The Ghost Light Podcast (Utah Symphony | Utah Opera)

Provincial, humble, deeply religious, and just a little bit neurotic, Anton Bruckner often flies under the symphonic radar for many audiences. Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, composed by one of music’s most unique, and dare we say, underappreciated voices, anchors Utah Symphony’s season finale, conducted by Markus Poschner, Utah Symphony’s Music Director Designate and a recognized Bruckner specialist....

A favorite of opera audiences for over 170 years, Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata is undoubtedly THE archetypal Italian operatic tragedy. In the final opera prelude of season 10, Jeff and Carol discuss consumption, courtesans, and catastrophic romance. Visit www.usuo.org for information on upcoming concerts and performances at our venues across Utah. To submit a question to our team, or suggest a top...

We recently sat down (virtually) with Grammy Award–winning composer and electric guitarist Steve Mackey. His inventive, genre-bending work is heard in concert halls across the country, and this May, Abravanel Hall will resonate with his electric guitar concerto Aluminum Flowers. Jeff and I had a genuinely delightful time talking with Steve about everything from skiing to musical underdogs to the c...

O Fortuna-you know it the moment it begins. Carmina Burana has become one of the most recognizable works in classical music, echoing far beyond the concert hall into film, television, and pop culture. In this episode, Jeff and Carol explore the musical and thorny political legacy of Carl Orff and dig into the music, text, and structure of this choral bacchanal. From rowdy drinking songs to moments...

To borrow a familiar saying, all roads, and this week, all podcasts, lead to Rome. Jeff and Carol take us on a virtual tour of the Eternal City as they explore Respighi’s orchestral showpiece, The Pines of Rome. With its brilliant orchestration, virtuosic writing, and vivid musical postcards of Roman landmarks, this tone poem has long been a favorite of audiences and orchestral musicians alike. Vi...

For more than three decades, Utah Opera’s Resident Artist Program has been an important part of the company’s work on stage and in the community. Based in Salt Lake City, these young artists travel throughout Utah performing in schools and community settings, sharing their passion for opera with audiences across the state. The program also provides a bridge between academic training and a professi...

What happens to a shy, lovelorn tenor when his soprano crush gets distracted by a swaggering baritone? Well, one thing is for sure...it’s going to take to a fast-talking con man and his magical “love potion” to save the day and give us a happy ending. Underneath all the laughter and farce lies a surprisingly tender story of longing and sincerity, delivered in Donizetti’s quintessential bel canto s...

Claude Debussy’s lifelong obsession with the sea found its voice in La Mer, three orchestral sketches that depict the shifting moods of the ocean. Though he chafed at the title, Debussy was a musical Impressionist to match the Impressionists of the visual art world, rendering his sound images through orchestral colors and expanded harmony, rather than oils and watercolors. In one of their Deep Div...

Beloved in Utah and around the world, Sir Stephen Hough is a multi-dimensional artist, excelling as pianist, composer, and writer as well as being a pretty talented avocational painter. In advance of his seventh collaboration with the Utah Symphony, we were delighted to welcome him for a delightful conversation. In just under twenty minutes, Sir Stephen offers philosophical gems, observations on t...

In this episode, we take a look at composer, violinist, and cultural figure Joseph de Bologne, also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Long overlooked in traditional narratives of eighteenth-century music, de Bologne’s influence on Parisian musical life rivaled that of his more frequently programmed contemporaries. Conductor, pianist, and art song expert Tyson Deaton joins us to discuss the...

Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, invites us into a timeless story of bravery, love, and moral resolve. Its themes of political freedom and courage feel just as urgent in 2026 as they did 220 years ago in French-occupied Vienna. We welcome opera director Tara Faircloth to the podcast to discuss her fresh take on this work whose central ideas still speak powerfully to us today. To see more about Tar...

Modern life feels increasingly complex, and many of us struggle to stay balanced amid a constant swirl of competing expectations. Last season USUO introduced a series of Well-Being Concerts, each designed to offer Utah audiences a space for restoration through music’s unique capacity to calm, center, and heal. In this episode, Ben Kipp, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement, joins J...

