Music in the Mountains hasn’t rested on its laurels in recent years, looking at ways to expand its reach into the region, bring in talented artists and reinvent festival traditions. The 2015 festival – its 29th – is no exception.
Fresh off being named a finalist in Sunset Magazine’s Cultural Attraction of the West awards competition, the three-week-long festival will present more than 40 performances and events starting Monday.
“I know I say it’s going to be the best season ever every year,” said Angie Beach, executive director of Music in the Mountains. “But I don’t know how we’ll top this for our 30th anniversary.”
The festival isn’t just an oasis of classical music in the middle of the summer, it joins the rest of the nonprofit arts and culture organizations in making a significant economic impact on La Plata County.
The Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study based on 2010 numbers showed total nonprofit arts and culture organizations spent more than $9 million in the county that year. Excluding the cost of admission, their audiences spent more than $3.2 million on meals, lodging and other amenities in the area.
The dollars Music in the Mountains and its audience – more than half of whom do not live in La Plata County, according to an economic impact study conducted by Fort Lewis College students in 2013 – generate have only grown since then.
The students also found that audience spending two years ago was more than $263,000, and the musicians, who travel from all over the country, had recycled their salaries in the community to the tune of more than $56,000. Add that to Music in the Mountains 2015 budget of $915,000, which includes the festival, Conservatory and Music in the Mountains Goes to School, and much of the community benefits from the festival in one way or another.
That’s how the financial side of the picture looks, but what about the music?
Even longtime festival attendees may need a little help planning what they’ll attend this year with so many possibilities.
So here’s a look at what’s new, what’s different, the do-not-miss events and the best-kept secrets of the 29th Music in the Mountains festival.
What’s new
Music in the Mountains never rests on its laurels, and the 2015 season is no exception.
New to the festival this season:
Concerts at The Sunflower Theater in Cortez – the Los Angeles Cello Quartet on Tuesday; the Bayfield Performing Arts Center – Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion on Thursday and the Pine River Run, a performance by the Music in the Mountains Conservatory Orchestra, on Friday; and, after a several-year hiatus, Pagosa Springs – Pagosa Springs Strings and Things at the Pagosa Lakes Clubhouse on July 24.
Music in the Mountains is partnering with Durango Fiesta Days to bring in the Southern Drawl Band for a dance party at 9 p.m. July 25 (after the rodeo) at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
The festival is breaking its record and welcoming five conductors – Maestro Guillermo Figueroa, Karina Canellakis, pops conductors Carl Topilow and Richard Kaufman and Conservatory conductor Matt Albert.
Not to be missed
Even the most stalwart music lover would find it impossible to attend more than 40 performances in three weeks. As always at Music in the Mountains, while every performance is a memorable presentation of music, there are a few events where anticipation is building:
7 p.m. Monday at the Glacier Club: A benefit for the festival, it includes a cocktail reception, beautiful views and a performance by the Los Angeles Cello Quartet. If the $150 ticket is out of your price range, the quartet will perform at The Sunflower Theater in Cortez on Tuesday, where tickets are $36.
7 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church of Durango: “Once Upon a Time” chamber concert featuring Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat” with narration and dancers. Festival Music Director Guillermo Figueroa created the experience in Albuquerque to great acclaim and is reprising the performance here.
7:30 p.m. Friday at Buckley Park: Back by popular demand, Todo Mundo adds a Latin beat to the festival in one of its three World Concerts. The show will be presented in collaboration with KSUT-FM public radio and open with SkyPilot.
5:30 p.m. July 18 at the Festival Tent at Purgatory Ski Resort: Battle of the Ages presents virtuoso violinist Ida Kavafian on Barber’s Violin Concerto and the Festival Orchestra performing Dvorák’s Symphony No. 7 in D minor.
5:30 p.m. July 19 at the tent with “Femme-Harmonic”: The performance will feature Music in the Mountains’ first female guest conductor, Karina Canellakis, and South African pianist Petronel Malan. Malan delighted festival supporters at the donors-only party in 2013, and now everyone has a chance to hear her for themselves.
7 p.m. July 20 at Roshong Recital Hall at Fort Lewis College: Returning after a year off, the Concerto Competition showcases the best and brightest students at Music in the Mountains Conservatory as they vie for a chance to win cash prizes and perform with the Festival Orchestra on Aug. 1. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. Seating is limited.
5:30 p.m. July 26 at the Community Concert Hall at FLC: “Right on Key” with pianist David Korevaar will perform Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor. Korevaar is a longtime festival favorite for good reason.
