Recital in the Garden

Angelica Salazar (BM in Violin Performance) is a multi-genre violin and viola performer, teacher, recording studio artist, and composer. Angelica has soloed with orchestras in the US and abroad. Her performances have taken her to destinations like France and Bulgaria. She has also been a finalist and winner in several state, national, and international violin and viola competitions. 

In addition to being classically trained, Angelica is passionate about a variety of styles of music. She has been a guest soloist with Jazz orchestras, performed with a touring folk ensemble, recorded for multi-genre albums, and she performed as the fiddler in the musical, “Once”with HCTO. She recently played the violin tracks for the studio recording of the US premiere of a critically acclaimed musical.

With a passion for pedagogy, Angelica runs a large private studio with students of all ages and levels. She strives to empower her students to both develop solid technique and meaningful artistry. Many of her students have won performance awards, musical scholarships, and are leaders in school and community orchestras. She has presented at both the Utah American String Teachers Association Conference and the National Summit.

Angelica is a current faculty member for Mountain Springs Music Festival and she has taught as a guest faculty member for Moab Music Festival. She has also been working as the media and string assistant for the Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra for six years. Her involvement in community arts educational programs is integral to her personal mission as a musician and as a composer. 

In addition to performing and teaching, Angelica is a rising composer. As one of six composers selected in the nation for the 2025 New Canon Project Fellowship, Angelica wrote a commissioned orchestral work that was premiered at the American String Teachers Association National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Angelica is building an expansive library of orchestral works, chamber music, and solo compositions. This year, Angelica recorded and published Violin Concerto in G Minor, Bailas en el Tiempo - Dances in Time, a Latin dance inspired violin concerto. She was invited by the UVU Chamber orchestra to perform the work as a guest soloist for the US premiere. Through her work, Angelica hopes to inspire other women to compose music. You can access more of Angelica’s original compositions at AngelicaSalazarMusic.com.

Monet Wilson is a talented musician and award-winning harpist. She began playing the harp at age three and has grown to have a deep love for the instrument. Throughout her youth and into her adult years, she has competed in several national and international competitions, including placing 3rd in the Junior Division, 1st in the Intermediate I Division, 2nd in the Intermediate II Division in the American Harp Society National Harp Competition and participating twice in the Lyon & Healy Awards International Competition. Most recently in 2023, she competed in Utah’s first state-wide competition, winning first prize in the top division and the title of Utah Concert Artist. Besides competing, Monet loves to utilize the harp in acts of service for care facilities, religious services, and making music with her husband. She was able to use her musical abilities often while serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ in California and Tahiti for 18 months.

Monet has a passion for performing in large ensembles and has had the privilege of participating in many throughout her harp career. At age fourteen, she performed as a soloist with the Utah Symphony during the annual “Salute to Youth” performance. She has substituted as Principal Harpist for the Ogden City Chamber Orchestra for numerous

Operas and Ballets, as well as other orchestras outside of Utah, including the Sheridan Orchestra of Wyoming, Boise Philharmonic, Helena Symphony and Billings Symphony of Montana. She currently performs as Principal Harpist in Brigham Young University’s Philharmonic Orchestra and substitute Principal Harpist for the Billings Symphony. Monet is studying to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Harp Performance at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She hopes to use her gifts to bless the lives of others and bring them closer to God through music, just as it has done for her.