Pianist and conductor Awadagin Pratt remembers meeting Jessie Montgomery, violinist and composer, several years ago and playing chamber music together for a week. “She talked about the experiences she had in making the transition from a violinist to a composer and her thoughts about music making in general,” Pratt said in an interview with The … Read more
The most enduring Hollywood movies about Christmas reinforce the nostalgia about holiday celebrations, even when chaos threatens to upend plans for the perfect gathering. In 1945, as GIs began to return to the States after the long world war, American audiences welcomed the holiday madcap farce of Warner Bros.’ Christmas in Connecticut. Nearly 80 years … Read more
The fall performing arts season in Salt Lake City has been a bountiful harvest of enterprising programming. Featured reviews include Fem Dance Company, Local Independent Theatre (LIT Co.) and NOVA Chamber Music Series. FEM DANCE COMPANY: HEAR HER Earlier this month, Fem Dance Company’s premiere of Hear Her, choreographed by Alicia Ross, was an enlightening, … Read more
To illustrate the everlasting cultural resilience of tatau, among the greatest art forms to emerge in Oceania, the story of Chris Lemuelu is potent in its lucidity. He is a Samoan who lives in Australia and is, as writer Fareed Kaviani has explained, “a soga’imiti, a man who has completed the full pe’a.” As Tatau: … Read more
Five premieres will mark Repertory Dance Theatre’s (RDT) Venture production later this week. The new works include three from artists who have been part of RDT’s Regalia choreographic competitions, along with a full company work by an internationally known choreographer from Poland and a piece for participants in RDT’s Prime Performance Workshop. Venture will have … Read more
By Chris Myers For 60 years, Ballet West has been arguably among the finest jewels in Salt Lake City’s artistic crown. As the recent retrospective in The Utah Review demonstrated, this company has led the way to bring artistic excellence to the Intermountain West. Beginning last Friday (Nov. 3) with the company’s latest production, Ballet … Read more
Some 60 years after Marie Curie died (in 1934) from a rare blood disorder caused by her work with radium and polonium, the French government had planned to move her body as well as that of her husband Pierre to the Panthéon. However, the team responsible for exhuming their coffins had to be extraordinarily cautious … Read more
Just last month, internationally known pianist José Ramón Mendez was in Utah to judge the state chapter of the Music Teacher National Association’s piano competitions. Later this week, Mendez will return to perform his Salt Lake City debut, in ¡Jaleo!, a concert of solo piano works by Chopin and Spanish composers Antonio Soler, Isaac Albéniz … Read more
This week’s world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank new string quartet A Psalm of Disquiet at Utah State University and then on Nov. 5 at NOVA Chamber Music Series in Salt Lake City, is yet another milestone in the flourishing relationship which the composer and Fry Street Quartet have developed over many years. “I have … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ballet West is celebrating its 60th anniversary and the newest production, which opens Nov. 3, is a tribute to Willam F. Christensen, who co-founded the company. Featured are Christensen’s version of The Firebird, the world premiere of Fever Dream by Joshua Whitehead, recently retired and long-term Ballet West artist, and George Balanchine’s Stars … Read more