Shea Freedom: June 24, 6:15 p.m., Park Stage The Utah Arts Festival’s inaugural Emerging Artists program is an impressive mix of artists, literary figures and musicians who see their creative expressive and community activism as going hand in hand. With an expanding base of international shows, Shea Freedom is one of the program’s most dynamic … Read more
With seven dance companies being represented at this year’s Utah Arts Festival, the range of movement styles, techniques and languages is comprehensive. The Round stage next to the City Library will be the performing site for a crowd favorite, 1520 Arts, which specializes in hip hop, break dancing and other styles, as well as a … Read more
In years when the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation does not hold the finals in Salt Lake City for its rotating schedule of competitions, June becomes the month for the piano festival, as Kary Billings, the foundation’s executive director, explains. This year’s event (June 22-25) features six young pianists, ranging in age from 14 to … Read more
Ever so slowly but certainly, the realization is growing among musicians of all stripes and colors how unhelpful and unsatisfying the genre label of world or global music. Immediately, one recognizes how the name of Toubab Krewe supersedes the problem described above. It suggests a name that is elucidating about its musical mission and the … Read more
Three Utah bands, each with a unique story representing different age groups, backgrounds and interests are part of the deep bench of local music talent, which will appear at this year’s Utah Arts Festival. They include a hard rock band of four Ogden Valley mothers, an electronic dance music rock band conceived from a lunch … Read more
Decades from now, when music and culture historians revisit the pandemic to chronicle the impact of the global ground-stop on live performances and how artists managed such an unprecedented set of circumstances, Lyrics Born’s (LB) podcast Mobile Homies will be a valuable primary source about how hip hop and rap artists responded with new music … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review begins its preview coverage today of the 46th Utah Arts Festival, which will be held June 23-26 (noon to 11 p.m. on June 23-25 and noon to 9 p.m. on June 26) on the Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City. As this is the state’s largest multidisciplinary arts and … Read more
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
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
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