Music in the Mountains 2023 Festival Program

Guillermo Figueroa, Artistic Director & Conductor

Live Wild and Well, Year Round

Live

Artist Rendering of Etta Ridge Mountain Residences

Artist Rendering of Etta Ridge Mountain Residences

The Summit Homesite Collection

THAT’S THINKING OUTSIDE THE BANK.

CLASSICAL MUSIC FESTIVAL 2023 – 37th Season

Guillermo Figueroa, Artistic Director & Conductor

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sheryl Kaufman, President

Richard Jalkut, President-Elect

Liz Hogan, Secretary

Paul Cahill, Treasurer

Steven Phillips, Finance Committee Co-Chair

Christine Serwe, Nomination Committee Chair

Marilyn Swanson, Education Committee Chair

Dwight Frankfather, Governance Committee Chair

Meredith Madrigal, Development Committee Chair

Elizabeth Crandall

Danica Frost

Gail Harris

Liz Hogan

Beth Porter

Ellynn Ragone

Paul Singer

Will Spears

Angie Beach, Ex-Officio

Guillermo Figueroa, Ex-Officio

FESTIVAL ADMINISTRATION

Angie Beach, Executive Director

Jennifer O’Donohue, Operations Manager

Kristi Peltz, Festival Assistant

Lucia Thompson, Festival Assistant

Laurie Keck, Accounting Manager

Cindy Miller Atchison, Graphic Designer

Beth Stewart, Digital & Social Marketing

Melanie Palmer, Program Consultant

J.D. Mathis, Stage Manager

Sheryl Hadeka, Librarian & Orchestra Manager

Gail Johnston, Volunteer Coordinator

Trish Pegram, Volunteer Coordinator

Gabrielle Dugan, Education Coordinator

Libby Culver, Office Support Volunteer

Anne Timmins, Office Support Volunteer

EMERITUS

Terry Bacon

Diane Becket

Leonard Davies

Ann Flatten

James H. Foster

Gregory Hustis

Thomas Jones

Florence (Foxie) Mason, Founder

Jack Silton

Jenny St. John

Gordon Thomas

COVER ARTIST - CHRISTOPHER WARREN

Chris Warren is a professional artist and Durango native. He creates intricate and unique patterns of color using topographic data. This piece, La Plata Cacophony, literally features mountains in the music for Music in the Mountains’ cover art! The background is the same color topographic map of La Plata County overlaid onto itself multiple times, creating a cacophony of color, meant to evoke the larger-than-life sounds you can only hear at live symphonic performances. Warren’s art business, Beatnik Prints, creates “beautiful, trippy, brainfood”, in the form of sculptures, murals, clothing, and more!

PROGRAM DESIGN

Cindy Miller Atchison Design | Art

MUSIC IN THE MOUNTAINS FESTIVAL OFFICE: P.O. Box 3751, Durango, CO 81302

College Drive, Durango, CO 81301 970.385.6820

Use of photographic, recording or video equipment is prohibited. Please turn off all electronic devices. Late comers will be seated at the first break of the program.

Music in the Mountains

Making a difference year round in our schools.

The education programs of Music in the Mountains Goes to School follows students through their musical development from elementary through high school. Our programs reach hundreds of students in Durango and the surrounding areas, with every elementary student in the Durango School District experiencing some benefit from our programs.

We take special interest in helping students to learn to play an instrument and participate in musical ensembles. Not only does this help to train the next generation of musicians, it helps build musical understanding and skill with the people who will form our classical music audiences in the future.

Thank you!

To all of the many dedicated teachers, parents, donors, volunteers, and community members who work together to enhance music education in our schools!

Sponsored by:

Education Programs

Discovering musical stars of tomorrow!

We take a special interest in getting students involved.

Students who study music are more successful in school, society, and life. Numerous studies have shown that students who participate in music education:

• Perform better in math, English, and biology than students who do not study music

• Score higher on verbal and math portions of the SAT and have better grades and more academic honors

• Have significant increases in self-esteem, self-discipline, cultural identity, and critical thinking skills

• Are less likely to be disruptive in school, have fewer disciplinary problems, and are less likely to drop out

• Have the lowest reported lifetime use of substances like drugs and alcohol

• Have the strengthened ability to persevere and continue towards a goal despite obstacles

Music in the Mountains Goes to School programs include:

Youth Ambassador Scholarships – providing up to 16 fully paid private music lessons for each scholarship recipient.

