American Horizons Festival

A GUIDE TO PREPARING FOR THE MAY OPERA, The Grapes of Wrath

1. Read Steinbeck’s novel. It is an American classic, and you’ve probably always meant to give it a try. Then attend a book discussion. Utah Opera will co-host one in the Café at Sam Weller’s (245 So. Main), at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 11, the evening before the opera opens. You’ll be hearing about all kinds of incentives to read this classic in upcoming months….
2. Review the history of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in 1930s America. A great way to do that is through visual images. Utah Opera has collaborate with many museums in northern Utah to exhibit photographs from the time period of The Grapes of Wrath and other artwork on its festival topic American Horizons (a festival that includes The Grapes of Wrath).
a. March 5-9. View 20 of the Farm Security Administration photographs of the 1930s and 40s in the holdings of the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art on the Utah State University campus in Logan. This photography exhibit will also be on display in Salt Lake City’s Alta Club from April through June.
b. Now through March 25. Visit the Utah Museum of Fine Arts on the University of Utah campus to see the exhibit titled “Comments,” which is a display of 20th-century photography, prints and paintings. Included is a photograph by Dorothea Lange of rural farmers from Gunlock, Utah.
c. Now through 2011. Delve into the American Dreams exhibit in the Museum of Art on the Brigham Young University campus. This show includes prints, sculpture and photography, as well as painting, and is divided into three thematic sections — “The Dream of Eden,” “American Aspirations” and “Envisioning America“ — that examine the artworks of 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century American artists as ideas or visions of America. Call to arrange a guided tour (phone number).
d. March 17 – May 19. Check out “Resonance and Return: Social Documentary Photography” at the Salt Lake Art Center (20 S. West Temple). This exhibition will pair Farm Security Administration photographs of the 1930s with photographs from contemporary photographers that provide portraits of America during times of environmental disaster, economic hardship, and human perserverance. The Art Center will present Art Talks related to the exhibit on April 25, May 2, and May 9.
3. Listen to Ricky Ian Gordon’s music composed for The Grapes of Wrath before you come to the opera production. Each of the galleries listed above, plus a few other venues, will host an evening during the run of its exhibit when our Utah Opera Ensemble artists will perform a set of scenes from the opera to piano accompaniment.
a. Friday, March 9, 7:30 p.m. Nora Eccles Harrison Museum in Logan. Come early to browse through the photography exhibit.
b. Tuesday, March 13, 7:00 p.m. Utah Museum of Fine Arts on the U of U campus. Come early to see the exhibit; the concert will begin at 7, and be followed by a 45-minute documentary about the life and work of Dorothea Lange, who gave us the principal images we have of the Depression and Dust Bowl.
c. Thursday, April 5, p.m. BYU Museum of Art. Our Ensemble singers will perform their Grapes of Wrath scenes surrounded by evocative American art; audience members are invited to visit the American Dreams and related exhibits before or after the performance.
d. April, date TBA, noon. Study Logan’s exhibit of FSA photographs in the Alta Club in Salt Lake City during your lunch break.
e. Friday, April 20, Salt Lake Art Center. Study the exhibit during this month’s Gallery Stroll between 6 and 9 p.m., and enjoy hearing excerpts from the opera throughout the evening.
f. Thursday, May 10, noon, Café at Sam Weller’s Bookstore, 254 So. Main.
g. during the week of Jan 29-Feb 1, evening concert in Tooele area
h. Wednesday, February 14, 7:00 p.m., Monticello High School in Monticello, Utah.
i. during the week of March 26-29, evening concert in Ephraim/Manti area
4. Investigate films related to the topic:
a. March 23-25, Downtown SLC Public Library Auditorium. The Salt Lake Film Center will present a weekend of films based on Steinbeck novels. A screening of John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath, starring Henry Fonda, will follow on June 14, you can check it out from the library ahead of time (just don’t trust it to follow Steinbeck’s plot line). The screening on June 14 will be accompanied by speaker, Matt Basso, Assistant Professor of History and Gender Studies at the University of Utah and Co-Director of the University’s American West Center.
More movies will be announced at a later date.
b. April --- ---. The Salt Lake Film Society will screen films related to topics addressed in The Grapes of Wrath. Schedule TBA. [vivace event?]
5. In addition to these special events, our usual Utah Opera offerings will still occur:
a. Tuesday, May 8, 7:30 p.m. Our The Grapes of Wrath Opera Preview Lecture in the Downtown SLC Public Library Auditorium will feature Dr. Stephen Tanner (an American Literature professor) and composer John Costa, who will lecture about the novel and about the opera’s music.
b. May 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20, one hour before curtain. Enjoy Principal Coach Carol Anderson’s Preludes introduction to the opera.

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