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Press Releases
Red Rock Canyon Country's Moab Music Festival's 18th Season
Moab, Utah. April 28, 2010 -- Early each spring, as gardeners hungrily peruse the pages of their favorite garden catalogue imagining the glory of delft blue delphinium, coral astilbe, and frilly petalled coreopsis, music lovers with a passion for natural beauty turn to www.moabmusicfest.org where their imaginations run wild! For its 18th consecutive year, September 2nd to 13th, the MOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL keeps its perennial promise of music in concert with the landscape, with sunset concerts along the Colorado River, intimate Musical Walks ending in stunning trails end concerts performed by world class musicians, and three of the Festival’s signature Grotto concerts.
Unique to this Festival are appearances by one of new music’s hottest tickets, ETHEL. Cuban jazz great and recent White House visitor, NEA Jazz Master, Paquito D’Rivera returns and in addition, 2010 audiences can take in the flowering of past seasons as the Festival highlights the work of many of previous composers-in-residence, including William Bolcom, Lukas Foss, Lou Harrison, Lowell Liebermann, John Musto, Kenji Bunch, Jon Deak, and Mr. D’Rivera. And the Festival is topped off by an exciting trip for adventuresome music lovers; a four day raft trip downriver to Lake Powell, enjoying daily concerts along the way. According to co-founder and Music Director Michael Barrett, “This September is a jam packed musical experience that rivals the splendor of our surroundings. Everyone who loves music of any kind will find something to savor at our 18th Festival.
GROTTO CONCERTS
Imagine a 40-minute boat trip down the winding Colorado River, with stunning views of canyon walls flanking the river. You step off the boat, traverse a short path, and emerge into the middle of a cavernous red rock grotto, home to the Moab Music Festival’s signature event, its Grotto Concert, in “nature’s own concert hall“ (New York Times), sonically perfect and visually breathtaking.
Three benefit Grotto Concerts offer distinctly unique musical programs. Settle into your camp chair, or find a spot on the red rocks on Thursday, September 2nd, as the Festival presents D’Rivera’s extraordinarily evocative Cape Cod Files with D’Rivera on clarinet and Mr. Barrett at the piano; Ayano Ninomiya and Barret performing Schumann’s virtuosic Fantasy Pieces Op. 73 Fantasiestücke; (the Festival’s first nod to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Romantic Robert Schumann) and Schubert’s Piano Trio in B-flat, D. 898 performed by Axel Strauss, Tanya Tomkins and Eric Zivian. On Thursday, September 9th, a colorful variety of chamber music comes to the fore with Chopin’s Cello Sonata in g minor, Op. 65, as well as Mozart’s Viola Quintet in D Major K.593, and Schumann’s Romances for Violin and Piano, and the lustrous soprano Amy Burton performing Bolcom’s Let Evening Come with John Musto at the piano and violist Leslie Tomkins. The third Grotto concert, on Monday, September 13th, is also the first stop on the Festival’s four day Musical Raft Trip through Cataract Canyon and features Lowell Lieberman’s 2nd Cello Sonata and Dvorak’s Piano Quartet in D Major, Op. 23 and Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70.
At these concerts, Michael Barrett and violist and Festival Artistic Director Leslie Tomkins will be joined by an exciting group of musicians, many of whom can be heard in both weekends of the Festival: violinists Maria Bachmann, Ayano Ninomiya, Axel Strauss, Ian Swensen, bassist Robert Black, violist and composer Kenji Bunch, soprano Amy Burton, clarinetist and composer Paquito D’Rivera, ETHEL (Cornelius Dufallo, Ralph Ferris, Dorothy Lawson, and Mary Rowell), Christopher Layer, Synchronicity: (Gregory Landes, Garah Landes), cellists Matt Haimovitz and Tanya Tomkins, violinist Paul Woodiel, and pianists and composers John Musto and Eric Zivian. OPENING WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 3-6
The Festival Opening Night concert on Friday, September 3 at historic Star Hall and sponsored by Eastern Utah Community Credit Union, puts two former Festival Composers-in-Residence front and center with Lou Harrison’s Varied Trio and a selection of John Musto Songs in an evening which begins the Festival’s Masterpieces in the Red Rocks retrospective of past composers-in-residence, supported by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces – Chamber Music program. Works by Schumann and Bach round out the evening.
