The climax of a week of preparation from young musicians across the country with guest artist Steven Sharp Nelson, performing Beethoven Symphony No. 5 and Piano Guys favorites including “Beethoven’s 5 Secrets,” “Cello Wars,” “Rockelbel’s Canon,” “Tender Mercies,” and more!
Performer Bios
Steven Sharp Nelson, cello soloist
Steven Sharp Nelson is an award-winning, Billboard chart-topping, total YouTube rock star (in a cellist sort of way). His creations are watched and listened to over three million times every day. That means that 2,000 people experience his content every 60 seconds. The running total? Over 3.5 billion streams. He has performed live for more than 1.2 million people in dozens of countries and iconic concert halls such as the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Greek Theatre, Red Rocks, Royal Albert Hall—in Rio, Paris, Singapore, Japan, and Istanbul! He’s been called an innovator, a compelling speaker and motivator, a powerful advocate of music education, a creative genius, and, much to his chagrin, the “Mr. Bean” of cello.
Steven subscribes to Johann Sebastian Bach’s mantra: music is for the glory of God and for the enlivening of the soul. He also believes that, as Beethoven once said, “Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” His performances are an incomparable mix of soaring melodies, infectious rhythm, and laughter. He draws his inspiration from a firm belief in a loving God, two incredible parents who have sacrificed so much to offer him the opportunities he enjoys today, and most of all an amazing wife and four cute-as-can-be children.
Kayson Brown, director
Kayson Brown is a passionate music educator whose primary goal is to inspire audiences and the young musicians he directs. As the founder of the Lyceum Music Festival and director of the Lyceum Youth Orchestras Program at American Heritage School, he oversees eleven youth orchestras and a nationally significant summer music festival. In all these endeavors, Kayson seeks to connect talented young musicians with their professional counterparts and has succeeded in creating programs that consistently attract large audiences to meaningful concerts and media that inspire, educate, and entertain. Brown has been featured on, produced, conducted, orchestrated, and arranged multiple Billboard-topping albums. He has been recognized by Best of State Utah and the American String Teachers Association as one of the leading music educators in the nation. Brown holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Brigham Young University and a bachelor’s degree in cello performance from the University of Utah. He has two decades of experience conducting more than 25 symphony orchestras including professional, university, community, and educational ensembles nationwide
Lyceum Music Festival
Founded in 2008, the Lyceum Music Festival is a week-long orchestra intensive for 200 young musicians across the country, presented in collaboration with the American Heritage School in American Fork, UT. The festival provides an opportunity for students to perform alongside renowned recording artists in chamber and symphonic settings. For participants, the festival provides insights into classical music careers while helping them acquire the skills necessary to perform at the professional level. Festival activities include instrument-specific training, chamber music coaching, and working closely with professional conductors and guest artists in daily rehearsals. Recreation, leadership training, and entertainment activities are likewise an important element of the festival.
SELECTIONS MAY INCLUDE:
- Symphony No. 5 in C minor by Ludwig van Beethoven
- Polynesian Waltz by Al van der Beek
- Cello Wars, with Steven Sharp Nelson
- Rockelbel’s Canon, with Steven Sharp Nelson
- This is My Fight Song/Amazing Grace, with Steven Sharp Nelson
- Beethoven’s 5 Secrets, with Steven Sharp Nelson
- Tender Mercies, with Steven Sharp Nelson