Salt Lake City Arts & Culture

Salt Lake City is home to a number of acclaimed cultural organizations. The world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir, an American institution for many years, is based in Salt Lake City. The Utah Symphony performs 260 concerts nationally and internationally each year; the orchestra performs locally in Maurice Abravanel Hall, a world-class acoustic space. The historic Capitol Theatre is home to the Utah Opera and Ballet West, one of the nation's leading companies. The Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center includes an art gallery and several performance spaces for new and established artists.

Theater

Theatrical performances are scheduled at Desert Star Playhouse, featuring live musical comedy melodrama, honky-tonk piano, and audience participation; Hale Center Theater, offering comedies and musicals for the whole family to enjoy; Off Broadway Theatre, staging comedy and improvisation; Promised Valley Playhouse, presenting theater in a restored turn-of-the-century showplace; and Salt Lake Community College Grand Theatre, featuring Broadway musicals.

Museums

Several interesting museums are located in Salt Lake City. The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum houses a collection of dolls, textiles, and frontier furniture in a replica of the famous Salt Palace. Located in a restored nineteenth century railroad station, the Utah Historical Society features exhibits on the history of Utah's various ethnic groups. The Fort Douglas Military Museum inside the restored fort displays items relating to the military history of the state. Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum maintains a collection of military aircraft, missiles, vehicles and uniforms. The Utah Museum of Natural History contains a large collection of dinosaur skeletons excavated from many local sites, as well as exhibits on animals and minerals of the region.

The Salt Lake Art Center houses traveling art exhibits from around the world as well as a permanent collection and a sculpture garden. On the campus of the University of Utah, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts contains paintings by artists such as Rubens, antique tapestries, and Louis XIV furniture.

Culture

The Mormon Temple, the Mormon Tabernacle, and the Seagull Monument can all be found at Temple Square. The Museum of Church History and Art chronicles the early development of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Arts is dedicated to the work of Utah's ethnic, native, and rural artists.

Featured Events

The following is just a sampling of what Salt Lake City has to offer. Be sure to check our Events section for a more complete listing of events of all types.

• The public is invited to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's weekly Sunday television and radio broadcast in the Tabernacle at 9:30 a.m. (audience must be seated by 9:15). The Choir's rehearsal every Thurs. at 8 p.m.is also open and free to the public. Organ recitals are held in the Tabernacle at noon Mon.-Sat. and at 2 p.m. on Sundays.
• Salt Lake City is home to three world-class dance companies. Ballet West (801-323-6900) is one of the nation's finest ballet companies. Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company (801-297-4241) and Repertory Dance Theatre (801-534-1000), both highly respected modern dance companies, also call Salt Lake City home. Tickets for any of these three companies can be purchased through artTix (801-355-ARTS or 888-451-ARTS).
• The Utah Symphony & Opera offers year-round symphonic concerts in Abravanel Hall (123 West South Temple) under the direction of Keith Lockhart, and four world-class opera productions in Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 S.) each season. The Utah Symphony & Opera also visits the Park City mountain community for its month-long Deer Valley Music Festival each summer. For tickets and information call (801) 355-ARTS (2787) or 888-451-2787.
• Every Friday and Saturday evening the LDS-sponsored Temple Square Concert Series, invites musicians to present free concerts in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square,(801) 240-3318
• Each June, top pianists from around the world compete in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition at Abravanel Hall.
• Built in 1852, Salt Lake City had the first professional playhouse theater built west of the Mississippi. Today, the city has several professional theater companies. These include Pioneer Theatre Company at the University of Utah, (801) 581-6961; Desert Star Playhouse, (801) 266-7600, Hale Center Theater, (801) 984-9000); Salt Lake Acting Company; (801) 355-2787; Salt Lake Repertory Theatre, known as City Rep, (801) 532-6000; and the Grand Theatre at Salt Lake Community College, (801) 957-3322.
• Located at 272 South Main in Salt Lake City, the Off Broadway Theatre is home to Utah's longest running improv comedy troupe, Laughing Stock. Throughout the year, OBT presents comedies and parodies for a family-friendly audience. Tickets are available by calling the box office at (801) 355-4628.
• D.R. Puppets' Theatre is a non-profit organization that performs live puppet shows for children of all ages. It is operated by Dmitry Rashkin, an acclaimed puppeteer of 30 years experience performing in both Russia and the U.S. It is estimated that nearly a million children world-wide have seen Dmitry perform. The theatre is located on the south side of Trolley Square (602 E. 500 S.), on the second floor. It is open from 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Mon. thru Sat. and noon - 5 p.m. on Sunday. Call (801) 363-1441 to schedule a show by appointment. Adjacent to the theatre you'll find the Liberty Art Gallery, which features a beautiful, varied collection of Russian and American art. At the gallery you'll find paintings done by Russian and local artists, hand-done beaded jewelry, hand-painted and lacquered Russian jewelry boxes, hand-painted Russian porcelain (Gzhel), hand-made puppets, and Russian nesting dolls (matryoshkas).

For more information on the performing arts in Salt Lake and vicinity, contact the Salt Lake City Arts Council at (801) 596-5000.