EDITOR’S NOTE: For preview coverage of the 50th Utah Arts Festival, which runs June 18-21, The Utah Review is presenting individual or group profiles of artists, performers, entertainers and some newcomers to the event. The curtain raiser highlights the history of the Festival which is marking its golden anniversary. BANDALOOP, among the most prominent pioneers … Read more
Early summer is always special at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA). The Utah Review looks at some of the latest exhibitions, including the 10th anniversary edition of Out Loud (2026) and the works by 44 Utah artists that are available in the 2026 Gala Art Auction. Another is the fascinating and ingeniously conceived … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part I of a retrospective on the 50th anniversary of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. Part I highlights the origins and formative years while Part II (go to this link) summarizes The Bachauer’s multifaceted legacies on and off the concert stage. The Utah Review is grateful for the assistance of … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part II of a retrospective on the 50th anniversary of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. Part I (go to this link) highlights the origins and formative years while Part II summarizes The Bachauer’s multifaceted legacies on and off the concert stage. The Utah Review is grateful for the assistance of … Read more
This spring produced an overflowing bounty of great programs in dance, which enjoys imperial status among the performing arts in Utah. The following five exemplify this distinction. Ballet West: Choregraphic Fest VII: Spotlight Utah Donald Byrd’s Processional world premiere capped a distinguished choreographic valedictory in the history-making closing production of Ballet West’s 2025-26 season. The … Read more
Demonstrating another dimension of collaboration in the wake of its critically acclaimed Grief Work multidisciplinary show, Material Art Gallery’s Colour Maisch and Jorge Rojas have curated Liminal Spaces, an absorbing paragon of harmonizing the visual arts languages of two artists, which— when combined— reside in a threshold between the worlds each artist has envisioned. It is … Read more
Dark comedies such as Andrea D. Peterson’s (plan c), which is receiving its world premiere in a PYGmalion Theatre Company production, challenge the critic’s charge to give it a constructive review. Humor is an effective defense mechanism to a certain degree. Audiences might struggle in coming to terms with the story of Ginnifer, a woman … Read more
To the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, Wuda Ogwa is the name of what we call Bear River. During the winter in 1863, near where Preston, Idaho is located, between 400 and 450 tribal members were killed in one of the deadliest massacres of Native Americans in U.S. history. Since 2018, when the tribe … Read more
In Utah, dance wears the empress crown in the performing arts. Choreographers and guest dance artists from around the world know well just how broad and deep the dance ecosystem in Utah is, as evidenced by the numerous commissions that have been set on local companies in ballet and contemporary dance over many decades. For … Read more
Back in its heyday before jets capable of making the transoceanic long haul became common, Canada’s Gander airport was “basically a pump-and-go station,” as journalist Andrea Sachs described in a 2019 Washington Post feature. “Locals would hitchhike up to the airport to buy ice cream and search for famous faces waiting to reboard, such as … Read more