Cédric Pescia, 2002 Bachauer gold medalist, to perform all-Bach recital March 8

In 2002, Cédric Pescia was 26 when he won the gold medal in the international competition of The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. It was the first and only competition Pescia, a dual citizen of France and Switzerland, in which he participated. He had shied away from the competitive performance arena, assuming that everyone else … Read more

From high school dropout to award-winning international filmmaker, Kenyan director Likarion Wainaina discusses poignant inspiration for Supa Modo, Tumbleweeds Film Festival opener

When Supa Modo, the award-winning feature-length narrative film from Kenyan director Likarion Wainaina, opens the Utah Film Center’s Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Children and Youth on Friday (March 1, 7:30 p.m., The City Library auditorium), Wainaina will be in attendance. As mentioned in the festival preview last week at The Utah Review, Supa Modo sets … Read more

Utah Film Center set to present 8th Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Children and Youth March 1-3

The eighth presentation of the Utah Film Center’s Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Children and Youth from March 1-3 brings in a slate of Utah premieres including films from Swaziland, Kenya, two from Iran and another from the Ladakh region of India. Twelve of the 13 feature-length films are exclusively from outside the U.S. while the … Read more

Utah Museum of Fine Art’s The Race to Promontory: The Transcontinental Railroad and the American West rare treat of photographic art

In the late 1860s, the ideal uses, functions, aesthetic value and presence of photography were as controversial as the numerous digital media tools we have accepted recently in our daily lives. Aaron Hertzmann, scientist at Adobe Acrobat, summarized the three views people put forth about photography in the middle of the 19th century. It was … Read more

Audacious, experimental, unflinching: Top Ten Moments of the Utah Enlightenment for 2018

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

16th annual Spy Hop Productions’ PitchNic films scheduled to premiere Nov. 8

Last year’s class of PitchNic short films, produced, filmed and directed by students in one of Spy Hop Productions’ signature programs, added nicely to the 15-year totals of film festival appearances and awards for these projects. Winning the Utah Short Film of The Year prize at the 2018 Utah Arts Festival, the short narrative feature … Read more

Recent SLC art happenings: Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Site Lines, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art presentation of memorial videos

The Utah Review looks at two events from local museums: Site Lines, The University of Utah Art Faculty’s exhibition at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) and a recent video presentation at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) that was held in connection with a national conference of funeral directors held in Salt … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s latest FEST entry of Zombie Thoughts smashing success

Indeed, life imitates art. On Oct. 8, a packed Browning Center for the Performing Arts room on the Weber State University campus in Ogden patiently waited for the first public performance of Plan-B Theatre’s Zombie Thoughts, the sixth play of its annual Free Elementary School Tour (FEST) program. Developed around the theme of generalized anxiety … Read more

Original video game idea turned into a play, Plan-B Theatre’s Zombie Thoughts slated for Utah schools fall tour

At 11, Oliver Grey Kokai-Means already can claim that a play he created and wrote with his mother, playwright Jennifer Kokai, is being produced and will be viewed by thousands over the next month and half in Utah. Zombie Thoughts is the sixth play of Plan-B Theatre’s Free Elementary School Tour (FEST), which takes the … Read more

Utah Film Center announces Artist Foundry to support independent filmmakers, acquires assets of Avrec Art House

As much as the Utah Film Center has served as a major Intermountain West cultural institution of exhibition for independent cinema, especially in documentary storytelling, it also has cultivated its function as a strategic touchstone essential for augmenting the creative filmmaking sector of the state’s film industry. Today, the center announced a major new piece … Read more