Articles

9 February 2012

 

Picture yourself in a turn-of-the-century gilded performance hall, mesmerized by the pathos of the internationally acclaimed dancers’ pas de deux. Next you’re in a contemporary concert hall, ensnared by the bow and strings of Grammy-award winning Hilary Hahn, melding with the melodies of a world-class symphony. Now your feet are treading smooth hardwood, carrying you past collections of Warhol, Hopper and Weston.

Where are you? Chicago? San Francisco? New York? Try Utah.

That’s right, the place that beckons skiers, mountain bikers, entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world has also earned a reputation as a consummate stage for cultural endeavors.

Whether visiting or relocating to Utah, people often comment on how impressed they are with Utah’s arts and culture, says Scott Beck, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We find that people aren’t so much surprised that the arts here are sophisticated—they know this is no longer a ‘provincial town.’ But they are surprised at the diversity and breadth of the arts. For example, they are surprised to see that the Rose Wagner Center has three thriving repertory theater companies under one roof.”

So if theater, visual arts, dance, music, film, even l’art de la cuisine, pique your interest, find yourself transported by Utah’s expansive cultural climate.

 

When January’s chill sets in, things heat up in Park City where Hollywood glamour and indie grit collide at the Sundance Film Festival. Over the past 20-plus years, Robert Redford’s little project has become an international Mecca for independent filmmakers, A-list actors, and accompanying paparazzi. Joining the global surge are Utah locals, who have long been supporters of the film festival’s achievements in independent film.

While it’s mid-way between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, the Utah Shakespearean Festival is about as close to the Globe Theatre as you can get. One of the longest-running and largest Shakespearean Festivals in North America, the $6 million production celebrating the Bard’s work has earned countless awards, not the least of which is a Tony Award for America’s Outstanding Regional Theatre. Its summer and fall seasons absorb thousands of visitors in classic Shakespeare pieces, such as Twelfth Night and The Tempest, and in works by more contemporary writers, such as George Bernard Shaw’s Candida. As an important venue for emerging artists, the festival also hosts a New American Playwrights Project, along with literary seminars, discussions, and more.

With an emphasis on the risk-taking of contemporary art, the Utah Arts Festival hosts more than 80,000 enthusiasts in just four days each June. A labyrinth of canopies announces the festival’s rise on downtown Salt Lake City’s Library Square, where sculptors, painters, potters, writers, filmmakers, musicians and other artists display their wares in a vibrant cultural bazaar.

            Two months later, at an elevation of about 7,000-feet, the Park City Kimball Arts Festival is touted as the longest-running arts festival in the West, with nearly 40 years of history. The festival includes more than 220 selected artists, three beer gardens, three stages and more than 30 live bands.

            Exchange that festival’s verdant summits for southeastern Utah’s red rock country, and you get the incomparable Moab Music Festival. Positing professional musicians from across the globe in the other-worldly settings of the region’s crimson landscape, the award-winning Moab Music Festival is like no other. Founded in 1992 by professional New York musicians Michael Barrett and Leslie Tomkins, the festival “allows us to combine two of the major passions of our lives—our love of great music beautifully performed and the tremendous beauty of the Moab area,” according to Barrett. The late-summer festival features classical chamber music, cross-over music, Latin music, traditional music, and song.

From the simmering angst of repertory theater, to the subtleties of the traditional stage, to the razzamatazz of touring Broadway productions, live theater draws devoted audiences in Utah.

            The Salt Lake Acting Company, Plan-B Theatre Company and Pygmalion Theatre Company are among Utah’s critically acclaimed repertory theater companies presenting avant-garde and emerging works.

The Pioneer Theatre Company (PTC) is a fully professional regional theater in Salt Lake City. Its reputation for Broadway-quality productions is buoyed by professional actors, many of whom hail from New York stages. From classics such as The Grapes of Wrath, to award-winners like Ragtime and Into the Woods, to contemporary plays like David Auburn’s Proof, PTC’s seasons are satisfying fare.

For those who want a taste of the Big Apple, Broadway Across America delivers national touring productions to full houses in Salt Lake’s Capitol Theatre and Kingsbury Hall.

Other notable regional theater companies include the intimate Hale Center Theaters in Salt Lake and Utah counties and the grand Tuacahn Amphitheatre, set among the St. George-area’s red mesas and purple cliffs.

As an indication of the community’s priority on the arts, the Utah Symphony is one of just 18 “52-week” orchestras in the U.S. With 85 full-time professional musicians under the direction of Keith Lockhart, the Utah Symphony offers a versatile season, including traditional and contemporary performances set in the metropolitan Abravanel Hall and under the warm summer air of the Deer Valley Music Festival outdoor amphitheater.

The Utah Symphony also accompanies the Utah Opera, a professional opera company that produces stunning performances with professional talent, original costuming, and elaborate sets. From Wagner to Puccini, the nearly 30-year-old opera company pierces audiences with tales of love, loss, triumph and tragedy each season.

