Backstage at the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition: The elegant art of adjudication; nine jury members announced

While many can justifiably describe the Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition as music’s counterpart to the Olympics, many might be surprised that the jury process for determining the top three prize winners by the end of June relies on a long-established protocol that replaced numerical scores with a secret voting process where each individual juror … Read more

Backstage at the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition: 33 quarterfinalists from 11 countries set to arrive later this week in Salt Lake City

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review is pleased to present extensive coverage of the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition. Each day this week, we will present profiles of the quarterfinalists. This week will focus on preview features and beginning June 17, a daily diary will be published about competition highlights.  The nation’s second largest piano … Read more

Asian Voices front and center in Ballet West’s 6th Choreographic Festival, set for SLC June 5-8, and Kennedy Center, June 18-23

Ballet West’s 60th anniversary season has been simultaneously a celebration of its groundbreaking legacy in American dance and an exploration of fresh artistic possibilities going into the second quarter of the 21st century.  Phil Chan, an internationally known choreographer whose organization Final Bow for Yellowface initially engaged the ballet world’s artistic gatekeepers to resist treating … Read more

A musical theatrical bounty for actors-musicians on stage: Pioneer Theatre Company set for Utah premiere of Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812

The idea of turning even a rather small part of Leo Tolstoy’s monumental novel War and Peace into a musical would seem daunting, if not damn near impossible. However, Part 8 of the story, which occurs just before the novel’s midpoint, inspired Dave Malloy to do precisely that. Tolstoy, who achieved the epitome of rich … Read more

Etudious!: Vassily Primakov, 2002 piano competition silver medalist, set to return to Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation stage for concert of etudes

Growing up in Moscow during the 1980s, Vassily Primakov was just seven years old when he asked his mother, Marina Primakova, about starting piano lessons. “My mother was a pianist and I grew up with a lot of music around me, hearing her practice, rehearse and teach,” Primakov said in an interview with The Utah … Read more

Finding Joy Together: Utah Film Center’s 13th Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Kids set for April 19-20 at Viridian Event Center

With an excellent slate of family feature- and short-length films from around the world with hearty, intelligent and imaginative stories, the Utah Film Center is geared up for the 13th Annual Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Kids on April 19 and 20 at West Jordan’s Viridian Event Center.  With the Salt Lake County Library as partners, … Read more

Utah Symphony’s Guitar Celebrations puts the virtuoso art of electric guitar on regal display on classical music stage

There are many classical music concertgoers who can rattle off names of some of today’s most respected violinists and pianists but what about guitarists — notably, those who are masters of the electric guitar. How many have heard of masters such as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, and John Petrucci? Others include Steven Mackey, … Read more

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company set to close 60th anniversary season with Ascent, including two world premieres, live performance by Salt Lake Electric Ensemble

Set to close out a superb 60th anniversary season, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Ascent show is pulling out all the stops for a thriller. There are two world premieres: Chapters of Being by Charlotte Boye-Christensen, who served as the company’s artistic director for 11 years, beginning in 2002, and Storyograph by current artistic director Daniel Charon. … Read more

Ahead of Earth Day, NOVA Chamber Music Series to feature two new commissioned works from Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music’s Composing Earth project

NOVA Chamber Music Series’ final Libby Gardner series concert of the 2023-24 season is nicely timed for this month’s celebrations of Earth Day and the ever-intensifying focus on changes in the climate and environmental impacts. The concert will feature two new commissioned works, courtesy of Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music’s Composing Earth cohort. … Read more

Repertory Dance Theatre’s Gamut to feature world premiere commission by Yusha-Marie Sorzano, along with works by Ihsan Rustem, Lar Lubovitch

For Gamut, its spring show, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) will present Solfège, a new commission from choreographer Yusha-Marie Sorzano, who is making her first appearance with the company, along with two outstanding audience-pleasers from the repertoire: Ihsan Rustem’s Hallelujah Junction and Lar Lubovitch’s Marimba. Performances are scheduled daily at 7:30 p.m. April 11-13, in the … Read more