Cathalena E. Burch

Tucson

Journalist at Arizona Daily Star

I write about music — country, classical, rap and rock — for the Arizona Daily Star. I'm also a super UA sports geek.

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Articles

Viral food trends and new rides: What to expect at this year's Pima County Fairš”

1 week ago | tucson.com | Jamie Donnelly |Cathalena E. Burch

As you're making your way along South Houghton Road toward the Pima County Fairgrounds this weekend, do yourself a favor: As you get close, roll down the window and inhale. Can you smell that? It's the fragrant intersection of sweet and savory, dirt and dung, with the slight stench of a Mikeās Hot Honey turkey leg and a dirty soda misadventure on The Titan. Coulda been that second round of flips and twists and the downhill burst going 60 that did it. Ahhhh, yes, it's that time of year again.
Tucson gets cirque troupe that partners with classical music

2 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra is pulling into the final port of its season-long "Musical Journeys" series this weekend. Dove of Peace Lutheran Church, meanwhile, closes its 21st season of free classical music concerts with a trio of longtime Tucson musicians performing a concert Sunday, April 13, to benefit Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network.
Keith Urban makes long-awaited Country Thunder return

2 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

Keith Urban is returning to the Arizona Country Thunder festival stage this weekend for the first time in 15 years. 2010 was the last time we saw him on the Florence festival stage, and that was only his second time there. The first was 1999, when he quietly introduced himself during a middle-of-the-afternoon bright-sunlight set, the kind where you're lucky if a couple hundred people are there to see you. The 2010 show was his marquee headliner debut and he played before a crowd of about 16,000.
Everything to know about the 17th annual Agave Heritage Festival

2 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

To truly understand and appreciate the heritage and cultural significance of the agave plants growing throughout the Tucson basin, you could attend any of the dozen or so lectures at the 17th annual Agave Heritage Festival this weekend. Or you could drink. We're not talking about slamming a shot of tequila or sipping a frozen margarita, which serves its own purpose, we suppose.
2025 Tucson Folk Festival brings thousands downtown Saturday

2 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

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Tucson Symphony's 'Carmina Burana' a 'go big or go home' performance

2 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

Tucson Symphony Orchestra on Friday showed Tucson what "go big or go home" looks like:The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall stage packed with nearly 300 musicians performing Carl Orff's magnificent, larger-than-life masterpiece "Carmina Burana."But it was more than just optics. It was 65 minutes of voices that soared into the cavernous space between the stage floor and the ceiling and the bombast of percussion and heart-pounding brass that reverberated throughout the hall.
Downtown Tucson goes folk: 400 artists and 150 performances over three days

3 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

The Tucson Folk Festival is bringing back some familiar names and reintroducing us to musicians we haven’t seen in far too long as it celebrates the 40th event this weekend. It’s also introducing the audience, which is expected to average 7,000 to 8,000 a day from Friday, April 4 through Sunday, April 6, to artists who’ve played shows in Tucson but never on the folk festival stage and a few artists who we’ve never seen here.
Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus names new leader

3 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus has tapped the former associate director of the Flagstaff Youth Chorale to replace its longtime director, Julian Ackerley. Jordan Rakita, who is finishing his doctoral degree in choral conducting from Arizona State University, will come on board next season to lead the program, which has five choirs that start with the Cadet Choir for boys in first through third grades and goes up to seniors in high school.
Tucson Corigliano/Bell world premiere exceeds expectation

3 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

It's probably not hyperbole to say that the classical music world has been waiting for decades to see composer John Corigliano reunite with arguably his biggest muse. The wait ended on Wednesday night with the Tucson Desert Song Festival world premiere of "Tennessee Songs," which Corigliano composed for violin great Joshua Bell and his soprano wife Larisa Martinez.
TSO to perform its first 'Carmina Burana' in nearly a decade

3 weeks ago | tucson.com | Cathalena E. Burch

José Luis Gomez will conduct his first ever "Carmina Burana" this weekend when his Tucson Symphony Orchestra mounts Carl Orff's singular choral masterpiece. He blames it on timing. His former Italian orchestra programmed the piece one summer when he wasn't available. He's a prolific guest conductor, but rarely does an orchestra give that plum assignment to a guest maestro.