Backstage at the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition: Host families make a lasting connection with their guest pianist

One significant, indispensable feature of the Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition is the role of host families in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area who open their homes to a quarterfinalist. For ardent fans of classical music who have a spare room and a grand piano available, the opportunity to host a young musician during … Read more

Backstage at the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition: Meet the Quarterfinalists Part 4

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each day this week, The Utah Review will provide short profiles, featuring the 33 quarterfinalists for the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition. Afternoon and evening sessions begin Monday, June 17. For tickets and more information, see the Bachauer website. The Utah Review asked each pianist to answer four questions:  1. In addition … Read more

Backstage at the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition: Meet the Quarterfinalists Part 3

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each day this week, The Utah Review will provide short profiles, featuring the 33 quarterfinalists for the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition. Afternoon and evening sessions begin Monday, June 17. For tickets and more information, see the Bachauer website The Utah Review asked each pianist to answer four questions:  1. In addition … Read more

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

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

¡Jaleo!: Spanish pianist José Ramón Mendez set to make his Salt Lake City debut on Nov. 10 Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation concert

Just last month, internationally known pianist José Ramón Mendez was in Utah to judge the state chapter of the Music Teacher National Association’s piano competitions. Later this week, Mendez will return to perform his Salt Lake City debut, in ¡Jaleo!, a concert of solo piano works by Chopin and Spanish composers Antonio Soler, Isaac Albéniz … Read more

World premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s A Psalm of Disquiet by Fry Street Quartet set for Utah State University’s music school, NOVA Chamber Music Series

This week’s world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank new string quartet A Psalm of Disquiet at Utah State University and then on Nov. 5 at NOVA Chamber Music Series in Salt Lake City, is yet another milestone in the flourishing relationship which the composer and Fry Street Quartet have developed over many years. “I have … Read more

NOVA Chamber Music Series’ 2023-24 season will be personality-driven thrill ride with lots of surprising twists and turns

A prime reason why the NOVA Chamber Music Series consistently excels in its unique programming brand is demonstrating how the deep bench of world-class musical talent in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah can tackle just about any curveball a composer could conceive of throwing their way. For NOVA’s 46th season, the Fry Street Quartet, … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2023: An opening day homecoming set on the Festival Stage for Tony Holiday and The Soul Service

There is a special brand of musical royalty in Memphis. City residents still remember Stax Records stars such as Isaac Hayes, who would tool around Memphis in a gold Cadillac. Others remember sitting in the congregation when Al Green preached at the Gospel Tabernacle Church on the city’s south side. But, in a music ecosystem … Read more