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Music in the Mountains is like summer camp for adults

One of my favorite parts of summer in Durango is Music in the Mountains. It’s not only a time to enjoy great music, it’s a time to say hello to musician friends I see only during this amazing festival.

It’s kind of like summer camp for adults; we catch each other up on the last year, enjoy food and drink together, and make, or listen to, great music. The Fort Lewis College music department enjoys a wonderful collaborative relationship with this fine organization. The annual conservatory is held in our building, and some of our faculty teach during this three week music intensive training young musicians from around the country.

Brent Williams, assistant professor of Upper Strings, teaches private violin lessons, coaches chamber music, will perform on both conservatory faculty concerts and manages the conservatory’s new Young Advanced division.

“It is a privilege to rejoin the faculty ranks at MiTM this summer,” Williams said. “Our student body includes some extremely talented instrumentalists from all over the country that represent the most advanced middle-schoolers all the way through grad school participants. Needless to say, we are lucky to have such a prestigious festival in our backyards and I, for one, do not take it for granted.”

Well put, Dr. Williams, we are truly blessed to have this, and all of the wonderful music organizations, in Durango. Conservatory concerts are held in Roshong Recital Hall, a number of student recitals are free to the public and I encourage you to get out to hear them, in addition, buy a ticket or two for the concerts put on by the outstanding faculty; you won’t regret it! (Visit http://www.musicinthemountains.com for information for both the conservatory and festival events and to buy tickets.)

The Community Concert Hall at FLC continues its free music in the park series Thursdays at Buckley park; and will welcome comedienne Paula Poundstone on Aug. 18. Poundstone is so quick and unassuming that audience members at her live shows often leave complaining that their cheeks hurt from laughter and debating whether the random people she talked to were “plants”. (Show content may not be suitable for children.)

In addition, Director Charles Leslie just gave me the list of its entire next season. You’ll want to check www.durangoconcerts.com often as they’ll put these up for sale soon. One sneak peek, and already on sale, is “Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King.” This is the theatrical debut of humorist and “The Daily Show” correspondent Hasan Minhaj. “Homecoming King,” the story of the “New Brown America,” is based on true events from Minhaj’s first-generation Indian-American experience. Navigating between two worlds, it follows Minhaj’s arrival in the U.S., meeting his sister, interracial love, racism, bullying and his family’s quest to achieve the elusive American dream.

Purchase tickets for concert hall events at www.durangoconcerts.com, 247-7657 or at the downtown Durango Welcome Center, on the corner of Eighth Street and Main Avenue.

blaylock_sl@fortlewis.edu. Shauna Blaylock is publicist/event coordinator for the FLC Music Department.



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