'Special every time': Utah-born violinist returns to her roots with Utah Symphony tour

SALT LAKE CITY — On a street corner outside Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City after performing with the Utah Symphony, 11-year-old Aubree Oliverson's mind was blown when her mother told her there are people who make music their career.

The Orem native participated in the Utah Symphony's Salute to Youth Competition and got chosen to perform with the symphony as a violin soloist at age 11.

"I remember after the first rehearsal, I was just glowing, and I felt like it was the best day of my whole life thus far. My mom, who was with me, could see how happy I was," she said. "I vowed to myself on that street corner that that's what I wanted to do with my life. And the rest of my life, every day since, I have just not changed that."

More than a decade later, the violinist's dream has largely become a reality. While she still has lots of work to do and things to accomplish, she has trained with and performed with some of the most prestigious musicians and orchestras in the world.

She did the youth competition two more times before being tapped to attend the Colburn Music Academy in Los Angeles at just 15 years old. About five years ago, she came back to Utah Symphony as a professional soloist on its Utah tour and in 2023 was invited to open its subscription season.

"It was a homecoming to such a special orchestra to me because of those early experiences, so that was a magical, magical week for me," she said. "Playing with them brings me back to my early years when I was first discovering how much I love this. It's special every time."

This week, she got the opportunity to perform with the Utah Symphony again, bringing her back to that first magical night. She is part of the Music Elevated State Tour where the symphony and opera is celebrating America 250 and the country's "rich cultural heritage through music." The seven performances, which end on July 10 in Bryce Canyon, are all free and in outdoor venues across the state.

"Every time I go to Abravanel Hall, all the memories come rushing back," she said.

She remembers feeling so nervous that first youth competition, waiting to see if she had won, and the happiness after getting the phone call.

"The moment of discovery on stage for the first time — what it feels like to have a full orchestra behind you, playing with you. That was the first time I felt that with the Utah Symphony. That moment set me on this trajectory for the rest of my life and so coming back always reminds me of those times," she said.

This tour is giving Oliverson the chance to perform at venues and in cities she's never played at before. The program for the show is "extremely fun, dynamic and rich," and "there's something for every single person." Some of the songs she is performing are also on her debut album she just released.

In every performance she gives, she tries to connect with the audience and the Utah Symphony tour is a "fantastic way to connect with the local community."

"I really feel like we can communicate heart to heart that way and reach people in the most direct way possible through music," she said.

Oliverson said it's been a long journey to where she is now, having been both more fun and more difficult than she expected from her dream that fateful day at 11 years old.

"I still practice a lot, and I'm not sitting back in my seat now. There's so many things I want to accomplish and so many people I want to play with and different repertoire I want to play, but just every year I'm trying to build on what I've done the previous year," she said.

For any young people wondering if they can make it in the music world, Oliverson said no one knows in the beginning where they will end up.

"You have to have a little bit of faith in yourself and in the process of practicing everyday. If you put enough work into something, there will be results and you will find some opportunities with it. But if you don't go for it, you definitely never will," Oliverson said.

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