Scholarships to attend Juilliard High School Online for Music Theory and/or Ear Training – offering full tuition for a semesterlong class to each scholarship recipient.

Annual Family Concert – a family friendly concert featuring the full Festival Orchestra in a concert designed for children and their families.  For only $5 we provide a hot dog, chips, root beer float and spectacular performance inside the Community Concert Hall.

Free Student Tickets – a program offering up to two free student tickets for students ages 7 – 18, with the purchase of one adult ticket to select Music in the Mountains concerts.

Take a Bow – a free community concert event showcasing local music students.

Pedagogical Inspirations – A lecture series designed for local music teachers to learn from the best practitioners in the nation right here in our community.

Durango High School and Middle School Recruitment Concerts –Provided transportation for all Durango elementary and middle school students to attend the annual recruitment concerts in hopes of inspiring the next generation of music students to join their respective school bands and orchestras.

Music in the Mountains

Bid High, bid often...

“Goes to School!”

Online Auction Fundraiser

Music in the Mountains’ Online Auction supports our Goes to School music education programs throughout the year. The auction goes live on July 6, and concludes at the Pops Night event on July 22.

Preview items and bid on your favorites by visiting our website or scanning the QR code below. Offerings include exclusive vacation getaways, jewelry crafted by local artists, golf outings, local wellness and adventure experiences, music lessons, bundled gift card packages for a night on the town or a day at the lake, and more! Please visit the auction site for detailed descriptions of items.

8-Day Viking European River Cruise for Two People: Select your destination and immerse yourself in the Old World as you sail Europe’s most iconic rivers. Discover Danube gems like Vienna and Budapest. See storied Rhine castles. Trace French history along the Seine. From the Main to the Moselle, the Douro to the Dordogne, Viking River Cruises are unsurpassed. Every detail on board a Viking ship is designed to enrich and enhance your travel experience with award winning service, luxurious accommodation, bountiful culinary offerings, and thoughtfully designed education and entertainment experiences. Meals, shore excursions, and tours included. Airfare not included.

Oregon Coast Vacation:

Experience exceptional lodging where the mountains meet the sea on Oregon’s spectacular coastline. The Inn at Spanish Head in Lincoln City is the only resort hotel in Oregon magnificently situated right on the beach. Stay 6 nights and 7 days in a beautiful 2 bedroom/2 bath suite boasting floor to ceiling windows and stunning views. Select Dates available. Airfare not included. Generously donated by Gordon and Dene Thomas.

Education Fundraiser

...it’s for the kids!

Colorado Adventures:

Here in Colorado, we don’t have to travel far for thrilling adventure! Take in the sprawling beauty of the San Juans from a hot air balloon high above Pagosa Springs with Rocky Mountain Balloon Adventures. Spend a day at Vallecito Lake on a pontoon boat from Vallecito Marina & Yacht Club followed by a delicious meal at Weminuche Woodfire Grill. Plan a Labor Day getaway in Denver capped off with a Colorado Rockies game against the Toronto Blue Jays (tickets generously donated by Bank of Colorado)! Round trip tickets on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a weekend getaway at Kelly Place in McElmo Canyon or at Sky Ute Casino & Resort, including dinner at Seven Rivers — visit the auction site to see the rich array of experiences available!

Festivals, Concerts, Theater:

Whatever your taste in music may be, explore the tickets and passes on offer from our fellow arts organizations. Luxuriate in Dress Circle Box Tickets for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, see our own Guillermo Figueroa masterfully conduct the Santa Fe Symphony, catch a lively performance at the celebrated Creede Repertory Theater, quench your thirst for strings with passes for the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, or celebrate the end of another spectacular Southwest Colorado summer with a pair of coveted 3-Day Patron VIP passes to the renowned Labor Day weekend Four Corners Folk Festival

Jewelry:

Durango’s historic Toh-Atin Gallery curates pieces from awardwinning Native American artists, relying on relationships they have cultivated since opening in 1957. Designs crafted by Orville Tsinnie and Marie Jackson complement each other in this elegant set.

