Early spring bounty: SUPERWOMEN dance concert, Samba Fogo’s Still, Out of the Silence featuring Red Desert, DEXO’s children rock opera Hannah Saves the World

Performing arts schedules are blossoming this spring, as companies and ensembles return to live productions in full swing. SUPERWOMEN: REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE’S LINK SERIES A regular point made in The Utah Review’s dance coverage is how and why this particular performing arts form wears the empress crown in arts and culture in Utah. Recently, that … Read more

Live from their living room: Red Desert ensemble set April 13 for evening of deep listening experiences, including new music, Utah premieres

Last spring, the Red Desert ensemble, the duo project of clarinetist Katie Porter and composer/percussionist Devin Maxwell, were planning to leave Utah. To mark the occasion, they organized an outstanding public jam session of deep listening music at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts featuring works by Maxwell, Morton Feldman, Pauline Oliveros and a fabulous all-star conglomeration performing Terry Riley’s In … Read more

Fascinating, innovative, collaborative: Top Ten Moments of the Utah Enlightenment for 2019

Since The Utah Review started publishing in 2014, the emphasis on the Utah Enlightenment has dominated the coverage of what is new and original in the arts and culture landscape locally. Utah’s natural beauty always has appealed strongly as a branding asset. But, as we have covered the arts and cultural scene, there is no … Read more

Concert roundup: Alexander Korsantia for Bachauer, Red Desert Ensemble, NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Contrasts, Samba Fogo

Salt Lake City’s music calendar is filled regularly with concerts offering a superior level of musicianship that would be envied in any major U.S. urban cultural center. The Utah Review summarizes four concerts from the last four weeks as a sampler of what is available in the local community throughout the fall, winter and spring … 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

Red Desert ensemble’s spring concert a mesmerizing jam session

The Red Desert ensemble, the duo project of clarinetist Katie Porter and composer/percussionist Devin Maxwell, organized one of the most interesting public jam session concerts to happen recently in Salt Lake City. Joining forces with numerous local musicians, Westminster College students, and University of Utah students from Radical Quiet, Phillip Bimstein’s honors college course about cultivating a heightened … Read more

Audacious, experimental, unflinching: Top Ten Moments of the Utah Enlightenment for 2018

More apparent every year, the Utah Enlightenment is audacious, experimental and unflinching in its artistic entrepreneurship. In 2018, the pool for considering the most definitive moments of the Utah Enlightenment was as expansive and diverse as ever. The Utah Review presents the top ten moments for 2018, precisely because of promise and strength among its … Read more

Red Desert’s experimental music program excellent, highly absorbing stretch of artistic entrepreneurialism

Just how adventuresome and experimental can Salt Lake City’s performing arts scene become? More so than some might expect. In the last few years, there have been numerous examples suggesting just how Utah’s pioneer legacy is translated and transformed into boundary-busting expressions. Per capita, Salt Lake City stacks up competitively to much larger metropolitan centers … Read more