NOVA Chamber Music Series announces 2021-22 concerts, return to live regular season performances for first time since March 2020

The last live NOVA Chamber Music Series concert before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered all live performances in the city occurred on March 1, 2020, a program featuring music by Nordic composers performed in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Great Hall. In the last 18 months, NOVA has stayed visible with a series of virtual … Read more

#SLACabaret, Salt Lake Acting Company’s summer debut, shows plenty of examples about leveraging comedic punch celebrating Utah’s peculiarities

Provocative comedy is an underappreciated, underutilized art form in Utah. The state’s social character and pop culture are sufficiently peculiar, offbeat and unusual to produce spot-on satires and farces. Some segments of Utah’s independent film industry (think of the HaleStorm comedies, for example) have aspired to achieve crossover appeal by highlighting weird, quirky aspects of … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2021: Music highlights include headliner Las Cafeteras from East LA; local standouts Fry Pan Band, La Calavera, Mel Soul, Brent Yo and The Messenger

Las Cafeteras (Aug. 28, 9:30 p.m., Festival Stage) It has been three years since Las Cafeteras, the acoustic alt-folk rock band from East Los Angeles, performed in Salt Lake City, at The University of Utah. They appeared then with the all-female mariachi crew Flor de Toloache, who had won a Latin Grammy just a year … Read more

Utah Arts Festival: Festival Stage headliners include Jeff Crosby and The Refugees, Will Baxter Band

Among the headliners being featured at this year’s Utah Arts Festival are Salt Lake City’s Will Baxter Band and native Idahoan Jeff Crosby who will be performing with The Refugees. Will Baxter Band (Aug. 27, 8:15 p.m., Festival Stage) When Will Baxter moved from Fort Collins, Colorado to Salt Lake City, it did not take … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2021: Top Utah bands Brother., Pixie and the Partygrass Boys slated to perform

This year’s Utah Arts Festival features some of the most successful, widely acclaimed local bands. Among them are Pixie and the Partygrass Boys and Brother.  Brother. (Aug. 28, 5:15 p.m., Park Stage) Brother., the indie rock band originating in Provo, had ambitious plans in 2020. Performances were slated at SXSW and Treefort, as part of … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2021: Local hip hop artists Zac Ivie and Ocelot along with Dumb Luck set for Park Stage

The performing stages at this year’s Utah Arts Festival features an impressive range of styles, aesthetics, approaches and genres from local musicians. Among the artists representing hip hop this year are Zac Ivie and Dumb Luck. Zac Ivie and Ocelot (Aug. 27, 10:15 p.m., Park Stage) Just days before the pandemic erased every performing artst’s … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2021: Jazz commissions feature Utah’s Steve Erickson, Tyler Chen in three world premieres

This year’s Utah Arts Festival brings three world premieres in its jazz commission program, representing the 2020 and 2021 winners: Steve Erickson and Tyler Chen, respectively. Their pieces will premiere Aug, 27 at 6:30 p.m. on the Festival Stage with the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra. Tyler Chen: Acclimation and Blues for Courtney In middle … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2021: Slimmer, shorter but still state’s most comprehensive arts and cultural celebration of the year

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review begins its preview coverage today of the 45th Utah Arts Festival, which will be held Aug. 27-29 (noon to 11 p.m. on Aug. 27 and 28 and noon to 9 p.m. on Aug. 29) on the Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City. As this is the state’s largest multidisciplinary … Read more

7th Great Salt Lake Fringe brings record 52 shows with live performances at The Gateway, virtual shows, running July 29-Aug. 8

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review will present reviews of nine Great Salt Lake Fringe shows in a two-part series on Aug. 2-3. In a recent Facebook post, Utah playwright Morag Shepherd, who has participated several times in the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, wrote, “For those who do not have the luxury or privilege to … Read more

Maria Eydman, 16, from Germany, takes gold medal in Young Artist portion of Bachauer international piano competitions

Maria Eydman, 16, from Germany, won the gold medal and a $15,000 cash prize in the Young Artist portion of the Gina Bachauer International Junior and Young Artists Piano Competitions, which was held virtually this year. Twenty-one pianists, who started the competition last year in the 15-18 age group before the pandemic disrupted it, played … Read more