Photo by Clark Clifford
In September Provo-based folk pop band The National Parks took the stage at Superbloom, a Salt Lake City music festival, to cheers from a home-state crowd. Their set featured unexpected guests: black-clad string players from the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by recent commercial-music grad Samuel R. Clawson (BA ’23).
The gig capped off a recent collaboration between The National Parks band and the Philharmonic—all of it conceived, arranged, and executed by Clawson as a senior capstone project.
Clawson previously composed scores for student films, including BYU animation’s award-winning short film Cenote. But he had long been interested in arranging orchestral versions of popular music after listening to one such album that “just melted my face,” Clawson says, laughing.
The National Parks attracted Clawson because of its BYU connection—three of the four bandmates are alumni—and because Megan Parks, band member and spouse of the group’s founder, Brady R. Parks (BA ’15), plays violin. “Doing this for their band kind of made sense because they already have that orchestral vibe going,” Clawson explains.
The band and Clawson decided to arrange four songs from the group’s new album, 8th Wonder. “We went back and forth a lot,” says Megan. But through the arrangement process, she says, “our vision and Sam’s vision just lined up perfectly.”
Faculty advisor Ronald M. Saltmarsh (BA ’87, MA ’89), coordinator of BYU’s commercial-music division, helped Clawson refine the arrangements. “Rule No. 1 is stay out of the way of the vocal,” Saltmarsh emphasizes. When the track starts to thin out—“that’s [when] you can add some flavor with the orchestration.”
Clawson’s proud of the balance they achieved. “We were able to keep the energy of their songs while adding orchestral texture and layers,” he says.
The band returned to campus for two recording sessions—the first recordings made in the new Music Building’s Studio Y—to offer a personal touch. “It was way cool to have [the band] give live feedback on their songs,” says Alli J. Rushing (’24), a violist who responded to Clawson’s call for performers.
And returning to BYU was a “full-circle moment,” for the band, says keyboardist Sydney E. Macfarlane (BS ’15). BYU campus, Provo, and the mountains have been major inspirations and played a crucial part in their work, Macfarlane says. “It was really cool to go back to our roots.”