7 p.m. July 30 in the Festival Tent: “Grand Piano Duel” will pit two exceptional pianists, Yoni Levyatov and Alexander Moutouzkine, squaring off on one grand piano. After last summer’s entertaining duel between violinists Philippe Quint and Vadim Gluzman, the audience’s expectations will be high.
5:30 p.m. Aug. 2 at the Festival Tent: The festival always ends with a bravura Festival Orchestra performance, joined this year by Quint, playing Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in D minor. This concert typically sells out.
Best-kept secrets
Music in the Mountains offers free opportunities to learn more about classical music to enhance the festival experience:
Pre-concert lectures before Festival Orchestra performances by the irrepressible Fort Lewis College professor emerita Linda Mack inform concertgoers about the composers and the specific works that will be performed. Lectures start at 4:30 p.m. in the Durango Club at Purgatory Ski Resort for performances at the Festival Tent and in the Lyceum at the Center of Southwest Studies for the performance in the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
Open rehearsals are held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the days the Festival Orchestra is performing in the tent at Purgatory, July 18 and 19 and Aug. 1 and 2. Festival musicians hail from orchestras across the nation and have just one rehearsal to create the magic of the performance. Attendance at the rehearsal gives music lovers a chance to see how the conductor works with the orchestra and how it all comes together.
Master classes, which are free and open to the public, provide Conservatory students with the chance to learn from professionals in their field and the audience an opportunity to see how talented young musicians improve their technique. Five master classes will be held this year: 10 a.m. Friday at Roshong Recital Hall at Fort Lewis College, visiting soloist Ida Kavafian on violin; 10 a.m. July 18, Music in the Mountains’ first female conductor, Karina Canellakis, in the FLC Band Room in Jones Hall at FLC; 2:30 p.m. July 18 in Roshong Hall, guest soloist Petronel Malan on piano; 2:30 p.m. July 21 at Roshong, soloist David Korevaar on piano; and 2:30 p.m. July 22 at Roshong, festival Music Director Guillermo Figueroa on violin.
Music in the Mountains Conservatory will continue its “Pop Ups” during the festival, short concerts by quartets and small groups at venues around town. While they’re meant to be a bit of a surprise, one will be offered at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday as part of the Rochester Hotel Secret Garden Concert Series fundraiser and another at 10 a.m. July 25 at the Durango Farmers Market in the parking lot at First National Bank of Durango. More Pop Ups will be presented as the festival progresses.
What’s different
Some Music in the Mountains tried-and-true traditions are getting a face-lift for the 2015 season:
Perhaps the largest change is that Family Festivo is transitioning into an Animated Orchestra at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College at 5:30 p.m. July 27. Tickets are still free, root beer floats and hotdogs will still be free, but families must pick up vouchers in advance at the Music in the Mountains office, 1063 Main Ave., as seating is limited. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Play it Forward, to benefit Project Merry Christmas and Santa, will be there. Music in the Mountains Executive Director Angie Beach said the change is happening for several reasons, including avoiding the heat in the park at midday and allowing working parents to attend with their children. “We want parents to see the spark if their child is engaged,” she said, “and to help their children learn a little concert hall etiquette.”
First National Bank of Durango’s free concert at noon Monday is moving out to the parking lot to accommodate the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest. Attendees get more than a lunch break of the traditional and symphonic woodwind band canon along with patriotic melodies, because the bank will give each attendee a voucher for two tickets to any of seven Conservatory performances, excluding the Concerto Competition.
Music in the Mountains Conservatory has expanded once again to three weeks and added composition and brass instruments to its offerings this summer. Instead of a Conservatory Gala, it will present a Conservatory Culmination, two unique Collage Concerts at 7 p.m. July 31 and 1 p.m. Aug. 1 at Roshong Recital Hall at Fort Lewis College. Performances of classical music will be intermixed with original pieces written by composition students.
A tailgate party will be held again this year in Viles Park at 5:30 p.m. July 28 before the Baroque and Beyond concert begins at 7 p.m. at St. Columba Catholic Church, 1830 East Second Ave. This year, it’s borrowing a page from the Santa Fe Opera. Hosts will bring their own table, chairs, picnic and accoutrements for a competition to win in one of four themes, fun, formal, musical and creative. First place in each category will win two tickets to the 2016 Music in the Mountains concert of the winner’s choice. The festival will provide a cash bar.
To buy tickets
To buy tickets to a Music in the Mountains performance, visit www.musicinthemountains.com, call 385-6820 or stop by the Music in the Mountains offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 1063 Main Ave. Tickets are available at the door when concerts are not sold out.
Grass passes at the Festival Tent at Purgatory Ski Resort are available one hour before the concert.
