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The Bachauer at 50: Junior artists portion of the 2026 Gina Bachauer International Junior and Young Artists Piano Competitions: Daily Diary, June 14-20

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review will publish a daily diary about the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation’s International Junior and Young Artists Competitions, which run June 14-27. Follow this link daily through June 20, as we cover both rounds and the final round of the junior artist portion of the competitions. For more details about … Read more

Utah Arts Festival at 50: Series of free stained glass workshops by internationally acclaimed Holdman Studios is phenomenal golden anniversary gift

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EDITOR’S NOTE: For preview coverage of the 50th Utah Arts Festival, which runs June 18-21, The Utah Review is presenting individual or group profiles of artists, performers, entertainers and some newcomers to the event. The curtain raiser highlights the history of the Festival which is marking its golden anniversary. BANDALOOP, among the most prominent pioneers … Read more

Sundance 2026: Episodic Nonfiction Pilot Showcase, Documentary Short Film Program are stellar program blocks

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The two features in the Episodic Nonfiction Pilot Showcase and the seven offerings in the Documentary Short Film Program comprise two of the most consistently outstanding program blocks this year at Sundance.   Episodic Nonfiction Pilot Showcase If viewers are anticipating the conventional true crime fare, a genre that already is fatigued and or saturated, the … Read more

PYGmalion Productions’ Utah premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things is finely acted soothing, charming respite of empathy

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PYGmalion Productions Theatre Company’s Utah premiere production of Tiny Beautiful Things, which is based on the bestselling book by Cheryl Strayed that was adapted for the stage by Academy-Award nominated screenwriter and award-winning actor Nia Vardalos, is a charming delight of chamber theater, with a quartet of actors who give the audience a soothing respite … Read more

With 2018 silver medalist Aristo Sham, Darkness Descends concert set to open 2023-24 season for Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation

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At 21, in 2017, Aristo Sham was thinking about ways he could do multiple things. A decade earlier, just as he was entering his adolescent years, he already had won first prize in the Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Germany in 2006, and then the top prize in Salt Lake City at the Gina Bachauer … Read more

Memorable dance programs for summer performing arts scene: Myriad Dance Company’s Dream Spark at new Dreamscapes location; Fem Dance Company’s State of Flux

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MYRIAD DANCE COMPANY: DREAM SPARK Truly a gratifying collaboration in the best sense of the word, Myriad Dance Company’s Dream Spark could not have been a more fitting opening for Dreamscapes in its newest location. Now housed in the former Macy’s store at The Shops at South Town in Sandy, Utah, the immersive art museum … Read more

The Sting & Honey Company offers an elegant cosmopolitan palette of myth and folklore in Sleeping Beauty’s Dream

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Watching Sleeping Beauty’s Dream, by Javen Tanner, in a recent production by The Sting & Honey Company, one can appreciate the cosmopolitan melange of myths that supersedes the traditional Disney-like narrative portrayal. Tanner’s script shows that the relationships connecting the romantic lead characters extend beyond physical attraction into loyalty, commitment, friendship and dignity.  The results … Read more

Sundance 2022: All That Breathes exceptional documentary testament to human-nonhuman interaction in the midst of Delhi

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Of numerous remarkable moments in the exceptional documentary film All That Breathes (Kiterabbit Films and Rise Films production), India’s sole entry in this year’s Sundance, among the most unforgettable are those portraying the psychological and philosophical attitudes of brothers Nadeem and Saud, who have put their heads down in total focus for nearly the last … Read more

Sundance 2021: Mormon-themed dark comedy narrative and Turkish sociological thriller shine as part of festival short films slate

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A Mormon-themed dark comedy narrative and a Turkish sociological thriller surrounding two university students underscore just how rigorously curated this year’s Sundance short film program is. Gregory Barnes’ The Touch of the Master’s Hand and Serhat Karaaslan’s The Criminals are among this year’s 50 short films which were selected from 9,933 submissions. The Touch of … Read more

Five choreographers set their sights on commission prize in Regalia competition, Repertory Dance Theatre’s annual fundraiser

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Few dance companies in the U.S. would take the audacious path of holding a choreographer’s competition in which the audience determines the winner with the prize of a commission for a composition to premiere in the company’s next season. However, the format of Regalia, the largest fundraising event each year for Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), … Read more