Bringing World-Class Music to Utah for a Quarter Century
Photography: Jill Orschel
If you’ve heard live classical music in Utah, the odds are overwhelming that you’ve heard Russell and Leslie Harlow play. This dynamic duo performs chamber music not only at their own festival, but with the Utah Symphony, (Russell on clarinet and Leslie on viola). In fact, the couple fell in love playing at the Symphony, and their song is Beethoven’s Ninth, “Ode to Joy.”
But the Harlows do more than simply play music. These entrepreneurs have founded an astonishing number of musical events, including the longest-running classical music festival in Utah, the Park City International Music Festival, now celebrating its 25th anniversary. This chamber music festival consistently receives rave reviews and attracts renowned musicians from across the U.S. and as far away as Russia, South Africa and Belgium. Featured composers range from Brahms and Mozart to moderns such as Gershwin and Ives.
Russell founded the Nova music series, and Leslie founded and directs the Park City Film Music Festival, the first in the U.S. devoted entirely to the impact of music in film. The Harlows also play for movie and TV soundtracks, such as “Murder in the First” and “Jefferson in Paris.”
Other Harlow enterprises include the Sonolumina Chamber Orchestra and Utah’s Contemporary Music Consortium. Four years ago, they added the Autumn Classics Festival to their list of productions.
As if all of this activity isn’t enough, the Harlows devote their time and energy to encouraging a new generation of musicians. They have established the Young Artists Institute in Park City, a summer camp where for more than 12 years, they have trained over 350 young musicians from around the world.
“It was just the two of us, getting up at 5 a.m. to organize rehearsals and coaching students and faculty,” Leslie laughs. “The last two summers we were up to 36 performances. Next year we’re going to work with BYU on it because we’re older and wiser.”
How do they do it all? “I don’t multi-task,” Leslie admits. “I do one thing at a time with a break in between. But I never feel good if I don’t do something creative every day. It doesn’t have to be music.”
Despite schedules that make “Flight of the Bumblebee” seem like slow motion, Leslie and Russell are amazingly calm and centered. They balance directing, rehearsing and performing, even with Festival musicians staying in their own home, where they also care for Leslie’s 104-year-old grandmother and two dogs.
“Symphony work averages 20 hours a week. During the Festival, we also play nine pieces a week with over 50 hours of rehearsing, along with marketing, ticket sales, printing programs, and doing media interviews. That’s about 75 hours a week. Thank goodness we have volunteers to help!”
Why do they do it? Because the Harlows love music. Leslie “heard music from the time I was born. My father sang arias, and both my parents played piano. They encouraged me to pick out classical tunes on the piano. When local symphony members came to my grade school to demonstrate instruments, I immediately thought viola had the most beautiful sound. My parents sold our television to buy me one.”
Already an entrepreneur in junior high, Leslie formed a string quartet that lasted through high school. By age 16, Leslie was playing with the Lubbock Symphony and later joined the Oklahoma Symphony while earning a masters degree at Texas Tech. Leslie went on to win a scholarship to New York’s prestigious Juilliard School and earned a second masters degree, paying rent by playing viola on the street. She toured Europe with Juilliard’s top orchestra.
Russell was also precocious and recalls hearing music on television when he was 1 year old: “I fell in love with it.” He studied clarinet and baseball, but finally settled on clarinet because “the baseballs started coming at me too fast.”
Russell’s famous clarinet teacher at USC, Michael Lurie, knew Maurice Abravanel, Utah Symphony’s conductor, and suggested Russell audition. Russell joined the Utah Symphony at age 21. Today he is one of the nation’s premiere solo and chamber clarinetists. In 1996, he performed the premiere of the Ramiro Cortes Trio, written especially for him, at Carnegie's Weill Hall in New York City.
Leslie proudly adds: “Russ is a frequent guest performer at international clarinet conventions and is well-known in the clarinet world.” He has performed with the Amsterdam Chamber Players, Piatigorsky Foundation concerts, and the famous “Bargemusic” in New York City.
What sparks the Harlows’ passion for chamber music? “Chamber music is unique because each musician is a star, a soloist. We feel like we’re playing for each person in the audience,” Leslie explains. “Even a soloist with an orchestra doesn’t have total freedom, but in chamber music, you do. Playing with great musicians is like being in a troup of musical acrobats. It’s like flying.”
The chamber music festival was Leslie’s dream. While skiing in Park City on a spring break from Juilliard, she decided she wanted to move here. After graduation, she played with the Utah Symphony. “For several years I played at a music festival at a lake resort in New York. I thought why not create a festival here? I had no money. I just walked around Park City and talked to people. I knew I would figure it out.” Her festival opened within a year.
Over 25 years, the festival has become an institution, continuing to grow and attract a loyal following as well as newcomers. The Harlows don’t take salaries and have put over $500,000 of their own money into their festival because they want to keep chamber music thriving in Utah.
Asked about their funniest experience with the festival, Russell grins: “It has to be the time two of our players were arrested for climbing over a fence at midnight to skinny-dip in a pool at a Deer Valley condo complex. They were so noisy, owners called police. They spent the rest of the night in jail.”
Will the Harlows ever slow down? “We’re still open to new things, but are more concerned with how we do them,” Leslie says. After 25 years, we want to relax. Until this summer, we haven’t been able to really enjoy our garden.” But Leslie just took over the entire Chamber Music program at Utah Valley University. “We care about music. It’s hard to say no.”
“There are two things we love best: living in Park City and playing chamber music,” says Russell. “What better life could we have than to live here and play great music? We want to create a chamber music home in Park City, an intimate space where listeners are surrounded by beautiful art.” Russell beams as Leslie says, “We envision a community center for musicians, filmmakers, and other artists in Park City, where we can play music, and other artists can create and perform. That takes funding and a building. Our dream is to create something beautiful, lasting and valuable for the community to enjoy.”
Lynne Finney, J.D., M.S.W., is an award-winning author, educator, life empowerment coach, and retired attorney and psychotherapist who resides in Park City. lynnefinney.com
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