Grammy Award-Winner Chris Botti to Kick-Off the Deer Valley® Music Festival on June 28

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (June 13, 2019) – Grammy award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti will set the stage for the Deer Valley® Music Festival as the first musical guest of the 16^th season to perform with the Utah Symphony, with Deer Valley® Music Festival Principal Conductor Conner Gray Covington leading the orchestra. The performance will take place on Friday, June 28 at 7:30 PM at Deer Valley Resort’s Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater.

Chris Botti has climbed his way to the top of the charts to become the largest-selling American instrumental artist. Since the release of his critically acclaimed album “When I Fall in Love” in 2004, he has stunned audiences with his contemporary trumpet music and become known for his superior talent in various genres, including pop and rock. He has had four #1 jazz albums and won a Grammy for his album “Impressions” in 2013, in addition to multiple Gold and Platinum awards. Botti has worked with numerous world-famous musicians such as Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Sting, Frank Sinatra and Paul Simon. He has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House, and critics frequently refer to Botti and his performances as “eclectic, entertaining, and downright electrifying.”

Conner Gray Covington is in his second season with the Utah Symphony as Associate Conductor and assumed the role of the Deer Valley® Music Festival’s Principal Conductor for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He has conducted over 80 performances across the state of Utah. Before his residency in Utah he was the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and has worked with the symphonies of St. Louis, Virginia, and Monterey (California) as a guest conductor. Covington graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in violin performance and has earned awards such as the Walter Hagan Conducting Prize and the Career Assistance Awards from the Solti Foundation U.S. in 2014, 2017 and 2019.

Utah Symphony | Utah Opera’s 16^th season of the Deer Valley® Music Festival comprises 19 performances over seven weeks with performances in a variety of venues featuring a wide array of music styles, including bluegrass, musical theater, folk, country, and more. The 16^th year of the festival will focus on celebrating the local community, donors, and supporters through a variety of pop-up ensemble performances at existing summer events and venues throughout the community.

RELATED EVENTS
Throughout the 2019 festival, small Utah Symphony and Utah Opera ensembles will perform close to a dozen “pop up concerts” – many of them free – in collaboration with other community groups. Artists from both the Utah Symphony and the Utah Opera Resident Artist program will perform at the Art Pianos for All public art installations on three dates starting with a performance of Utah Opera Resident Artists at Coalville City Hall on June 15 at 1 PM, Utah Symphony Youth Gujld musicians at Kamas Public Library on June 17 at 6 PM, and a piano duet with Principal Trumpet Travis Peterson at the Summit County Library on Wednesday, June 19 at 6 PM in Park City.