Carol Salomon’s distinctive style is beloved and widely collected, and her pieces are a much-anticipated highlight of our annual auction. As an internationally known jewelry designer, beading for Carol is an extension of a lifelong love of travel, connecting her with cultures and peoples far and wide. This year’s piece is a paired set featuring sea glass and freshwater pearls.

From the Board of Directors’ President

Dear Patrons,

In 2023, the music plays on in spectacular fashion at Music in the Mountains!

Music in the Mountains has been a treasure of inspiration, community engagement, and a strong economic contributor to Durango, La Plata County, and the surrounding area through the gift of music since its founding in 1987.

After this year’s long winter, and the nation and world finally coming out of a pandemic, I am sure that everyone is ready to get out, connect with each other, and enjoy some beautiful music. The Music in the Mountains Music Festival is indeed even more vibrant this year than ever!

Get ready to enjoy a full line-up of brilliant and talented musicians in the spotlight from across the country and the globe, all under the professional direction of the very talented Guillermo Figueroa, Music in the Mountains Festival Artistic Director & Conductor!

In addition to presenting our wonderful summer music festival, it is a pleasure to update you on some of the exciting things we have been up to on the music education side of things. This year we joined forces with The Juilliard School of Music’s online programs to provide educational course opportunities for area students, as well as doubling our scholarship commitment for local high school students’ private music lessons. In addition, Music in the Mountains has continued to expand its Music in the Mountains Goes to School programs inclusive of the beloved Family Concert and the free student ticket program, adding Take a Bow – a showcase recital for local music students, Pedagogical Inspirations, and more, all designed to inspire, engage, and educate students!

Most importantly, Music in the Mountains would not exist if it were not for our incredibly generous Patrons, such as yourself, who give financially and provide other support to Music in the Mountains!

Enjoy the Festival!

Sincerely,

Sheryl Kaufman, President

Letter

Dear Friends,

We welcome you to the 37th Anniversary Season of Music in the Mountains here in beautiful southwest Colorado.

This year we celebrate the summer season finally arriving after a long hard winter and cold and windy spring! We grumped and groaned about the weather, even knowing that we needed the moisture and that it would eventually give way to warmth and flowers, hiking and swimming, and of course, music festivals! Now that it is here, please hold on to your seat and prepare to be swept away by the incredible sounds of the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra. These musicians hail from all over the country. We bring the highest caliber musicians here to our rural corner of the world for this one precious month. Other mountain communities of our size almost never have such an amazing cultural asset.

I hope you will enjoy this season’s lineup of concert events. We intentionally designed the programs to appeal to a wide audience. There truly is something for everyone! Please tell me what you think! Your feedback is very important to our process…this is YOUR Festival. I encourage you to try something new – maybe something that you are unsure about…give yourself the gift of surprise – you never know… you might really like it. I also hope that you will share this musical experience with those around you. Invite your friends and neighbors, colleagues, and new acquaintances to join in the fun. Art and culture are all about making connections. I think you’ll agree, we need meaningful connection now more than ever before.

Thanks to the dedication and commitment of so many people – our board members, staff and artistic directors, volunteers, patrons, and of course our many sponsors and donors – we continue to produce this treasured music festival and our year-round music education programs. We are proud of the impact we are able to make on the culture, economy, and quality of life in our community. Please take a moment to note our many generous contributors. We encourage our patrons to thank our corporate sponsors for their support of the Festival when they are doing business with them. Make no mistake, this festival would not be possible without their generous continued financial and in-kind support.

Thank you for supporting Music in the Mountains and for cherishing this special organization. May these concerts and events renew your spirit and bring joy to your life today and hope for tomorrow.

Happy Festivaling!

Angie Beach, Executive Director

From the Artistic Director & Conductor

Dear Friends,

I am thrilled to welcome you to our 2023 season in my new role as both Artistic Director and Conductor of our wonderful Festival. This excitement comes with some regret, as I am replacing a man that has been so important to Music in the Mountains for so many years, and who was my mentor as well. I refer, of course, to Greg Hustis.

