Samba Fogo upcoming Xiré concert to feature dances, music signifying the Candomblé tradition honoring the Orixá

The upcoming Xiré concert by Samba Fogo will offer a different facet of Utah’s Brazilian dance and music company, which many audiences have known for their exuberant celebrations especially of Carnaval culture. The concert (with two performances Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Regent Street Black Box Theatre at the The … Read more

Utah Museum of Fine Arts makes spectacular choices in loans from Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art Bridges

“They chose well,” Stephanie Stebich, executive director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), says, in an interview with The Utah Review, of the paintings the Utah Museum of Fine Arts staff chose as loans made possible by two innovative programs established to share works from the nation’s most prestigious art collections. Given that UMFA had … Read more

Pygmalion Theatre Company set to open 2019-2020 season with Julie Jensen’s Two-Headed play

History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read.  And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is … Read more

17th annual Spy Hop Productions’ PitchNic films scheduled to premiere Nov. 7

Cameron Baer, 19, a Provo High School graduate, nearly quit the PitchNic class at Spy Hop Productions this year. He had successfully pitched the concept for one of the short films to be made in the year-long class. It is a fictional narrative based in part about obsessions and anxieties that can skew one’s perceptions … Read more

Plan-B Theatre sets world premiere for Camille Washington’s Oda Might thriller

In Oda Might, a new play by Camille Washington, the patient, a middle-aged black woman in a psychiatric hospital, relates details of her life to her doctor, also a black woman but younger and lighter skin. The patient, a spiritual medium who believes she is the scapegoat for a murder, is candid about her life … Read more

Salt Lake Acting Company’s world premiere Form of a Girl Unknown brings exceptional performances

The world that Amali Wilson is about to experience as an adolescent who has just begun her menstrual cycle is, on one hand, a turbulent one marked by police brutality, sexual assault, discrimination and disenfranchisement. On the other hand, it is a resilient, vibrant one where Black women are at the forefront socially, politically and … Read more

Red Desert ensemble plans Oct. 28 concert at Westminster College as blockbuster sampler of contemporary music

As part of its artistic residency at Westminster College’s school of music, the Red Desert ensemble, the duo project of clarinetist Katie Porter and composer/percussionist Devin Maxwell, will present a blockbuster sampler of contemporary music including a world premiere by Maxwell and music by Stockhausen, Cage, Xenakis and Tenney along with works by 21st century composers Johannes Kreidler and … Read more

Utah filmmaker’s Second Sight short documentary serves emotionally compelling narrative as archetype of international eye healthcare mission

At the center of Cole Sax’s short documentary Second Sight, the story of Virgilio and Joanly Lahioan and their four children in the Philippines eloquently conveys the human impact of broad questions that researchers have sought to answer by empirical evidence. Does poverty perpetuate poor health? Does poor eye health deepen poverty? How and why? … Read more

Upcoming Utah Film Center screenings highlight issues of white nationalism, traumatic impacts of child abuse

Continuing a month of free, public screenings dealing with big issues, two documentary films along with talkback sessions – one on white nationalism and the other about the traumatic impacts of child abuse – will be presented by the Utah Film Center. They are the award-winning White Right: Meeting the Enemy (2017), directed by Deeyah … Read more

World-class performances in Salt Lake City: Pianist Hong Xu at Bachauer, Ligeti and Brahms concert for NOVA Chamber Music Series

HONG XU: GINA BACHAUER INTERNATIONAL PIANO FOUNDATION It was a perfect homecoming for Chinese pianist Hong Xu, who opened the 2019-2020 season series of concerts for the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. Xu, who won the bronze medal at the 2001 Bachauer competitions at the age of 17 in Salt Lake City, returned last week … Read more