Messiaen's

This performance is presented in collaboration with NOVA Chamber Music Series and offered free of charge to the public.

Most of Messiaen’s music is directly connected with scripture, sacred liturgy and theological concepts. The Quartet for the End of Time draws its inspiration from the Book of Revelation and was composed between 1940 and 1941 while Messiaen was a prisoner in a German war camp. Scored for clarinet, violin, cello and piano, this work depicts the very beginning of the Final Judgment through eight compelling and evocative movements, including:
- "Crystal Liturgy"
- "Abyss of birds"
- "Dance of fury"

Violinist Laura Ha was born in the Los Angeles area and raised by Korean parents in the small town of Covina, California. Laura performed as a soloist with several orchestras, such as the Pasadena POPS and the Young Musicians Foundation’s Debut Orchestra, and gave solo recitals in Canada and the Netherlands. She enjoys performing with her colleagues around the world as a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, led by Gabor Takac-Nagy, and regularly participates in tours with the ensemble throughout the year. Ms. Ha was a member of the Oregon Symphony and the Lyric Opera of Chicago before joining the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera in the fall of 2018. Her previous mentors include David Chan, Ronald Copes, Linda Rose, Joan Kwuon, and Joel Smirnoff. She plays on a violin made in 2002 by Mario and Brenda Miralles. When not playing, Ms. Ha enjoys climbing on, and snoozing under, the red rocks of southern Utah with her partner, Tom, and their dog, Tobi.

Cellist Andrew Larson joined the Utah Symphony in September 2015. Born into a musical family, his cello studies began at age 7. Formal training led him to performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music and New England Conservatory. As a student he participated in various festivals at Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Sapporo, Spoleto, etc. He was also a participant at the New York String Orchestra Seminar in ’05 and ’06. He studied chamber music with Andre Roy and Gerhard Schulz at the 2011 McGill International String Quartet Academy in Montreal. A member of the New World Symphony in 2014, he also performs with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra. His primary teachers include David Ying, Paul Katz, and Natasha Brofsky. Other influential teachers include Dorothea Figueroa and Ronald Feldman.

Erin Svoboda-Scott has held the position of Associate Principal and E-flat Clarinet since 2013. Originally from the East Coast, Erin began her musical studies with the piano at the age of five and clarinet at nine. She earned degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, Temple University, and Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Thomas Martin of the Boston Symphony, Ricardo Morales of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Mark Nuccio of the New York Philharmonic and Houston Symphony respectively. She spent her summers at the Tanglewood Music Center, Marlboro Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival. Erin freelanced in New York City after she graduated, playing with such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, and American Symphony Orchestra. She spent a year as the Assistant/2nd/E-flat clarinetist in the Colorado Symphony before moving to Utah. Also an active chamber musician and soloist, she recorded the trio Tibetan Dances on Spring Dreams with Cho-Liang Lin on violin and the composer, Bright Sheng, on piano. Erin also premiered Michael Gandolfi’s Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon with her father, Richard Svoboda, on the bassoon.

Pianist Kimi Kawashima enjoys a committed career as a teacher, performer, and arts advocate. An avid chamber musician, Kimi has curated and performed in programs ranging from Schubert’s Winterreise at the Grand Teton Music Festival to Intersections: A Musical Perspective of Cy Twombly at the Menil Collection in Houston. She has performed for composers Andrew Norman, Thomas Osborne, Tristan Murail, Caroline Shaw, Frederic Rzewski, and Anthony R. Green. Ms. Kawashima recently performed Ravel’s Concerto in G Major with the Longview Symphony and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Yakima and Lubbock Symphony Orchestras. A native of Bowling Green, Ohio, Kimi graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and completed her DMA in piano performance at Rice University as a student of Brian Connelly, where she received a Theodore Presser Award and was the winner of the Shepherd School Concerto Competition, performing the Concerto for Piano and Strings by Alfred Schnittke. Kimi is currently director of music and piano faculty at Westminster University. This is her second season as the artistic director of the NOVA Chamber Music Series.