Our Festival has had great success in great part thanks to Greg’s knowledge, wisdom, and hard work in assembling one of the finest orchestras you will ever find at a summer festival. His deep connections in the classical music field allowed him to put together a collection of world-class musicians who are passionate and devoted to Music in the Mountains. Not any less was his skill in managing the complex relationships between musicians, staff, board, patrons, and audience. In short, working with him was both a great pleasure and a tremendous learning experience.

I now will strive to continue that legacy and bring some of my own touches and preferences. For starters, I thought that injecting a little bit of my Latin heritage into our musical mix might be interesting. To that end we will have, for our closing concerts, two musical stars who happen to be Puerto Rican, like me: pianist, composer, and salsa interpreter Mariano Morales, and the king of Latin jazz flutists, Nestor Torres. They will have you dancing in Latin rhythms through our final weekend!

Before that, an impressive array of talent will be on display. Music in the Mountains favorites Aviram Reichert, Emmanuelle Boisvert, and Erin Schreiber will shine in solo turns. And if experiencing the Mendelssohn Octet live, one of the greatest chamber music works ever written, was not enough by itself, imagine doing it while surrounded by over a thousand candles!

Further innovation comes with violinist Philippe Quint, who will present his extraordinary show Philippe Quint in Charlie Chaplin’s Smile. Video clips from Chaplin’s movies, tango dancers, and the Festival Orchestra will complement Quint’s virtuosity and artistry in a performance that’s not to be missed!

Help me continue Music in the Mountains’ long run of unparalleled musical and entertainment excellence with your attendance and support. I look forward to greeting all of you in person.

Muchísimas gracias!

Guillermo Figueroa, Artistic Director & Conductor

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Summer Soirée

The Texas Guitar Quartet (TxGQ)

Isaac Bustos, Joseph Palmer, Jay Kacherski, Alejandro Montiel

GIOACHINO ROSSINI Overture to The Barber of Seville (1792 – 1868)

arr. Alejandro Montiel

GEORGE BIZET Carmen Suite (1838 – 1875)

Aragonaise

arr. William Kanengeiser Habanera

Seguidilla

Toreador

Entr’acte

Gypsy Dance

CLARICE ASSAD Three Sketches (1978 - )

arr. Alejandro Montiel

5:30 pm

Con Anima

Electrified

ISAAC ALBENIZ Córdoba from Cantos de España, Op. 232 (1860 – 1909)

arr. Alejandro Montiel

LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN Egmont Overture, Op. 84 (1770 – 1827)

arr. Isaac Bustos

Glacier Club presents

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Resolve

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor

Erin Schreiber, violin

JENNIFER HIGDON Blue Cathedral (1962 - )

ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD Concerto in D for Violin, Op. 35 (1897 – 1957) Moderato nobile Romanze

Allegro assai vivace

Erin Schreiber, violin

e INTERMISSION f

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini, (1840 - 1893) (Symphonic Fantasy after Dante), Op. 32

Supporting Sponsors:

Walt Dear & Family

Orchestra Concert

I Love a Piano

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor

Tony DeSare, piano and vocals

Named Rising Star Male Vocalist in Downbeat magazine, DeSare has won critical and popular acclaim for his concert performances throughout North America and abroad. From jazz clubs to Carnegie Hall to Las Vegas and headlining major symphony orchestras, DeSare has brought his fresh take on old school classics around the globe.

He has been featured on the CBS Early Show, National Public Radio, A Prairie Home Companion, and the Today Show. He has been a featured guest artist with over 100 symphony orchestras, including the Cleveland Symphony, New York Pops, San Francisco, Houston, and Chicago Symphonies.

He is also an accomplished composer with song writing and broadcast commercials to his credit as well as scoring five films. His music sounds fresh and contemporary while paying homage to the Great American Songbook.

Tonight’s program will feature arrangements of everything from Claude Debussy and George Gershwin, to Elton John and John Lennon.

