Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/author/phodgins/page/2/)
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.
Normally, when a performing art organization announces a new season, the main order of business is talking about the subject at hand: all the shows that will tempt the public over the next year. This year, of course, is different.
Danica Paulos of Huntington Beach has been dancing with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater since 2014. She will leave the company at the end of this season to explore other artistic endeavors. You can see her perform in Los Angeles later this month.
Pacific Symphony’s 2020-2021 season is announced, marks the beginning of music director Carl St.Clair’s fourth decade with the orchestra.
BREAKING NEWS: After a few tumultuous years of trying to keep Shakespeare Orange County alive, the current leadership is shuttering this long-standing Orange County institution.
In our series “The Decade Ahead,” Voice of OC’s Arts & Culture writers speculate on what is on the horizon for Orange County in the next ten years. First up: Paul Hodgins tackles what is possibly in store for the county’s biggest theaters.
REVIEW: This talent-filled production of an underappreciated musical keeps it simple with a solid, sweet production directed by SCR artistic director David Ivers.
Casey Reitz, Segerstrom Center’s new president, brings a fresh energy to Orange County’s flagship performing arts center. With a background firmly rooted in producing award-winning plays and musicals in New York, could creating new musicals at the Center be part of at Reitz’s legacy?
South Coast Repertory is teaming with New York’s Playwrights Horizons to create a major commissioning program for new plays. The Pinnacle Commission, announced today, will award $60,000 on a recurring basis to a major American playwright.
With almost a year under his belt as the new artistic director at South Coast Repertory, David Ivers is finding his footing and carving out his place with the Orange County institution.
Senior Arts & Culture editor Paul Hodgins highlights stories published throughout our first full year of publication.