News

Many Wests exhibition now at Utah Museum of Fine Arts: extraordinary unprecedented collaboration of Smithsonian American Art Museum, four museums in American West

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When Frederick Jackson Turner introduced American historians to his Frontier Thesis in Chicago during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, very few paid attention to the significance of his proposition. It was the frontier which emboldened the “composite nationality” of Americans, Turner contended. “In the crucible of the frontier, the immigrants were Americanized, liberated and fused … Read more

Reviews: Wasatch Theatre Company’s Melancholy Play, RDT Link Series’ Matriarch by Jaclyn Brown

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WASATCH THEATRE COMPANY: MELANCHOLY PLAY For the Wasatch Theatre Company production, Director Morag Shepherd took to heart Sarah Ruhl’s instructions for Melancholy Play: A Contemporary Farce: “Melancholy in this play is Bold, Outward, Sassy, Sexy and Unashamed. It is not introverted. It uses, instead, the language of Jacobean direct address.” In a very smart, gratifying … Read more

Winter 2023 Roundup: Ballet West, Ririe-Woodbury, RDT, Bachauer, NOVA Chamber Music Series, Westminster College

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BALLET WEST: SLEEPING BEAUTY EDITOR’S NOTE: This Ballet West review is written by Chris Myers of Argyle Arts. In ballet, opera, theater, and even the classical concert world, there are a number of challenges that arise when presenting what might be considered an “historically accurate” or “original practice” version of a work. But perhaps the … Read more

Pioneer Theatre Company’s Putting It Together is a Sondheim tribute assembled like a perfect martini

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Nearly 50 years ago, the compilation Side by Side by Sondheim premiered to strong reviews and audience response, so persistent that by the late 1980s, Sondheim was urged to do an update or a sequel. Relenting to the request, he collaborated with Julia McKenzie, who was one of the creators and stars of the earlier … Read more

Detrás del telón en la Música de Cámara de NOVA: Miguel Chuaqui, Nicolás Lell Benavides, Gabriela Lena Frank tratan sobre mezclar, integrar y entrelazar los hilos de la identidad en su música

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Nota del Editor: Este artículo se presenta en español y inglés, gracias a Mark Alvarez. The Utah Review, aprecia su esfuerzo y su capacidad de ayudar en la preparación de las dos versiones. (English version is available here) En Parallel Play, que se estrenará a nivel mundial el día 12 de marzo en el concierto de NOVA … Read more

Myriad Dance Company’s Notion is richly textured, entertaining choreographed journey through dimensions of human nature and the experience of judgment

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In past shows, the Myriad Dance Company has achieved excellent sensory experiences in site-specific works that fit beautifully in the Dreamscapes museum but Notion, their newest production, is an outstanding hybrid that feels like a black box theater show but still functions in their usual proscenium-free staging. Notion follows true to the form that has … Read more

Backstage at NOVA Chamber Music Series: Miguel Chuaqui, Nicolás Lell Benavides, Gabriela Lena Frank on crossing, integrating, intersecting multilayers of identity in their music  

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This feature also has been translated into Spanish and is available here. For Parallel Play, which will receive its world premiere at the March 12 concert of NOVA Chamber Music Series, composer Miguel Chuaqui says he is playing with the complexities of his background and musical influences. He was born in Berkeley, California … Read more

Changyong Shin, 2018 Bachauer gold medalist, set for March 10 concert featuring music by Mozart, Schubert, Granados, Rachmaninoff, Liszt

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A solo program featuring some of piano literature’s most famous fantasies is on deck this week as the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, presents Changyong Shin in concert. Shin, who won the Bachauer competition gold medal in 2018, will play music by Mozart, Schubert, Granados and Liszt on March 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the … Read more

Nourishing the soul: Matchstick Girl by Jennifer Kokai and Kenneth Plain at Weber State Theatre, Go Home Come Back by Darryl Stamp at Plan-B Theatre

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MATCHSTICK GIRL BY JENNIFER KOKAI AND KENNETH PLAIN: WEBER STATE THEATRE There have been many adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen’s 19th century short folktale The Little Match Girl. Some have been faithful to the story of a young beggar who sells matchsticks on the streets of Copenhagen but on a bitterly cold New Year’s Eve … Read more

Two exhibitions at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art highlight creative entrepreneurship in its broadest scope, composing Latina art in vast, compelling spaces

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This feature also is published in Spanish here. Translation is courtesy of Mark Alvarez, a local immigration attorney. Two ongoing exhibitions at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art highlight the expanding perceptions of gallery presentations and visibility in visual arts: Beyond the Margins: An Exploration of Latina Art and Identity and Thomas Campbell: … Read more