment and promote understanding between different cultures. Thanks to this project he has shared his music with more than 32,000 children and youth in Spain, Mexico, and United States. “When I play in Tijuana or any other place in the world I share music the same way I would share it in a place like Carnegie Hall. To me there is no difference. Only the wrapping on the building.”

Pablo brings his excitement about life to the musical stage, making him an audience favorite here in Utah and around the world. Listen to his interview here, and look for his performance with the Utah Symphony at USUO: On Demand.

Voice actor Carin Gilfry joins the Ghost Light Podcast to her journey from pursuing a career as an opera singer to a career voicing thousands of commercials, instructional videos, IVR systems, eLearning programs, documentaries, video games, and audiobooks.

Carin's voice may be familiar for fans of USUO in the Wasatch Front. You'll hear her voice in our radio and tv ads.

Utah Opera Senior Technical Director, Jared Porter joins the Ghost Light Podcast to discuss what goes on behind the scenes of an opera production.

Just prior to the opening night of Utah Opera’s production of Utah Opera’s October 2020 production, soprano Wendy Bryn Harmer joined the Ghost Light Podcast.

Wendy Bryn was born in California, but grew up in Bountiful, Utah. Her career has taken her to New York and the Metropolitan Opera, and around the world to play roles as a dramatic soprano. She was slated to make her Utah Opera debut in fall 2020 playing the role of Senta in Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. Due to circumstances of the pandemic, that production was cancelled and replaced by Francis Poulenc’s The Human Voice, a monodrama based on the fictional story of Elle, and her sung conversation with an ex-lover who will soon be married to another woman. Harmer notes that learning and memorizing a new role was not what she planned for 2020, but was grateful for the opportunity to be on the Capitol Theater stage.

The pandemic has hit the vocal musician community especially hard, especially here in the US where most professional singers have been sidelined for months. Ms Harmer finds that she is uniquely equipped to manage the isolation and expectations in an ever-changing world due to her recent battle with ovarian cancer.

What topic would she like to be see be made into an opera?

Has Wendy Bryn seen a ghost?

Find out in the latest episode of the Ghost Light Podcast.