Voice of OC - Orange County's nonprofit newsroom

Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/author/phodgins/)

Paul Hodgins

Paul Hodgins was born in Canada, where he studied piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music and became a professional accompanist by the age of 20. Hodgins worked widely in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. as an accompanist and music professor at Simon Fraser University, the Banff Centre for the Arts, Nonington College (Kent), Eastern Michigan University, and many festivals. He moved to the U.S. to pursue graduate studies in the 1980s and has lived here ever since, completing his doctorate in musical composition at the University of Southern California. Hodgins was a professor of music at the University of California Irvine from 1985 to 1992, where he served as music director of the dance department and founding director of the Gassman Electronic Music Studio. After freelancing as a classical music critic at the San Diego Union-Tribune, he became an arts journalist and critic for The Orange County Register, where he wrote principally about theater and later about dance and classical music. In addition to his expertise in the performing arts, Hodgins has written extensively about jazz, architecture, interior design and urban planning. For the last decade he has written a regular column about wine, beer and spirits for the Register. Hodgins has written two books. Music, Movement and Metaphor, a study of dance-music relationships in 20th-century choreography, was published in 1992. The Winemakers of Paso Robles came out in 2017. Hodgins remains active as an educator. He has been on the journalism faculty at California State University, Fullerton since 2001. He has also taught journalism at Cal State Long Beach and UCLA Extension. Hodgins and his wife have lived in downtown Huntington Beach for 20 years. Some day he will learn how to surf. Languages spoken: English Areas of expertise: Orange County, theater, dance, music and arts issues.

Orange County Arts Awards Contain Messages of Frustration and Hope

Arts & Culture

By Paul Hodgins | October 17, 2018

Honoree Sarah Rafael Garcia raises eyebrows, draws lusty applause for her raw and honest acceptance speech.

Jazz Great Ahmad Jamal Comes to Orange County

Arts & Culture

By Paul Hodgins | October 16, 2018

PREVIEW: Ahmad Jamal chats with Voice of OC about Pittsburgh, Miles, and the state of jazz today.

Santa Ana College Makes Offer to Host Shakespeare Orange County Next Year

By Paul Hodgins | October 15, 2018

If the college’s proposal is accepted by the theater company, the move will leave Garden Grove without summer Shakespeare for the first time since 1979.

Not To Be? All’s Not Well for Shakespeare in a Garden Grove Standoff

Arts & Culture

By Paul Hodgins | October 15, 2018

Shakespeare/Summerfest Orange County, the City of Garden Grove, and LFA Group LLC are at odds over the use of the city’s Festival Amphitheater.

3-D’s ‘42nd Street’ a tap-happy paean to Golden Age musicals

By ERIC MARCHESE | October 15, 2018

REVIEW: Headed by Davis Gaines, ’42nd Street’ delivers a solid if not superb version of the retro 1980 musical based on the 1933 film.

Solid Performances and Classic Pop Songs Overcome Predictability in the Carole King Musical “Beautiful”

Arts & Culture

By Paul Hodgins | October 11, 2018

REVIEW: Touring production at Segerstrom Center features a likeable and credible performer in the crucial role.

“Why can’t ballet be the new hip-hop?”

By KAITLIN WRIGHT | October 10, 2018

PREVIEW: Employing a score composed by her husband, Southern California choreographer Josie Walsh explores our feelings about time in Festival Ballet’s “Ovation.”

Rita Wilson’s Trip to Nashville Runs Through O.C.

Voice of OC

By Paul Hodgins | October 5, 2018

PREVIEW: Wilson brings her band and original songs to the Samueli Theater.

Marsalis and His Orchestra Dazzle with Duke in Irvine

Arts & Culture

By Paul Hodgins | October 3, 2018

REVIEW: The all-Ellington evening combined standards with lesser-known and sometimes exotic masterpieces.

‘The Other Place’ Analyzes Mental Problems With Wit and Grace

Anaheim

By Paul Hodgins | October 2, 2018

REVIEW: Sharr White’s play looks at what happens when a brilliant scientific mind gradually starts coming apart.