Reflections, the most recent NOVA Chamber Music Series concert, eloquently conveyed its theme in a cohesive, imaginative way that any artistic director should envy. Throughout the season, Madeline Adkins, NOVA’s music director, has expanded upon the organization’s unique branding for programming concerts with themes that elucidate new dimensions of music appreciation. Adkins, the Utah Symphony … Read more
There is an appropriate and gratifying takeaway from Bekah Brunstetter’s comedic play The Cake, which the Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) is giving its Utah premiere in a well-acted, polished production. While many anticipated the U.S. Supreme Court to make a momentous decision last summer in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case involving a baker in Colorado … Read more
An Evening with Two Awful Men, the newest Plan-B Theatre production which opens Feb. 21, promises to be quite the reality show: a mix of CNN, C-SPAN, Jerry Springer, TLC, Judge Judy, History Channel, American Idol. Written by Elaine Jarvik, a former journalist with several Plan-B productions to her credit, her latest play captures the … Read more
Composer Andrew Norman’s fascination with architecture arises from his admiration for the fearlessness exhibited in some of the most innovative examples from the field. There are, of course, the creations of architecture’s two ‘Franks’ who have been represented in his music: Frank Gehry, now in his late 80s and Norman has had discussions with him, … Read more
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
In the hands of the collaborators for the recent Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company concert, the stories of the Red Fred Project were transformed into a vibrant, colorful, innocent, joyful, poignant and glistening landscape. For the project’s young authors and their curator Dallas Graham, the live creature and ethereal things concert was like an animated film made … Read more
Two-way communication, adrenaline-fueled stress and an assortment of different creative possibilities are just a few of the essentials for the four choreographers who will participate in the competition part of Repertory Dance Theatre’s Regalia (RDT), the company’s largest annual fundraiser. It is not a setting that is comfortable or typical for any professional choreographer, who normally … Read more
Just days before the Democratic primary for the U.S. Congressional 14th District seat in New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign had just enough money to commission a poll to gauge the first-time candidate’s standing in the electorate. It showed her 35 points behind Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent who also was one of the most powerful … Read more
In the documentary film Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements which premiered at this year’s Sundance, viewers see Jonas, in his early teens, experiencing something familiar to every musician –amateur or professional, student or virtuoso. At times, Jonas become frustrated at the mistakes and imperfections in his playing, whether he is practicing alone or during … Read more
One of the most controversial elements in the annual reenactment of the Moore’s Ford Bridge quadruple lynching that occurred in 1946 in Georgia is a tiny doll. One of the women in the reenactment carries it under her clothing. In Monroe, Georgia, many local black residents believe that one of the victims was seven months … Read more