Labor Day Weekend takes the Festival to Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge for a pair of concerts on the banks of the Colorado. On Saturday, September 4th, Paquito D’ Rivera, Synchronicity and Robert Black perform works by D’Rivera and Leonard Bernstein. The program, sponsored by Zions Bank, also includes the Rocky Mountain premiere of an exhilarating arrangement by Synchronicity of Firebird by Stravinsky, without whom, one might well argue, there’d have been no Bernstein or D’Rivera. Synchronicity also serves as the “jazz band” in their dynamic version of (for which they have the exclusive performing rights from the Bernstein Estate) Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, with NEA Jazz Master and recent White House visitor D’Rivera returning on clarinet. The performance also includes D’Rivera’s “tribute to a legendary and most beloved member of our international music community,” Conversations with Cachao. The bass player, bandleader and creator, Israel López Cachao’s extraordinary sense of humor, along with the eclectic career of the 88-year-young bassist (who has played everything from symphonies, operas and ballets, to silent movies, Jazz, the circus, dance parties and nightclubs) is reflected in the exciting three movement piece that includes cadenzas that are not written, but left for the two soloists have to improvise them – perhaps even as a duet.
ETHEL appears at Red Cliffs on Sunday, September 5th. This musically omnivorous foursome from New York City has been described as "the fiercest string quartet this side of hell," and "the most bad-ass quartet around,” and will, with absolute dedication to providing a peak experience for the audience, wow one and all with its thrilling playing.
Wrap up Labor Day weekend at the free Festival Rocky Mountain Power Family Picnic Concert at Old City Park with works including Bernstein’s Candide Overture for piano four-hands, Jon Deak’s Wager at the Eldorado Saloon and selections from the American Songbook with Amy Burton and John Musto. Enjoy your picnic, a relaxing stretch on the lawn, and a rip-roaring selection of contemporary and traditional works pitch perfect for a holiday afternoon, a mash-up musical periods and styles including the stimulating music of ETHEL.
Week Two: September 10 through September 13
The second week of the 18th Festival kicks off on Wednesday, September 8th with a program of American Appalachian Traditional Music performed by Paul Woodiel, Christopher Layer and others at the Festival’s Ranch Concert. The concert is a benefit for the Festival’s Artist-in-Residence and School Assembly programs. The “most radical, expressive maximalist” (New Yorker) cellist Matt Haimovitz joins the Festival on September 9 for the Grotto concert, which is followed by a meet the artist reception and wine tasting from local winemakers, and stays throughout the festival.
On Friday, September 10th the Festival moves to the Pavilion at Sorrell River Ranch Resort and Spa for a twilight concert sponsored by the George S. and Delores Doré Eccles Foundation and Festival Airline Great Lakes Airlines, of music by Schumann—his lush Op. 44 Piano Quintet—the vibrant Three Pieces for Violin & Piano by Lukas Foss, and a String Circles for viola quintet by the young and gifted composer and violist Kenji Bunch, who will also perform. On Saturday the 11th, supported by a grant from the NEA’s Challenge America, through Music at Jefferson’s Monticello, the Festival throws open the windows into the musical world of this beloved historic home and its outlying cabins.
Thomas Jefferson, an accomplished violinist, considered “music as the passion of my soul,” and strove to recreate the European music he so loved at his unique home. Jefferson's brother, Randolph, also a violinist, but perhaps more of a fiddler, is reputed to have embraced and joined in the African music making at Monticello; a former Monticello slave recalled that he "used to come out among black people, play the fiddle and dance half the night." Through the parallel existence at Monticello of European art and traditional music as well as the rhythms and dances of Africa central to the culture born out of slavery, the Jefferson brothers began our national journey which transmuted these elements into the distinct mosaic that has become American popular and art music. Curated by Paul Woodiel, he will be joined by Christopher Layer, Mazz Swift-Camlet and others in an evening of generous portions of African-American and traditional music together with the European music Jefferson loved.
Star Hall audiences are in for a treat on September 12, when all Festival performers, headed by Amy Burton and John Musto, perform a lively and popular program of songs and instrumental music by the composers of the Great American Songbook: Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and others.
MEET THE ARTIST
New this year is an opportunity for some up-close-and-personal time with some of the Festival Artists. Join ETHEL for informal cocktails and a Q & A Thursday evening afternoon, September 2nd. On the following Thursday, lift a glass with Kenji Bunch, violist extraordinaire and “a composer to watch” (New York Times).
