The Artist in Residence Program at Fort Lewis College has been humming along quietly for almost 30 years. Sailing under Durango’s cultural radar, the guest-artist series started with a simple idea and has ticked along as steadily as a metronome.
AiR invites high-level musicians to the college for master classes and public recitals. FLC music students benefit by exposure to professional musicians and attend everything for free. Area music lovers pay a modest ticket price for the recitals. Backed by a substantial endowment, the program has stayed afloat thanks to faculty engagement and a small group of supporters.
If you go
WHAT: FLC Artist in Residence – Pianist Peter Miyamoto.
WHEN: Recital, 7 p.m. Sunday; Master Class, 1 p.m. Tuesday.
WHERE: Roshong Recital Hall, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive.
TICKETS: Recital: $15 adults, free 18 and under and FLC students, at the door. Master Class – free.
In 1995, pianist Norman Krieger, now professor of piano at Indiana University, hatched the initial idea. He was a young interim professor at FLC and wanted to bring professional musicians to the college for master classes. He persuaded a small circle of community members to organize and support the idea. And, he offered to model the program as the first Artist in Residence.
“Norman started it all,” said Polly Morgenstern. Morgenstern is secretary of the current AiR Committee and has written a short history. She serves with Chair Andie Davison plus active current members Sally Bradley, Phyllis Max and Janice Sheftel.
“Norman saw a need to bring visiting artists to FLC on a short-term basis and attempted to create funding for that purpose,” Morgenstern writes in the program history.
When Krieger pitched his idea, he asked for time and treasure and quickly received enthusiastic support. Morley Ballantine, Davison, Katie Freiberger, Jane Knott and Mickie Thurston coalesced into a working committee. In addition, FLC music faculty, particularly Linda Mack and Shelley Mann, joined the effort. Sheri Rochford, then FLC Foundation executive director, created a framework and endowment.
By November 1995, Morgenstern said, “Southwest Colorado cultural arts patrons inaugurated a $500K drive. In 1999, William Lupien and Dr. John T. Rickard provided $160,000.”
The fundraising campaign persisted and donations reached a third of a million dollars that year.
In 2001, Jim Foster and Connie Blanchard, wife of Kendall Blanchard, president of FLC, joined the core committee. Soon, others came on board: Stuart Shore, Tom MacCluskey, Bill Warren, Morgenstern, Bette Serzen, Bradley, Bev Wells, Ralph Kehle and Anita Cohen.
“In the recession of 2007-08, the endowment took a hit, as did the Foundation as a whole, but during the recovery, funds for AiR regained their status,” Morgenstern said.
Faculty involvement has also been key: “The program has a threefold benefit to students,” said Justin Hubbard, associate professor of music at FLC and liaison to the AiR Committee. “The students get in-person experience with high-level musicians, one-to-one lessons and they take part in master classes. The master classes have varied between public lessons, development topics and research presentations.”
Master classes are free. Recital tickets have been $15 for years but will go up to $20 after the Feb. 9 performance by Peter Miyamoto.
Winter semester 2025 happens to be a banner year for AiR. In the past, one or two guest artists have appeared on the college’s performance calendar. This semester there are four. Eric Millard, trumpet, gave an AiR recital on Jan. 21. On Sunday and Tuesday, pianist Peter Miyamoto will perform and teach a master class. In mid-March, the program welcomes oboist Tim Gocklin. And on March 27, musicians Sarah Off and Dylan Fixmer will give a free master class/lecture on entrepreneurship, followed by a recital on March 28.
Visiting professor of music Holly Quist nominated Miyamoto for AiR.
“I studied with Peter when I was earning my Master’s in piano performance at the University of Missouri,” she said. “Peter influenced almost everything I do as a pianist and teacher. He taught me technique that is weight-focus and comes from the tradition of playing initiated by the great pianist Artur Schnabel.”
Miyamoto will present a full recital program Sunday in Roshong Recital Hall, Quist said, including works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Brahms. Miyamoto’s master class follows two days later at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Both will be held in Roshong Recital Hall in the music building. Miyamoto holds degrees from Yale University, Michigan State University, the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Curtis Institute of Music. He has an international performance career as a soloist with major orchestras, and he records on the Blue-Griffin label.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
