Event

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art’s newest exhibitions include Jorge Rojas’ Corn Mandala: Flower of Life, Annelise Duque’s Remember Them Alive, Yujin Kang’s Mountainous

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Three new exhibitions at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) are striking examples of self-referential autonomy in the visual arts, as presented by Utah artists Annelise Duque, Yujin Kang and Jorge Rojas. These exhibitions are open through July 31. For more information see the UMOCA website. Jorge Rojas: Corn Mandala: Flower of Life In … Read more

Bachauer gold medal piano competition goes remote this year, featuring 44 pianists, ages 11-18, in Junior and Young Artists categories, representing 14 countries

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A year and a half ago, before the pandemic halted all live performances, jurors for the Gina Bachauer International Junior and Young Artists Piano Competitions had listened to 113 pianists, ranging in age from 11 to 18, perform half-hour programs in one of five cities, including Salt Lake City as well as Hamburg, Moscow, New … Read more

A socially conscious theater in full bloom: Plan-B Theatre’s Local Color audio production ends 30th season on outstanding note

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Take the title of one of the four short plays in the premiere audio production of Local Color, and a listener can appreciate the organic commitments that Plan-B Theatre has made in bringing original plays that reflect a more genuine sense of the creative place at the core of the Utah Enlightenment. For closing out … Read more

Live dance performance returns to the stage in the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts with Fragments Of…, new work by Laura Brick and Dan Higgins

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There has been a recent spate of articles about the dynamics of live performances as musicians, actors and dancers return to the stage after more than 14 months of pandemic restrictions. While some have focused on anxieties, fears and awkward feelings for both performers and audiences, others have taken on a different tone.  In an … Read more

Plan-B Theatre set to close out its 30th season with Local Color, featuring works by playwrights in its Theatre Artists of Color Writing Workshop

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In the final show — a quartet of short plays — to close out its 30th anniversary season which has featured audio productions, Plan-B Theatre highlights two strengths that emphasize the small company’s leadership in producing original work with incisive timeliness and relevance. From playwrights in Plan-B’s Theatre Artists of Color Writing Workshop come four … Read more

Many gifts of emotional highs in Utah Symphony’s season closer with music by Montgomery, Schönberg, Mozart, Copland

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There is an invigorating appeal in listening to music for string orchestra composed by a violinist whose instincts elicit a blast of colors, textures, lyricism and effects from an instrumental category with which she is familiar. The Utah Symphony’s performance of Jessie Montgomery’s Strum in the closing concert of a season with unique circumstances was … Read more

Pianist Cahill Smith’s mission to bring Nikolai Medtner’s music to new audiences highlights latest NOVA Chamber Music Series’ recorded spring concert

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Pianist Cahill Smith fits nicely into the NOVA Chamber Music Series’ family, as well as the Utah State University music school in Logan. Take the following example. In two Carnegie Hall recitals, respectively in 2013 and 2015, he dedicated his performances to works by Russian composer Nikolai Medtner, a far less known contemporary of Sergei … Read more

From primal to sparkling: Utah Symphony concert highlights music by Jolivet, Beethoven

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In 1944, the 22-year-old Jean-Pierre Rampal won the Conservatoire test by performing a virtuosic threnody piece for flute by André Jolivet. Throughout his career, Rampal would include in his legendary repertoire the 16 works for the flute, written by Jolivet, one of the elite French composers of the 20th century. Again, the unique circumstances of … Read more

Salt Lake Acting Company’s video production of Audrey Cefaly’s Alabaster receives outstanding rolling world/Utah premiere

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Peculiar yet approachable, alternating between effulgent and piercing, complex and elucidating, Audrey Cefaly’s play Alabaster on paper, at first glance, might not be the ideal candidate for a filmed theatrical production, especially as part of the National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere program. Alabaster’s intricately woven elaborate character textures make for ideal stage pyrotechnics … Read more

Ballet West’s documentary series In The Balance: Ballet for a Lost Year set for May 7 premiere on social media

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In The Dance of The Building, the ingeniously crafted sixth episode of the In The Balance: Ballet for a Lost Year documentary series, one of the crew leaders for setting the stage of Ballet West’s performances in the Capitol Theatre in downtown Salt Lake City, explains that the real legacy of civilizations in history comprises … Read more