OPEN REHEARSAL CONVERSATIONS
On Saturday mornings, September 4 and 11, Star Hall plays host to free Open Rehearsal Conversations at which Music Director Michael Barrett moderates conversation with artists as they rehearse for upcoming performances. Begun during the 2008 Festival, these events have become a Festival institution at which questions from the audience are encouraged and most welcome and lively interactions ensue between composers, performers and music lovers.
MUSIC WALKS
The Festival also features two Music Walk concerts. For these always sold-out programs on the mornings of Sunday, September 5th and Sunday, September 12th, patrons are shuttled to a “secret location” where, after a short hike, they arrive in a natural concert hall. On the 5th, Leslie Tomkins and Kenji Bunch perform music for two violas including Bunch’s Three American Folk Hymn Settings. On the 12th, audiences will hear traditional music from Festival favorites Christopher Layer and Paul Woodiel after a very special walk through the red rock scenery.
Musical Walks are suitable for most people in general good health with a moderate level of fitness and agility. Musical Raft Trip Through Cataract Canyon
Leave your cell phone, laptop and Facebook status behind to embark on the 2010 Festival Musical Raft Trip, a 4 day, 3-night custom Colorado River adventure featuring intimate concerts performed by world class musicians (Ayano Ninomiya, Matt Haimovitz, Christopher Layer and others) in unforgettable river settings. Extend the experience of music in concert with the landscape beginning with the launch of the Musical Raft Trip on September 13th, which includes that afternoon’s exhilarating performance at the Grotto.
The Musical Raft Trip continues by boat down the Colorado River through the pristine and ethereal canyons under the late summer blue sky. Festival artists performing two additional concerts during the trip. A local naturalist also joins the expedition to lead a series of short, scenic hikes, as well as to provide insight into the history and spectacular geology of Canyon Country. A thrilling run through the whitewater rapids of Cataract Canyon and a once-in-a-lifetime scenic flight back to Moab from Hite Marina on Lake Powell conclude the 2010 Musical Raft Trip.
The trip is suitable for most people in general good health with a minimum level of fitness and agility. No outdoor experience is necessary.
For more information about the Festival or to purchase tickets for the 18th Moab Music Festival, please visit www.moabmusicfest.org or telephone the Box Office at (435) 259-7003. You may also visit the Festival Office at 58 East 300 South, Moab, UT 84532.
Unique to this Festival are appearances by one of new music’s hottest tickets, ETHEL. Cuban jazz great and recent White House visitor, NEA Jazz Master, Paquito D’Rivera returns and in addition, 2010 audiences can take in the flowering of past seasons as the Festival highlights the work of many of previous composers-in-residence, including William Bolcom, Lukas Foss, Lou Harrison, Lowell Liebermann, John Musto, Kenji Bunch, Jon Deak, and Mr. D’Rivera. And the Festival is topped off by an exciting trip for adventuresome music lovers; a four day raft trip downriver to Lake Powell, enjoying daily concerts along the way. According to co-founder and Music Director Michael Barrett, “This September is a jam packed musical experience that rivals the splendor of our surroundings. Everyone who loves music of any kind will find something to savor at our 18th Festival.
GROTTO CONCERTS
Imagine a 40-minute boat trip down the winding Colorado River, with stunning views of canyon walls flanking the river. You step off the boat, traverse a short path, and emerge into the middle of a cavernous red rock grotto, home to the Moab Music Festival’s signature event, its Grotto Concert, in “nature’s own concert hall“ (New York Times), sonically perfect and visually breathtaking.
Three benefit Grotto Concerts offer distinctly unique musical programs. Settle into your camp chair, or find a spot on the red rocks on Thursday, September 2nd, as the Festival presents D’Rivera’s extraordinarily evocative Cape Cod Files with D’Rivera on clarinet and Mr. Barrett at the piano; Ayano Ninomiya and Barret performing Schumann’s virtuosic Fantasy Pieces Op. 73 Fantasiestücke; (the Festival’s first nod to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Romantic Robert Schumann) and Schubert’s Piano Trio in B-flat, D. 898 performed by Axel Strauss, Tanya Tomkins and Eric Zivian. On Thursday, September 9th, a colorful variety of chamber music comes to the fore with Chopin’s Cello Sonata in g minor, Op. 65, as well as Mozart’s Viola Quintet in D Major K.593, and Schumann’s Romances for Violin and Piano, and the lustrous soprano Amy Burton performing Bolcom’s Let Evening Come with John Musto at the piano and violist Leslie Tomkins. The third Grotto concert, on Monday, September 13th, is also the first stop on the Festival’s four day Musical Raft Trip through Cataract Canyon and features Lowell Lieberman’s 2nd Cello Sonata and Dvorak’s Piano Quartet in D Major, Op. 23 and Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70.
