For this special large-scale edition of Highway 89 we moved out of our regular studio and into BYU Broadcasting’s most spacious recording venue: Studio C. The night before the taping the big percussive instruments were delivered, music stands and chairs were situated properly and the plan for the next day was reviewed. The following day the show went off without a hitch and we want to thank Scott Hagan and his “big ole band” for a glorious performance. 

THE UTAH WIND SYMPHONY is a rare gem in the United States. Most active ensembles are on college campuses or are military bands where marching music is king. But the UTAH WIND SYMPHONY is a wish come to life. The group’s founder, Lori Shepherd, hoped for years to create a “dream team” of Utah musicians and finally succeeded in 2010 with the symphony performing its inaugural concert at Libby Gardner Hall in Salt Lake City. 

The symphony’s now in its fourth season and there’s been a lot of positive press. The Salt Lake Tribune reported on the symphony’s “impressive technical proficiency with fiendishly difficult scores” and wrote that the musicians’ “sensitive expressiveness astounds.” But our favorite compliment is a fan that said “There’s no finer wind band west of Washington D.C.!”  

The musicians of the Utah Wind Symphony are: Abby Tippetts, Adam Larsen, Alicia Kim, Alyssa Morris, Anne Boyer, Ben Gooch, Brandon Cressall, Bret Hughes, Brian Crosby, Chris Stubbs, Daniel Stolworthy, David King, Ellen Fudge, Hillary Fuller, Howard Summers, Jared Morris, Jeff Counts, Jeff Scott, Jennifer Nelson, John Bowman, Karen Hastings, Kathleen Hunter, Kathy Larson, Keith Sorenson, Kevin Hilman, Kevin Stephensen, Kirt Saville, Lori Clark, Mandy Merriman, Matt Tippetts, Matthew Boehme, Megan Clark, Michael Thornton, Mike Pape, Myroslava Hagen, Nicole Marriott, Rachel Whitchurch, Randal Clark, Randy Lee, Scott Hagen, Scott Harris, Seth Miner, Steven Hunter, Taylor Malmrose, Tia Jaynes 

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