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 mixed Filipina filmmaker adrift about her identity in American society: Melissa Leilani Larson’s Mestiza, or Mixed, set for Plan-B Theatre premiere June 9-19

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In Melissa Leilani Larson’s newest play Mestiza, Or Mixed, thirty-something Lark Timon is a struggling filmmaker hoping to make a big break with one of her six screenplays. Lark, who identifies as a mixed Filipino female, believes her script set in the American West is a sure bet. Lark describes her female protagonist as Reyna, … Read more

It’s all about connections: NOVA Chamber Music Series announces 2022-23 season

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The word “connections” would be an ideal one-word summary for the 2022-23 season of the NOVA Chamber Music Series. As music directors, in programming the six Libby Gardner Hall concerts and the two Gallery Series concerts, the Fry Street Quartet has assembled an impressive lineup. The season includes world and Utah premieres and with the … Read more

Two Salt Lake City plein air artists among 22 invited to 14th Annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art at Grand Canyon National Park

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Two Salt Lake City artists will be among 22 selected for the 14th Annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art at Grand Canyon National Park, which begins in September and continues through January 2023. Michelle Condrat and Paula Swain will be among those invited to paint en plein air (outside on location) for a week at … Read more

Mitsu Salmon’s Somatic Tracing outstanding performance art exhibition at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

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The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA)’s Artist-in-Residence program (A-I-R) has recently produced a fascinating string of exhibitions by artists who are pushing out of the conventional boundaries of discipline, medium and display forms. Mitsu Salmon is continuing this emerging trend as the program’s first performance artist with Somatic Tracing, which will continue through June … Read more

With some new features, more than 90 cultural groups, 17 food vendors, Living Traditions Festival set for May 20-22 in downtown Salt Lake City

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There is no doubt that Utah’s population, especially within the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, is becoming more diverse and cosmopolitan. In the 2020 census, one out of every three individuals in Salt Lake County identified their ethnicity as other than white. And, a large majority of the state’s current population of more than 60,000 … Read more

Smart direction, strong cast carry excellent Pygmalion Theatre Company production of Annie Baker’s Body Awareness

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Many of us overlook the fact that we do not live in a politically correct world. But, there also are numerous reasons why trying to be politically correct or censoring the words we believe might be too sensitive to discuss the topics that should be discussed ends up being nearly as bad. So we fall … Read more

Three live performances set to be available for streaming video on demand options: Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Lo and Behold, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Six Songs from Ellis, Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation’s The Ivory Menagerie

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World premieres of works by two of Salt Lake City’s preeminent dance institutions (Repertory Dance Theatre and Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company), along with a splendid, innovative solo piano concert by Hsiang Tu, as presented by the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, continue an impressive spring of performances in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. Incidentally, all … Read more

NOVA Chamber Music Series set to close momentous season of songs with Songs of Migration

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It has been a momentous season of exquisite songs for NOVA Chamber Music Series, and the closing concert will cap it properly. Songs of Migration (May 1, 3 p.m.,Libby Gardner Hall) offers a sample of familiar works and pieces that deserve widespread attention – all of the selections signifying cross-cultural fertilization in music.  No NOVA … Read more

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