Michael Huff doesn't believe in starting small. Utah Voices, the choir he directs, makes its debut this weekend performing Handel's "Messiah" with one of Utah's leading orchestras, the Salt Lake Symphony.
Huff is a veteran of the northern Utah conducting scene. His résumé includes stints as music director of the South Davis Civic Chorale and Orchestra and associate conductor and principal accompanist for the Utah Symphony Chorus, and he currently teaches conducting and piano at the University of Utah.
Marketing manager Bronwyn Evans said the Utah Voices board recruited Huff based on members' experience singing with him in various community and church choirs. Huff agreed on the condition that he not be the one assembling the singers. "It was their choir to put together," he said.
Before the new choir's first rehearsal in September, Huff remembers thinking, "I hope someone shows up." Around 130 singers did; that number has grown to 170.
Huff also felt it crucial that the choir's identity not be tied up in his own. "If one conductor leaves, there's always got to be someone who can step in and keep it going," he said.
Kelly De Haan, a "great colleague and friend" who has worked with the Utah Symphony Chorus and various community theater groups, is associate conductor and principal accompanist. Huff is similarly enthusiastic about Utah Voices' "young, energetic, brilliant" board of directors and its diverse advisory board, which includes singer-songwriter Cori Connors and former Mormon Tabernacle Choir music director Jerold Ottley.
Utah Voices plans to present at least three concerts a year -- in December, in the spring and around the July holidays. Huff promises to bring "elements of the unexpected" to every concert, whether it's the upcoming performance of "Carmina Burana" or a fireworks extravaganza in the summer.
"They will be all over the map," he said of future concerts. "I have an eclectic palate. I love Bach, I love Handel, I love Motown and everything in between. We'll pull great music from everywhere. ... This time we're playing with the Salt Lake Symphony; maybe next time it will be the Joe Muscolino Band."
The new Utah Voices choir will team with the Salt Lake Symphony in Handel's "Messiah." Conductors are Michael Huff and Robert Baldwin, respectively. Soloists are sopranos Jennifer Larson (Dec. 5) and Patricia Swanson (Dec. 7), mezzo Carla Rae Cook, tenor Cory Evans and baritone Steven Meredith.
Salt Lake City » Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m., Libby Gardner Concert Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle, University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City.
Bountiful » Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m., Bountiful High, 695 S. Orchard Drive, Bountiful.
Tickets » $10; $5 for all students and seniors. Available at ArtTix.org, 801-355-ARTS and also at the door on performance nights.
