Your experience. Your voices. Our community.
Stories
...in the Library
All the action is in the library. That's my experience as a student and author. Whoever invited the library was a genius. For the Festival, we had a meeting this week to plot out strategies: opening night, decorations, flowers, locations, flow, food. This team of Festival staff members is extraordinary. At the Italian Academy biblioteca, where some of the events will take place, we sat down together (from left to right): Jenna Holt, Marilee Moe, Alyssa Chard, Sharon Harris, Emily Doxford, Braden Burgon, and Allyson Chard.
Luanda Atelier
I'm always curious to see how artists work. I love visiting the places where art is created. I want to know what they look like: a painter's studio, a writer's den, a choreographer's space, a filmmaker's set. Leading up to the Festival, we've asked some of the participating artists to shoot very short videos to introduce us to them and their lives. Today, Hildebrando de Melo sent us a video made on his phone that captures the wealth and poverty of Luanda, Angola, where he lives and works. His atelier is a beautiful, pristine space.
Why Do It?
I'm not a mom, so I don't know what it feels like to be in labor. I have experienced what it's like to labor on projects though. Not the same thing, of course, but I can imagine that there are moments in both when you say, "Why am I doing this, again?" For me, there's a lot of satisfaction that comes from the end result--the book, the project, the concert, the new friendship. Still, personally I don't need a lot of acknowledgment from the outside to keep going. I just do what I do.
Shepherd
I received an email from Scott Holden recently. He is immersing himself in new music for his Carnegie Hall recital in June, "A Century of Mormon Music." He told me about his reaction to learning a work by Arthur Shepherd, "From a Mountain Lake." Years ago, I had heard about the piece from my friend, the late Grant Johannesen, who was a friend of Shepherd's and thought very highly of his music.
Tears and Fears
I didn't anticipate that doing a podcast would be such an emotional thing. But when you're talking to people who really open up about their lives--and that includes bad times as well as good times--you can't help walking around in their shoes for a while.
Write Away
We love getting emails. Sometimes we hear from friends, audience members, and potential patrons. Sometimes we hear from artists who want to know more about us and how they can participate in our activities. Finally, we sometimes hear from people who like what we're doing and they want to be part of it in some way.