At these concerts, Michael Barrett and violist and Festival Artistic Director Leslie Tomkins will be joined by an exciting group of musicians, many of whom can be heard in both weekends of the Festival: violinists Maria Bachmann, Ayano Ninomiya, Axel Strauss, Ian Swensen, bassist Robert Black, violist and composer Kenji Bunch, soprano Amy Burton, clarinetist and composer Paquito D’Rivera, ETHEL (Cornelius Dufallo, Ralph Ferris, Dorothy Lawson, and Mary Rowell), Christopher Layer, Synchronicity: (Gregory Landes, Garah Landes), cellists Matt Haimovitz and Tanya Tomkins, violinist Paul Woodiel, and pianists and composers John Musto and Eric Zivian. OPENING WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 3-6
The Festival Opening Night concert on Friday, September 3 at historic Star Hall and sponsored by Eastern Utah Community Credit Union, puts two former Festival Composers-in-Residence front and center with Lou Harrison’s Varied Trio and a selection of John Musto Songs in an evening which begins the Festival’s Masterpieces in the Red Rocks retrospective of past composers-in-residence, supported by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces – Chamber Music program. Works by Schumann and Bach round out the evening.
Labor Day Weekend takes the Festival to Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge for a pair of concerts on the banks of the Colorado. On Saturday, September 4th, Paquito D’ Rivera, Synchronicity and Robert Black perform works by D’Rivera and Leonard Bernstein. The program, sponsored by Zions Bank, also includes the Rocky Mountain premiere of an exhilarating arrangement by Synchronicity of Firebird by Stravinsky, without whom, one might well argue, there’d have been no Bernstein or D’Rivera. Synchronicity also serves as the “jazz band” in their dynamic version of (for which they have the exclusive performing rights from the Bernstein Estate) Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, with NEA Jazz Master and recent White House visitor D’Rivera returning on clarinet. The performance also includes D’Rivera’s “tribute to a legendary and most beloved member of our international music community,” Conversations with Cachao. The bass player, bandleader and creator, Israel López Cachao’s extraordinary sense of humor, along with the eclectic career of the 88-year-young bassist (who has played everything from symphonies, operas and ballets, to silent movies, Jazz, the circus, dance parties and nightclubs) is reflected in the exciting three movement piece that includes cadenzas that are not written, but left for the two soloists have to improvise them – perhaps even as a duet.
ETHEL appears at Red Cliffs on Sunday, September 5th. This musically omnivorous foursome from New York City has been described as "the fiercest string quartet this side of hell," and "the most bad-ass quartet around,” and will, with absolute dedication to providing a peak experience for the audience, wow one and all with its thrilling playing.
Wrap up Labor Day weekend at the free Festival Rocky Mountain Power Family Picnic Concert at Old City Park with works including Bernstein’s Candide Overture for piano four-hands, Jon Deak’s Wager at the Eldorado Saloon and selections from the American Songbook with Amy Burton and John Musto. Enjoy your picnic, a relaxing stretch on the lawn, and a rip-roaring selection of contemporary and traditional works pitch perfect for a holiday afternoon, a mash-up musical periods and styles including the stimulating music of ETHEL.
Week Two: September 10 through September 13
The second week of the 18th Festival kicks off on Wednesday, September 8th with a program of American Appalachian Traditional Music performed by Paul Woodiel, Christopher Layer and others at the Festival’s Ranch Concert. The concert is a benefit for the Festival’s Artist-in-Residence and School Assembly programs. The “most radical, expressive maximalist” (New Yorker) cellist Matt Haimovitz joins the Festival on September 9 for the Grotto concert, which is followed by a meet the artist reception and wine tasting from local winemakers, and stays throughout the festival.
