In music, the structure of loops is fascinating for its meditative and blissful potential. In 1963, just a year prior to the release of one of his most famous compositions (In C), Terry Riley used tape loops to create music for the avant-garde play The Gift, which was being staged in Paris. Riley used recordings … Read more
As one distills the pastiche and collage in the recent premiere of Lost Love Socialite Sweet Love Recluse, a powerhouse local dance theater collaboration, there are many intriguing elements in this postmodern soap opera to appreciate. In a broad sense, one is reminded by the classic line in the 1951 novel Requiem for a Nun by … Read more
For Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007), undoubtedly among the most important composers of the 20th century, the element of text humanized the imagery of his music in the most emotionally intense and spiritually gratifying ways. Stockhausen was an exceptional and extraordinary creative force. He broke new artistic ground in electronic music, spatial musical performance and the use … Read more
There was a lot to celebrate in 2015 with the Utah Enlightenment, a creative movement where courage defines some of the state’s most interesting and independent artists. Indeed, the Enlightenment disturbs and disrupts the peculiar Utah penchant to be civil and docile or to be content with platitudes and pleasantries. Artists are reclaiming Utah’s unique … Read more
The artistic promise of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s upcoming concert evokes every imaginable aspect of spring. There is the uplifting, rejuvenating force of Netta Yerushalmy’s new choreographed composition that vividly uses the extensive movement vocabulary of dance along with costume changes and fast-shifting designs of stage lighting to deconstruct metaphorically traditional narratives. It is the dancers’ … Read more
In the best tradition of minimalist music, austerity and sincerity – sometimes built on nothing more than a handful of pitches and rhythmic values – lead to surprising phenomena of musical experiences that often become ambient, transcendental or even psychedelic. Fifty years ago, composer Terry Riley saw his works – including ‘In C’ and ‘Dorian … Read more