Classical Music Discoveries

Live radio shows, such as the Grand Ole Opry, used to dominate the radio dial. Those days have returned with a 21st century twist at the Orchestra of Southern Utah Fall Recital on Tuesday, September 15th. The recital features a live internet podcast hosted by OSU podcast hosts Ken and Sandy Hedgecock.

“A podcast is comparable to a radio show”, stated Ken. Unlike a radio show which has a small local audience and can only be heard once, however, a podcast is broadcast over the internet where it can be heard by millions of people around the world forever. “All you need to listen to it is a computer and download the show or stream it to your computer,” Ken said. OSU podcasts can be found at the OSU website www.orchestraofsouthernutah.org.

Ken explained that podcasts started to become popular about three years ago. “I thought it might be interesting to broadcast the OSU recitals and concerts to the world and see what happened. We started small and only had 137 listeners at first. Then I thought I should change our format a bit and had Sandy be the podcast's hostess. With those changes, our podcast immediately exploded into thousands of ‘happy listeners.’ Now we have over 30 million listeners per month.”

“We never know where our podcasts are going to lead us, we just enjoy the adventure,” Ken continued. Now the podcast adventure has led to a live podcast at the September 15th recital. “The entire recital will be done as a live podcast and even Mayor Sherratt will be there to ‘welcome the world to Cedar City.’ We will have some of our most popular performers there, as well as couple of new performers to our podcast. Also, Justin Locke, author of ‘Real Men Don't Rehearse’ and former bass player of the Boston Pops, has written a humorous musical skit that will be performed by the Sing for our Dinner Players. It promises to be a very fun evening for all and very different than what anyone is used to seeing at the recitals.”

In addition to hosting the podcast, the Ken and Sandy sing “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” from Annie Get Your Gun. They will be accompanied by Gina Ginouves.

“Dindirin, Dindirin” by Philip Lawson, “Blackbird” by Lennon and McCartney arranged by Daryl Runswick, and the Tradition Irish song “An Irish Blessing” are sung by Marlo Ihler, Adrianne Tawa, Mark Leavitt, and Wyett Ihler. Marlo is a marketing associate at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. She is a graduate of SUU with a degree in Music and Arts Administration and has long been involved with OSU leadership and other community arts organizations. Adrianne is the Canyon View High choir director and teaches private voice lessons. She is a graduate of SUU and the Choral Director for the Cedar City’s annual Messiah Concert. Mark, a Cedar native of Cedar City, also sings with the Master Singers and is an officer with the Leavitt Group. Wyett is the founding member of the acapella group Simple Men and sings with the Master Singers. He is also a graduate of SUU.

Trio Emi Toland, Carla Richman and Cythia Bradley sing “Don’t Be Cruel” by Otis Blackwell and “California Dreamin’” by the Mamas and the Papas. They are local favorites on the karaoke scene.

OSU violinist Marisa Barth performs “Concerto #5 in A Major Allegro aperto” by Mozart. She is accompanied by Mary Anne Andersen. Marisa just completed a season as a musician in the Greenshow at the Utah Shakespearean Festival.

Anna Sun plays “Fantasie Impromptu Op. 66” by Frederic Chopin. She performed as a soloist last spring with OSU and just joined OSU as a violinist. Her sister Sarah plays “Chim Chim Chi-ree" by Sherman and Sherman. She is featured on Sept. 24 in the OSU Talent Showcase.

“Lost in the Stars” by Kurt Weill is performed by trumpet Gary Player and pianist Sharon Hatch. Gary is a geologist and Sharon works in health care.

“Defying Gravity” from the Broadway Musical Wicked by Stephen Schwartz is sung by Holly Andrews Barrick, with Alysa Dummer at the piano. Holly has been invovled with musical theater since she was 8 years old. Her favorite roles have included the Narator in "Joseph", Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, and director of Parowan Theater's "Wizard of Oz." Holly has been married for 9 years to Brandon Barrick and is a stay at home mom three funny little kids. She tries to stay involved with music through In Jubilo as an assistant conductor, various community theater projects and teaching private voice lessons

Podcast hostess: Sandy Hedgecock
Sound/Recording: Ken Hedgecock

Photo: Podcast hostess and producers, Sandy and Ken Hedgecock