Choreographer Natalie Desch says the experience of setting movement for a duet of dancers to Gity Razaz’s Chance Has Spoken emulates perfectly the mysterious yet clear-directed nature of the young Iranian-American composer’s music for string quartet and vibraphone. “It is a very haunting piece with beautiful lyricism and movement sensibility,” Desch says. Composed in 2011, … Read more
More apparent every year, the Utah Enlightenment is audacious, experimental and unflinching in its artistic entrepreneurship. In 2018, the pool for considering the most definitive moments of the Utah Enlightenment was as expansive and diverse as ever. The Utah Review presents the top ten moments for 2018, precisely because of promise and strength among its … Read more
One of the most popular programming approaches to highlight the string quartet’s extraordinary versatility as a chamber music ensemble is to organize cycles of a particular composer’s output in the genre or to juxtapose a series that emphasize parallels between how two composers developed their musical language for string players. The case is strong for … Read more
This month, three leading organizations in Utah’s arts and culture scene presented programs: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Mosaic, NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Royal Musings and Spy Hop Productions’ 16th annual PitchNic premieres. Reviews of all three programs are presented. REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: MOSAIC It took 93 minutes of dance to create the opulent mosaic of movement … Read more
Compared to its European neighbors, especially in the latter half of the 18th century and through most of the 19th century, Britain did not produce the same depth and breadth of composers whose works have endured. While Henry Purcell (1659-1695) is considered that nation’s preeminent Baroque composer, it was Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), one of the … Read more
Some of the most familiar works for solo piano by Beethoven and Rachmaninov will highlight the second concert of the Bach, Beethoven, Brahms … and Beyond series, which makes up the 2018-2019 season for The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. Jane Coop, one of Canada’s most prominent pianists and music professors, will be the soloist … Read more
Two intimate concerts of exquisite musicality were held on the Oct. 12-14 weekend, as part of the opening programs for the 2018-19 seasons of The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation and NOVA Chamber Music Series. The Utah Review has reviews of both programs. THE GINA BACHAUER INTERNATIONAL PIANO FOUNDATION: LUCA BURATTO Pianist Luca Buratto, the … Read more
NOVA Chamber Music Series will launch its 41st season this month with its Road to Night concert, a selection of works spanning the period of 1778-1899 that arise from intimate literary inspirations along with deeply heartfelt musical responses by composers to personal events in their lives. The concert also is a sincere reflection of NOVA’s … Read more
For the 2018-2019 season, The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation is between competition years but its series of four concerts features soloists who have made their imprint as some of the world’s best acclaimed pianists. The soloists include the 2002 Bachauer Gold Medalist, the 2005 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, the 2015 Honens Competition winner and … Read more
Just how adventuresome and experimental can Salt Lake City’s performing arts scene become? More so than some might expect. In the last few years, there have been numerous examples suggesting just how Utah’s pioneer legacy is translated and transformed into boundary-busting expressions. Per capita, Salt Lake City stacks up competitively to much larger metropolitan centers … Read more