SUU Music Department Announces Holiday Concert

Southern Utah University’s Department of Music is celebrating 125 years of SUU with its annual Holiday Concert on Friday, December 2, 2022, at 7:30 p.m. in Cedar City’s Heritage Center Theater. Along with performances by the Wind Symphony, Opus, Concert and Women’s Choirs, and Orchestra, the evening will debut the musical score “Thunderbird,” commissioned to celebrate 125 years of SUU. “Thunderbird” by world-renowned composer and professor of composition at the University of Texas, Donald Grantham, was commissioned specifically for the SUU Wind Symphony. As the Wind Symphony continues to mature and successfully perform advanced literature, SUU student and French horn player Zach Mercer thought it great timing to propose a commissioned work for the ensemble. The work will touch on SUU’s unique history, its early commitment to education, and its drive to “go back up the mountain.” The Symphony Orchestra will perform "Celebration" from the Spanish Trail Suite by Steve Nelson and Marshall McDonald, a piece commissioned for the Orchestra of Southern Utah and expresses the celebration of the establishment of Cedar City. Admission to the concert is free and the entire community is invited.