Meet the 7 kids who just got their big moment with the Utah Symphony

SALT LAKE CITY — When Natalie Sun arrived at the cadenza of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, near the end of the piece, the orchestra behind her stopped playing.

It was her big solo moment. Her head bobbed up and down as her little fingers danced across the keys. Sometimes she leaned forward into the black Steinway piano, getting even more into the drama and emotion of the piece, which is just one of two minor key concertos Mozart wrote in his lifetime.

Although she is small, Natalie played with commanding force. As her sound rang throughout Abravanel Hall, if you closed your eyes, you almost forgot she was only 8 years old.

When it was all over, she stepped off the piano bench, and she was a kid again, wondering how long to stay out on the stage as the crowd cheered and gave her a standing ovation. She looked to the conductor for guidance, and as she exited the stage in a glittery dress that gave her the air of a princess, she blew a big kiss to her adoring fans.

At 8 years old, Natalie is one of the youngest performers — if not the youngest — in the 64-year history of the Salute to Youth program, an annual concert sponsored by the Deseret News that showcases the hard work and talent of young musicians in Utah. On Wednesday night, the evening before Thanksgiving, seven kids got their big moment to shine on the Abravanel Hall stage, backed by the Utah Symphony.

"The artists we honor have pursued their passion for music through countless hours, days and weeks of practice and rehearsal to reach this remarkable level of expertise at such a young age," said Deseret News executive editor Doug Wilks. "It is a joy to provide an additional platform for them to share their talents and to play a small part in celebrating their accomplishments. We hope this longstanding partnership between the Utah Symphony and the Deseret News continues for a long, long time."

Fourth time's the charm

Leah Keyes has at least one general rule of thumb when she performs: Don't look anyone in the eye.

So while performing Gordeli's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra — a jazzy Gershwin-inspired piece that was one of the more cinematic numbers of the night — the 16-year-old chose to focus her attention on certain spots of Abravanel Hall so she wouldn't be caught off guard.

The Woods Cross High student said she's overcome "a lot of stage anxiety" over the years. Her Salute to Youth debut Wednesday night was the prize after a long effort — this year marked her fourth time auditioning. Keyes said she improved with each audition, and as she finally got her chance to perform a solo on the stage, the teenager allowed herself to soak in the moment and get lost in the music.

Keyes may not look at the audience while she performs, but she didn't miss the standing ovation she received after she played her final note.

"To perform in front of an audience, with a symphony that good, is an indescribable feeling," she said. "It was amazing."

Two friends make a 'magical' debut

Like Keyes, it also took some time for Jenna Hyde and Arianna Shamy to make it on the Abravanel Hall stage.

The two teenagers actually auditioned together for Salute to Youth last year but didn't make the cut. In a video that played before their performance, Shamy said that failure isn't indicated by the lack of trophies on the shelf but rather by "the amount of dust on your case."

As the friends stood on the Abravanel Hall stage together to play the first movement of Bruch's Double Concerto in E Minor, they didn't take the moment for granted.

Throughout the performance, they sometimes leaned toward each other, or turned to face each other, as if they were dancing — a movement that was more natural for them than it was choreographed, they said. As they played, the teenagers said they enjoyed the feeling of being enveloped by the powerful sound of the Utah Symphony — something they'd only experienced from the audience up until that point.

"I think it was definitely planned by God; it was definitely a God-given gift for us," Arianna, 17, said. "It was really a fun but humbling experience."

A few minutes after closing out the first half of the concert, the friends were having a hard time wrapping their heads around what had just happened.

"It was really magical, so much fun," Arianna said.

"It was the most essential experience of my life," Jenna, 16, added with palpable excitement as she sat in her practice room backstage at Abravanel Hall. "The coolest experience of my violin life, just really happy I could do it."

Rising musicians in the spotlight

Aristotle Stokes and Levon Taylor both said they were surprised to be selected as Salute to Youth finalists. Along with 8-year-old Natalie, they were the youngest musicians performing this year.

The bassist, an eighth grader at Churchill Junior High in Millcreek, said he felt "a lot of pressure" ahead of his performance.

"I think there's expectations of me to perform well, so it's a little bit scary," said Aristotle, who is a full scholarship student at the Gifted Music School in Salt Lake City.

But if he was feeling any nerves, they didn't show as he walked onto the stage in his bright red suspenders and matching bowtie, carrying an upright bass that towered over him. He flashed a wide smile to his audience and launched into Dragonetti's Concerto in A Major.

Aristotle seemed to dance as he played, counting and swaying to the rhythms of the orchestra that accompanied him. He physically leaned into his instrument as he stretched his arm all the way down the bass to play some of the higher notes of the piece.

The bass doesn't often get a chance to shine, and Aristotle said he was excited to showcase the instrument, hoping it would possibly inspire others to pick it up.

While it's too early for him to know if he achieved that goal, he can at least be sure of this: His performance was a hit with the audience.

Taylor, an 11-year-old pianist, recalled with a wide smile the moment his dad told him he would have to keep practicing Beethoven's Piano Concert No. 1 because he'd been selected.

He had the somewhat daunting task of going last. But he navigated the fast notes and big jumps of the piece with the sense of ease that comes from having put in a great deal of work, and brought the night to a rousing end.

There's a good chance audiences will see younger musicians like Natalie, Aristotle and Levon on the Salute to Youth stage again. You can perform up to three times in the program, and all three of these artists have several years of eligibility left.

But for violinist Evelyn Meiwes, Wednesday night marked the end of an era.

A farewell of sorts

By the time Evelyn was 12, she had already auditioned for Salute to Youth three times. When she finally made her Utah Symphony debut, in 2019, she had the honor of kicking off the concert.

Even five years later, she still remembers being blown away by the sound of the symphony behind her as she played Edouard Lalo's Symphonie espagnole.

At 17, Meiwes again got the chance to kick off Salute to Youth — for the final time. To her surprise, the senior at West High School wasn't necessarily feeling sentimental or nervous about the magnitude of the moment; she was just excited to put on a good show.

Even more than her previous two performances, Meiwes was thrilled about the piece she was playing, Saint-Saens' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

"I'm just excited that this time I'm playing a piece that I really love. It's one of those pieces, that if you're not really having fun doing it — it's not as fun to listen to," she said, noting that the technicality of the piece isn't as important as the feeling of it. "You just kind of go on stage and say, 'I'm just gonna go have fun now.'"

And Meiwes was visibly having a good time as the rich tone of her violin carried throughout the hall. She navigated the fast and slow parts of the piece with equal grace and flashed a wide smile as she played her last chord.

The violinist is currently in the process of applying to college. But she's not pursuing a music degree — at least for now. One of the most important things she's learned from studying the violin and participating in Salute to Youth over the years, though, is that music follows her everywhere.

For all of the Salute to Youth artists, Wednesday night's performance was a chance to show off their hard work and love for music — regardless if they end up pursuing it as a career. And in sharing that passion, they hope they'll inspire future Salute to Youth performers down the road.

"The fun part is just watching someone play a piece you've never heard and to leave falling in love with it and being like, 'That was such beautiful music. I want to go listen to it again,'" she said.

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