Music

Earth Month roundup: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Flight, Samba Fogo’s The Seed of Samba, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s To See Beyond Our Time, NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Connect with the West

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REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: FLIGHT Producing a gratifying trio of works to highlight Earth Month, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) made its Flight program its strongest offering within the last four years. Zvi Gotheiner’s Dancing The Bears Ears, a 2017 commission for the company, and two first-time RDT performances of existing works — José Limón’s The Winged … Read more

Nijinska’s Les Noces (The Wedding) becomes crowning achievement for Ballet West’s superb 59th season

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With each work evoking its unique intricate, intuitive rhythmically reciprocal relationship between music and movement, the trio of Ballet West premieres in its most recent production proved to be the crowning highlight of the company’s superb 59th season.  A complex program of rigorous demands in all aspects, the presentation of Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Noces, Jerome … Read more

A diverse array of ways to Connect with the West in April 16 concert by NOVA Chamber Music Series

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There has been a decent spate of Utah arts and cultural events in recent months that flesh out a more comprehensive history of the American West. They include theatrical productions about Utah historian Juanita Brooks (Pygmalion Theatre Company) and Wallace Thurman (Plan-B Theatre, which opens this week). This month, Repertory Dance Theatre will present a … Read more

Winter 2023 Roundup: Ballet West, Ririe-Woodbury, RDT, Bachauer, NOVA Chamber Music Series, Westminster College

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BALLET WEST: SLEEPING BEAUTY EDITOR’S NOTE: This Ballet West review is written by Chris Myers of Argyle Arts. In ballet, opera, theater, and even the classical concert world, there are a number of challenges that arise when presenting what might be considered an “historically accurate” or “original practice” version of a work. But perhaps the … Read more

Pioneer Theatre Company’s Putting It Together is a Sondheim tribute assembled like a perfect martini

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Nearly 50 years ago, the compilation Side by Side by Sondheim premiered to strong reviews and audience response, so persistent that by the late 1980s, Sondheim was urged to do an update or a sequel. Relenting to the request, he collaborated with Julia McKenzie, who was one of the creators and stars of the earlier … Read more

Detrás del telón en la Música de Cámara de NOVA: Miguel Chuaqui, Nicolás Lell Benavides, Gabriela Lena Frank tratan sobre mezclar, integrar y entrelazar los hilos de la identidad en su música

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Nota del Editor: Este artículo se presenta en español y inglés, gracias a Mark Alvarez. The Utah Review, aprecia su esfuerzo y su capacidad de ayudar en la preparación de las dos versiones. (English version is available here) En Parallel Play, que se estrenará a nivel mundial el día 12 de marzo en el concierto de NOVA … Read more

Myriad Dance Company’s Notion is richly textured, entertaining choreographed journey through dimensions of human nature and the experience of judgment

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In past shows, the Myriad Dance Company has achieved excellent sensory experiences in site-specific works that fit beautifully in the Dreamscapes museum but Notion, their newest production, is an outstanding hybrid that feels like a black box theater show but still functions in their usual proscenium-free staging. Notion follows true to the form that has … Read more

Backstage at NOVA Chamber Music Series: Miguel Chuaqui, Nicolás Lell Benavides, Gabriela Lena Frank on crossing, integrating, intersecting multilayers of identity in their music  

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This feature also has been translated into Spanish and is available here. For Parallel Play, which will receive its world premiere at the March 12 concert of NOVA Chamber Music Series, composer Miguel Chuaqui says he is playing with the complexities of his background and musical influences. He was born in Berkeley, California … Read more

Changyong Shin, 2018 Bachauer gold medalist, set for March 10 concert featuring music by Mozart, Schubert, Granados, Rachmaninoff, Liszt

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A solo program featuring some of piano literature’s most famous fantasies is on deck this week as the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, presents Changyong Shin in concert. Shin, who won the Bachauer competition gold medal in 2018, will play music by Mozart, Schubert, Granados and Liszt on March 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the … Read more

A heartwarming take on what once in a lifetime can mean: Plan-B Theatre sets world premiere run for Darryl Stamp’s Go Home Come Back

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Will, a sales manager, is supposed to be on his way to celebrate his wife’s birthday but he has a fatal accident because of distracted driving. James, a demolition worker who has a challenging relationship with his daughter, is crushed by falling pieces of a collapsed building. Their paths cross in the hereafter when they … Read more