Les RokaLes Roka

I am a native of Toledo, Ohio, having received my Ph.D. in journalism and mass communication from Ohio University's Scripps School of Journalism in 2002. In addition to teaching at Utah State University and the University of Utah, I have worked extensively in public relations for a variety of organizations including a major metropolitan university, college of osteopathic medicine, and community college. When it comes to intellectual curiosity, I venture into as many areas as possible, whether it’s about music criticism, the history of journalism, the practice of public relations in a Web 2.0 world and the soon-to-arrive Web 3.0 landscape, or how public debates are formed about many issues especially in the political arena. As a Salt Lake City resident, I currently write and edit a blog called The Selective Echo that provides an entertaining, informative, and provocative look at Salt Lake City and its cosmopolitan best. I also have been the U.S. editorial advisor for an online publication Art Design Publicity based in The Netherlands. And, I use social media tools such as Twitter for blogging, networking with journalists and experts, and staying current on the latest trends in culture and news. I also have been a regular monthly contributor to a Utah business magazine, and I have recently conducted a variety of editing projects involving authors and researchers throughout the country and the world, including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Lebanon, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. I’m also a classically trained musician who spent more than 15 years in a string quartet, being involved in more than 400 performances.

A delightful musical journey for families: Bachauer set to close its 2021-22 concert season with Hsiang Tu’s The Ivory Menagerie

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Pianist Hsiang Tu knows how to play to an audience, especially when it involves, as he describes it, 50 third-graders. Professor Tu, who currently is on the Virginia Tech faculty and previously taught at Utah Valley University and Snow College, was inspired to curate a recital of short piano works based on animal themes, which … Read more

Remarkable ACME Lab exhibition, David Rios Ferreira: Transcending Time and Space, featuring work and writing by artist Denae Shanidiin, a multidisciplinary spiritual exploration of love, memory, healing at Utah Museum of Fine Arts

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Denae Shanidiin recalls the epiphany of spiritual healing she experienced during an Indigenous ceremony when she prayed and looked into the sacred fire. In her first glance, the Diné and Korean artist remembered what she had been told, that the initial look emphasized the darkness, sickness and individual vulnerability. But then after another round, the … Read more

Repertory Dance Theatre set to present new production of Six Songs from Ellis, highlighting stories of immigration

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Oral histories are among the most prized resources in historical research. They capture stories that otherwise might not have been written or lost. Chronicling the history of immigration in the U.S. is enriched by the stories of those who decided to leave their homelands, travel great distances often in difficult circumstances and arrive in a … Read more

Reviews of 2 major theatrical events: Salt Lake Acting Company’s Utah premiere of Passing Strange; Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere of Iris Salazar’s Aftershock

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SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY: PASSING STRANGE  Audiences might be well prepared for what the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar or the Motown soul musical The Wiz have to offer but are they really prepared for Passing Strange, a rock musical, with a nice bit of punk and gospel thrown into the mix, which examines the … Read more

Early spring bounty: SUPERWOMEN dance concert, Samba Fogo’s Still, Out of the Silence featuring Red Desert, DEXO’s children rock opera Hannah Saves the World

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Performing arts schedules are blossoming this spring, as companies and ensembles return to live productions in full swing. SUPERWOMEN: REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE’S LINK SERIES A regular point made in The Utah Review’s dance coverage is how and why this particular performing arts form wears the empress crown in arts and culture in Utah. Recently, that … Read more

NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Songs of the Americas features works by Clarice Assad, Gabriela Lena Frank, Anthony R. Green, Charles Ives, Jessie Montgomery

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A truly contemporary landscape representation animates the upcoming NOVA Chamber Music Series concert Songs of the Americas (April 10, 3 p.m., Libby Gardner Hall at The University of Utah). The concert, which celebrates not just the U.S. but the whole diasporas of the entire American continental geography, will feature works by three composers already represented … Read more

April brings Utah premiere of Salt Lake Acting Company’s production of Passing Strange, Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere of Iris Salazar’s Aftershock

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Early April brings new productions to Salt Lake City’s independent theater scene, including the Utah premiere of the award-winning musical Passing Strange at the Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) and the world premiere of Plan-B Theatre’s production of Iris Salazar’s Aftershock.  PLAN-B THEATRE: AFTERSHOCK Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the March 2020 earthquake that … Read more

Lots of March Goodness: Concord/Revisited, NOVA Chamber Music Series, Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, How Flowers Bloom, Échale Ganas: The Villa’s Tacos Story

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There were more signs in March of how arts and cultural events are returning with a full head of steam to Salt Lake City.  Within 10 days, there were two musical events – NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Songs of Play and Jason Hardink’s Concord/Revisited Project – with six world premieres by composers, including two who … Read more

Pianist Jason Hardink’s Concord/Revisited Project set for Westminster College, featuring world premieres by 4 composers, Ives’ Concord Sonata

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“Sometimes, on Sundays, I heard the bells, the Lincoln, Acton, Bedford, or Concord bell, when the wind was favorable, a faint, sweet, and, as it were, natural melody, worth importing into the wilderness. At a sufficient distance over the woods this sound acquires a certain vibratory hum, as if the pine needles in the horizon … Read more

Bounty of excellent news from Utah Museum of Fine Arts: Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts, salt 15: Horacio Rodriguez, acquisition of Chiura Obata works for Japanese collection

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The early spring has brought new exhibitions to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts at The University of Utah, including a traveling exhibition of quilts, organized by the American Folk Art Museum, and a fascinating, unique show by Salt Lake City artist Horacio Rodriuguez. Also, UMFA recently shared news of a major acquisition for its … Read more