On Friday, September 10th the Festival moves to the Pavilion at Sorrell River Ranch Resort and Spa for a twilight concert sponsored by the George S. and Delores Doré Eccles Foundation and Festival Airline Great Lakes Airlines, of music by Schumann—his lush Op. 44 Piano Quintet—the vibrant Three Pieces for Violin & Piano by Lukas Foss, and a String Circles for viola quintet by the young and gifted composer and violist Kenji Bunch, who will also perform. On Saturday the 11th, supported by a grant from the NEA’s Challenge America, through Music at Jefferson’s Monticello, the Festival throws open the windows into the musical world of this beloved historic home and its outlying cabins.
Thomas Jefferson, an accomplished violinist, considered “music as the passion of my soul,” and strove to recreate the European music he so loved at his unique home. Jefferson's brother, Randolph, also a violinist, but perhaps more of a fiddler, is reputed to have embraced and joined in the African music making at Monticello; a former Monticello slave recalled that he "used to come out among black people, play the fiddle and dance half the night." Through the parallel existence at Monticello of European art and traditional music as well as the rhythms and dances of Africa central to the culture born out of slavery, the Jefferson brothers began our national journey which transmuted these elements into the distinct mosaic that has become American popular and art music. Curated by Paul Woodiel, he will be joined by Christopher Layer, Mazz Swift-Camlet and others in an evening of generous portions of African-American and traditional music together with the European music Jefferson loved.
Star Hall audiences are in for a treat on September 12, when all Festival performers, headed by Amy Burton and John Musto, perform a lively and popular program of songs and instrumental music by the composers of the Great American Songbook: Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and others.
MEET THE ARTIST
New this year is an opportunity for some up-close-and-personal time with some of the Festival Artists. Join ETHEL for informal cocktails and a Q & A Thursday evening afternoon, September 2nd. On the following Thursday, lift a glass with Kenji Bunch, violist extraordinaire and “a composer to watch” (New York Times).
OPEN REHEARSAL CONVERSATIONS
On Saturday mornings, September 4 and 11, Star Hall plays host to free Open Rehearsal Conversations at which Music Director Michael Barrett moderates conversation with artists as they rehearse for upcoming performances. Begun during the 2008 Festival, these events have become a Festival institution at which questions from the audience are encouraged and most welcome and lively interactions ensue between composers, performers and music lovers.
MUSIC WALKS
The Festival also features two Music Walk concerts. For these always sold-out programs on the mornings of Sunday, September 5th and Sunday, September 12th, patrons are shuttled to a “secret location” where, after a short hike, they arrive in a natural concert hall. On the 5th, Leslie Tomkins and Kenji Bunch perform music for two violas including Bunch’s Three American Folk Hymn Settings. On the 12th, audiences will hear traditional music from Festival favorites Christopher Layer and Paul Woodiel after a very special walk through the red rock scenery.
Musical Walks are suitable for most people in general good health with a moderate level of fitness and agility. Musical Raft Trip Through Cataract Canyon
Leave your cell phone, laptop and Facebook status behind to embark on the 2010 Festival Musical Raft Trip, a 4 day, 3-night custom Colorado River adventure featuring intimate concerts performed by world class musicians (Ayano Ninomiya, Matt Haimovitz, Christopher Layer and others) in unforgettable river settings. Extend the experience of music in concert with the landscape beginning with the launch of the Musical Raft Trip on September 13th, which includes that afternoon’s exhilarating performance at the Grotto.
The Musical Raft Trip continues by boat down the Colorado River through the pristine and ethereal canyons under the late summer blue sky. Festival artists performing two additional concerts during the trip. A local naturalist also joins the expedition to lead a series of short, scenic hikes, as well as to provide insight into the history and spectacular geology of Canyon Country. A thrilling run through the whitewater rapids of Cataract Canyon and a once-in-a-lifetime scenic flight back to Moab from Hite Marina on Lake Powell conclude the 2010 Musical Raft Trip.
The trip is suitable for most people in general good health with a minimum level of fitness and agility. No outdoor experience is necessary.
For more information about the Festival or to purchase tickets for the 18th Moab Music Festival, please visit www.moabmusicfest.org or telephone the Box Office at (435) 259-7003. You may also visit the Festival Office at 58 East 300 South, Moab, UT 84532.
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