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Randall Fleischer will be the guest conductor at Tuesday's Utah Sympathy tribute performance to the songs of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald at Snowbasin Resort. 

Courtesy of Utah Symphony

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The Utah Symphony, shown at the Deer Valley Music Festival in Park City. The symphony performs the songs of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald on Tuesday, Aug. 7, at Snowbasin Resort.

Courtesy of Utah Symphony

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The Chairman of the Board meets The First Lady of Song.

Next week, the Ogden Symphony Ballet Association pays tribute to the iconic songs of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald by presenting a special outdoor performance by the Utah Symphony.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, at Snowbasin Resort, above Huntsville. The symphony will perform songs from the Great American Songbook as they were made famous by Fitzgerald (called “The First Lady of Song”) and Sinatra (known as “The Chairman of the Board”).

Guest conductor for the evening is Randall Fleischer.

Over the years, Fleischer — who is musical director at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Anchorage Symphony, and Flagstaff Symphony — has guest conducted many times with the Utah Symphony.

“It feels like family in Utah,” he said. “I’ve guest-conducted there more times than I can count.”

Fleischer, who lives in Los Angeles, says he wasn’t even sure where the upcoming Sinatra/Fitzgerald outdoor concert would be held. He initially assumed it would be in Park City, then joked about the mistake.

“I get off a plane, someone takes me someplace, and I get out a little white stick and start waving it,” he said with a laugh.

Fleischer said it’s “very, very hard to go wrong” when you’re choosing a musical program involving Sinatra and Fitzgerald. From Sinatra songs like “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “My Way” to Fitzgerald tunes like “How High the Moon” and “Mack the Knife,” the conductor says the songs are “classic, classic, classic.”

Fleischer says Sinatra and Fitzgerald were friends, and sang together on a number of occasions.

“Frank Sinatra was in awe of Ella Fitzgerald, as most musicians were,” Fleischer said. “Both were, in a way, freakishly brilliant talents — what she could do with her voice and her musical mind was amazing.”

And Sinatra was the king of a generation, with a stage presence and musicality second to none, according to Fleischer.

“Sinatra has a multigenerational appeal,” he said. “My daughter is 18, and she loves Frank Sinatra. Every few years swing music comes around the corner and grabs another audience — it’s just so expressive and lovable.”

The concert will feature vocalists Capathia Jenkins and Tony DeSare singing songs with the symphony. Fleischer said the two artists will bring their own interpretations to the songs.

“It’s not an impersonator show,” Fleischer said. “These are two very different artists who very much possess the musical styles of the time, who’ve immersed themselves in that music.”

Although there are certain tradeoffs when a symphony performs outdoors, the advantages easily offset the disadvantages, according to Fleischer.

“We’re best in a great acoustical environment like Abravanel Hall,” he said. “It was built for the symphony, with just enough echo — but not too much.

But there’s also something “celebratory” about an outdoor concert, Fleischer says.

“For purists, it’s not the best sound, but it’s a fun environment and a relaxed environment,” he said.

Fleischer invites anyone who’s never been to the symphony to take a chance on Tuesday’s concert.

“If you’ve never heard a live symphony orchestra — if you’re one of the tens of millions of people who loves Sinatra, loves Ella, loves the swing era — come to the performance,” he said. “You will not regret it.”

WHAT: The Utah Symphony Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald Songbook

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7

WHERE: Snowbasin Resort, 3925 E. Snowbasin Road, above Huntsville

TICKETS: $25/adult general admission (bring a blanket or low chairs), $50/VIP chairs, $5 children and students, at 801-399-9214 or symphonyballet.org