And if there are rumors that the symphony and opera are for aging aficionados, the Utah Symphony & Opera (US&O) are making sure that remains a myth. Luring younger audiences to US&O performances is Vivace, a hip “social club meets refined art” program created to engage 20- to 40-somethings in performances, education, and après concert parties, all for a comfortable price. Now in its second year, Vivace is growing with hundreds of members who like chillin’ at events with groovy titles, like “Schmoozing with Shostakovich” and “Double-licious.”

Beyond the major companies, Utah is also home to smaller symphonies and operas, including the Salt Lake Symphony, the Utah Valley Symphony, and the Utah Festival Opera, a northern Utah regional opera company that has been rated as “one of the top 10 summer opera experiences in the United States.”

With touring performances to China’s 6^th Annual Arts Festival and Scotland’s Edinburgh International Festival, Ballet West has impressed local and international audiences for more than 40 years. Its troupe of 35 professional dancers performs at Capitol Theatre, retelling favorites such as Swan Lake and Giselle, and premiering contemporary works such as Polish Pieces and In and Out by Hans van Manen.

            Two modern dance companies push the envelope at the Rose Wagner Center and the Capitol Theater: Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and Repertory Dance Theatre (RTD). Mixing multi-media and creative movement with thought-provoking works, Ririe-Woodbury has earned an international reputation for excellence. RDT has likewise captured international headlines for the “sensitivity” and “artistry” with which it preserves the modern dance pieces in its repertoire.

“The state has a wonderful collection of fine arts, and there are great art museums around the state—the Springville Museum of Art, The Utah Museum of Fine Arts and even the LDS Church’s Museum of Church History and Art,” says Tracie Cayford, deputy director, Utah Office of Tourism.

            In addition to these and other fine art museums, several galleries showcase local and national works, such as the Salt Lake Art Center in downtown Salt Lake City, the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Authentique in St. George, and numerous others, including the nearly 20 galleries that host the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll each month.

            Cayford also points out Utah’s well-known public art, such as Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake and Swedish artist Karl Momen’s Metaphor: The Tree of Life towering along I-80 near the Bonneville Salt Flats.

With its alpine powder and sun-drenched hiking trails, Utah’s natural playground has helped convince a number of accomplished chefs from across the country—and world—to leave frenzied urban scenes and continue their culinary passions in Utah. For example, Franck Peissel, a native of France and former chef at New York’s Park Bistro, now serves guests at his namesake restaurant, Franck’s, in the Salt Lake valley. Similarly, Kurtis Baguley, now the executive pastry chef at The Grand America in Salt Lake City, earned critics’ esteem for his work at San Francisco’s Scala’s Bistro, Silks, and the Four Seasons Hotel.

            Other notable restaurants that frequently earn dining awards and/or crowd approval include Bambara, Blue Boar Inn, Café Madrid, Café Trio, Caffé Molise, Em’s Restaurant, Faustina, Fresco, Hong Kong Tea House, Log Haven, Lugäno, Metropolitan, Michelangelo’s, Snake Creek Grill, The Painted Table, and many others.

 

With its well-known emphasis on the family, it’s no wonder Utah supports forward-thinking cultural learning centers. Discovery Gateway, for example, is a hands-on riff on the traditional children’s museum experience. Among many activities, children can explore dramatic storytelling in Story Factory, rule over a miniature town in Kid’s Eye View, and take a turn at broadcasting in Media Central.

The Clark Planetarium brings far-out science close to home. With an IMAX© theater, interactive exhibits and activities, astronomy becomes an all-day adventure.

The Leonardo, set to open in 2009, will fuse art, culture and science in exciting new ways. The learning and exploration center will sit on Library Square, adjacent to an architectural must-see—the inspiring glass, steel and cement feat that is Salt Lake City Library’s Main Library.

The up-and-coming Living Planet Aquarium is in its second developmental location in the south end of the Salt Lake valley. With its ultimate sights set on a downtown location rivaling major national aquariums like those in Chicago and New Orleans, the Living Planet has an impressive array of “preview” exhibits featuring sharks, coral reefs, Utah wetlands, touch pools and more.

 

Perhaps Utah’s most recognizable icon of performing arts is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Grammy-award winning choir blends 360 voices in inspirational, patriotic, and faith-promoting harmonies.

As a presidential favorite, the choir has performed at the inauguration of five U.S. presidents, was dubbed “America’s Choir” by President Ronald Reagan, and has received the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush.

Fans can immerse themselves in the choir’s music free of charge during its Thursday evening practices and Sunday morning Music and the Spoken Word broadcasts. The choir has recently returned to the renovated Tabernacle on Temple Square, where the historic assembly hall’s unique acoustics and impressive organ complement the experience.

With Utah’s historic foundation in the arts (its 19^th century pioneers started the nation’s first arts council), the state’s culture is firmly rooted in the arts. So whether you prefer the vibrato of a baritone, the pirouette of a danseuse, losing yourself among gallery exhibits or saturating with Shakespeare, Utah’s diverse cultural scene will truly move you.

 

 

 

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