Richard Strauss’ tone poems represent the zenith of orchestral storytelling, and in Ein Heldenleben, the story gets personal. Over the course of fifty vivid minutes, Strauss sketches a musical self-portrait of a composer battling critics, finding lifelong love, contemplating his musical successes and ultimately settling into a vision of hard-won peace. Join Jeff and Carol for a Deep Dive into this...

Classical music has long been shaped by the traditions, and occasional barriers, of the concert hall and theater. Jeff Counts and Carol Anderson welcome USUO Opera Education Manager Kevin Nakatani and Front of House Manager Melissa Robison to explore how we can reimagine those spaces to be more inclusive, responsive, and welcoming to people with diverse abilities and needs. Join us for a timely co...

When the Utah Symphony introduced German conductor Markus Poschner as Music Director Designate last fall, it marked an exciting new era for the orchestra—just the eighth music director in its 85-year history! Renowned for his dynamic artistry and contagious enthusiasm, Maestro Poschner is already transforming the connection between the orchestra and its audiences. He spoke with Carol and Jeff from...

Two little pieces of gristle in our throat - they produce amazing sounds that represent our identity as speakers and maybe even singers, and they are remarkably durable, until they aren't. Vocal injury is often discussed in hushed and secretive tones, and we’re bringing the conversation into the open. Singer and USUO Board Chair Annette Jarvis and Vocologist Dr. Lynn Maxfield join Jeff and Carol t...

At just 28, Gustav Mahler redefined the symphony with his bold and deeply personal Symphony No. 1. From the stirrings of nature to the depths of human sorrow, Mahler poured his heart into this work—revising it several times as he refined this symphonic debut. Avid Mahler enthusiasts Jeff and Carol take a Deep Dive into this monumental piece, setting the stage for Music Director Designate Markus Po...

It’s October, which means it’s time for the second annual Bloodcurdling Opening Opera, (aka BOO). This week, in Jeff and Carol's first Utah Opera Prelude of the podcast season, they discuss Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s chilling adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Shining, based on the 1977 bestseller penned by the “King of Horror.” What does it take to turn such an iconic book into a riveti...

From its dramatic opening that gave its composer “no peace,” to its sparkling finale, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor has been delighting listeners for almost two centuries. To open the USUO Ghost Light Podcast’s tenth season, Jeff and Carol uncover the artistic partnership behind this landmark (and revolutionary) work and consider why it remains a cornerstone of the concerto repertoire.

What does it take to reimagine "Madame Butterfly" for today’s stage? Director Matthew Ozawa and mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen join us for a candid conversation about creativity, representation, and reshaping a classic from the inside out.

If at first you don’t succeed, rewrite it four times—just ask Puccini. In this season’s final opera prelude, Jeff and Carol explore Madame Butterfly, from its rocky premiere to eventual triumph. They delve into the opera’s complex cultural backdrop, examine its literary roots, and confront the tension between the troubling elements within its story and its lasting popularity with opera audiences.

Mysterious cloaked figures, thoughts of poisoning, and genius cut off at its prime...the lore surrounding Mozart's Requiem, unfinished at his untimely demise, is substantial, but the truth is even more compelling. Jeff and Carol, joined by special guest Utah Symphony Chorus director Austin McWilliams, dive deep to uncover the real story behind the music.

Jeff and Carol invite musicologist Catherine Mayes to help unpack the thorny topic of exoticism and colonialism in Western Music. This is part one of a three-episode introduction to Utah Opera's upcoming production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly.

You've heard the aria and you've seen the iconic sad commedia clown face. Now join Jeff and Carol as they look beyond the greasepaint into the bleeding heart of Ruggero Leoncavallo's visceral opera. 

This week Jeff and Carol sit down with Utah Symphony's Music Director Emeritus Thierry Fischer to talk about his upcoming Mahler mini-festival. Thierry also catches us up on his life since leaving Salt Lake City (hint: busy and fulfilling), his passion projects, and his new role of grandfather!