Source: Center for the Arts at Kayenta, “Almost All to the West” event page (no publication date listed; accessed Nov. 7, 2026). Season details from the Kayenta Arts 2026–2027 Program. Visit the original page for tickets and the latest details.
One of the most interesting nights on the Ivins arts calendar this fall is coming up at the Center for the Arts at Kayenta. On Saturday, Nov. 14, the center presents Almost All to the West, a new multimedia concert that tells the story of the 1776 Domínguez–Escalante expedition through live music, projected imagery and storytelling.
A 250-year-old journey, retold
According to Kayenta Arts, two Franciscan friars, Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, set out from Santa Fe in 1776 looking for an overland route to California. Kayenta’s season program notes that the journey “brought them here to our own back yard in Southern Utah.” The concert explores, in the center’s words, “the landscapes, cultures, and untold perspectives that shaped the West.”
Who’s behind it
- Music: composer Steven Ricks
- Words: librettist Stephen Tuttle
- Visuals: video artist Brent Barson
- Performers: Grand Circle New Music, with guest conductor Nathan Haines and guest narrator Sam Payne. Grand Circle New Music is guided by artistic directors Glenn Webb and Robert Matheson.
Kayenta Arts says the project is supported by a 2026 Interdisciplinary Studies Grant from the BYU Charles Redd Center for Western Studies.
If you go
- When: Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, 7:30–9:00 p.m.
- Where: Center for the Arts at Kayenta, 881 Coyote Gulch Court, Ivins
- Tickets: $12–$40, through Kayenta Arts
- Box office: 435-674-2787 or boxoffice@kayentaarts.com
The show is part of what Kayenta Arts calls its 10-year anniversary season, which also includes Kayenta’s earlier Voyager Lecture on the same expedition (Nov. 5) and From the Borderlands to the Roots later in the month. The same Saturday, Tuacahn hosts a free U.S. Navy Band Commodores concert, so it’s a big night for music in Ivins.
Why it matters for Ivins
Getting to hear new music about the history of the very landscape around us, in a small theater a few minutes from home, is part of what makes living in Ivins special. Kayenta’s arts center keeps that kind of evening close by all season long.
More from Ivins
- Happenings in Kayenta this week
- Free U.S. Navy Band Commodores concert at Tuacahn, Nov. 14
- Ivins history: how the Santa Clara Bench became Ivins
- Living in Kayenta and Living in Ivins, Utah
- Things to do this week around Ivins and St. George
- All articles from The OwnUtah Journal
- OwnUtah.com home
See you at the show.
— Robert Bolar, REALTOR®, Summit Sotheby's International Realty
801-737-3333 · Robert@OwnUtah.com