On Tuesday, 23 January 2018, the Lyceum Philharmonic at American Heritage School under the baton of Kayson Brown released a music video of their awe-inspiring performance of “What a Wonderful World” on their YouTube channel. Featured in the magnificent video is special guest artist, Nathan Pacheco, an opera trained tenor, whose vocals add deep and rich meaning to the words of the song.
The video was filmed at Lyceum Music Festival 2017 just outside Zion National Park in southwest Utah. The exquisite scenery provides an excellent backdrop – like a painted portrait – that sets the tone and the mood of the song, helping to reemphasize that the wonderful world in which we live is a breathtaking splendor. The filming of the video was the final event of the 2017 Festival, and the young musicians performing in the video range in ages from 14 to 21 and come from various parts of the country. To prepare for a professional concert with Nathan Pacheco at the OC Tanner Amphitheater in Springdale, Utah, the group spent a week together outside of Zion National Park rehearsing and working with Utah Symphony players.
According to the description of the video, Lyceum Music Festival is “all about bringing together the best young musicians in the country with industry-leading musicians.” Each year a different guest artist is featured. Past guest artists have included The Piano Guys, Jenny Oaks Baker, The 5 Browns, and William Joseph. Lyceum Music Festival 2018 will be held 6 to 11 August 2018, with special guest artist Simply Three.
The exciting trio, known musically as Simply Three, has been delighting audiences worldwide with their extraordinary performances since 2010. Comprised of Glen McDaniel, Nick Villalobos, and Zack Clark, Simply Three is a bass/cello/violin trio that performs chamber music covers of popular music. Villalobos is a former member of the Orchestra at Temple Square.
In 1967, Louis Daniel Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo, Satch, and Pops, an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor, recorded “What a Wonderful World,” a pop ballad written by producer Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and composer/performer George David Weiss. The song was released as a single and reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, selling less than 1,000 copies. However, it did hit No. 116 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Chart. “What a Wonderful World” was also the biggest-selling single of 1968 in the UK. In 1999, Armstrong’s recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The quote by Louis Armstrong wraps the song into a nice neat little package. He said, “Seems to me, it ain’t the world that is so bad, but what we’re doing to it, and all I’m saying is see what a wonderful world it would be if we would only give it a chance. Love, baby, love! That’s the secret.”