7:00 pm

Walt Dear & Family presents

Community Concert Hall, FLC

Orchestra Concert

Community Concert Hall, FLC

Ballantine Communications presents

Vibrant Virtuosos

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor

Aviram Reichert, piano

Emmanuelle Boisvert, Hannah Ji, Jacqueline Audas, Leslie Shank, violin

ANTONIO VIVALDI

(1678 – 1741)

Concerto in B minor for Four Violins, RV 580

Allegro

Largo – Larghetto – Adagio – Largo

Allegro

Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished” (1797 – 1828)

FRANZ SCHUBERT

Allegro moderato

Andante con moto

e INTERMISSION f

GEORGE GERSHWIN

(1898 – 1937)

July 16 • 5:00 pm

Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra

Allegro

Adagio – Andante con moto

Allegro agitato

Aviram Reichert, piano

Supporting Sponsor:

Orchestra Concert

Dinner & Family Concert

5:30 pm Casual Hot Dog Dinner in Courtyard 6:30 pm Concert

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor Paul Singer, narrator

BRUCE ADOLPHE Carnival of the Creatures (1955 - )

BENJAMIN BRITTEN The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1913 – 1976)

Wednesday, July 19 • 5:30 pm

Supporting Sponsors:

Community Concert Hall, FLC

Morehart Murphy Regional Auto Center and Four Corners Broadcasting present

Christopher French, Jan Simiz, cello William Clay, bass

MAX BRUCH

Octet for Strings in B-flat, Op. posth. (1838 – 1920)

Allegro moderato

Adagio

Allegro molto e INTERMISSION

7:00 pm

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

(1809 – 1847)

Octet for Strings in E-flat, Op. 20

Allegro moderato con fuoco

Andante

Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo

Presto

Supporting Sponsors:

Benefit Event

Sky Ute Event Center, Ignacio

TBK Bank and Sky Ute Casino/Resort present

Pops Night: A Night at the Oscars

Richard Kaufman, conductor

RICHARD A. WHITING Hooray for Hollywood (1891 – 1938)

arr. J. Williams

JOHN BARRY Flying Over Africa from Out of Africa (1933 – 2011)

VICTOR YOUNG Around the World in 80 Days – Overture (1900 – 1956)

Reconstructed: Steve Bernstein

JOHN WILLIAMS Theme from Schindler’s List (1932 - ) Philippe Quint, violin

BRUCE BROUGHTON Themes from Silverado (1945 - )

HARRY WARREN An Affair to Remember (1893 – 1981)

ENNIO MORRICONE The Untouchables (1928 – 2020)

RANDY NEWMAN The Natural (1943 - )

BILL CONTI The Right Stuff (1942 - )

JOHN WILLIAMS Flying Theme from (1932 - ) E.T. the Extra Terrestrial

Orchestra Concert

Philippe Quint in Charlie Chaplin’s Smile

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor

Philippe Quint, violin, executive producer, performer, narrator, writer, and visuals

Cynthia Giannini, Umut Mete Saka, dancers

Did you know that Charlie Chaplin, one of the greatest silent movie actors and most iconic figures of the early film industry, was also a talented composer?

To celebrate Chaplin’s 134th birthday (he was born on April 16, 1889), we present Philippe Quint’s critically acclaimed multimedia program. Inspired by the violinist’s successful 2019 album Chaplin’s Smile (Warner Classics), the program has already appeared in the US, UK, Germany, Poland, Russia, Israel, Romania, Switzerland, and Norway.

Quint’s unique arrangements of songs from Chaplin’s most celebrated films (Modern Times, City Lights, Monsieur Verdoux, The Kid, Limelight, and A King in New York) are interspersed with rare footage of the actor, along with still images and video clips from his films. The program also features music by composers who influenced Chaplin’s musical style –Brahms, Debussy, Stravinsky, and Gershwin.

“I think it’s amazing my grandfather, Charlie Chaplin, is still around and loved by so many, that many years after his first movie was made, he still surprises people. Philippe Quint’s new multimedia program Charlie Chaplin’s Smile is allowing him to be discovered by a whole new audience as a talented composer, a side of him many people did not know.”

KIERA CHAPLIN, (Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter), Forbes Magazine

Supporting Sponsors:

Durango Dermatology and Gable House present

Community Concert Hall, FLC

Sublime Serenade

Martin Hébert, Timothy Daniels, oboe

James Shields, Deborah Fabian, clarinet

Laura Leisring, Marissa Olegario, bassoon

Nikolette LaBonte, Matthew Wilson, horn

JONATHAN DOVE Figures in the Garden for Woodwind Octet (1959 - )

Dancing in the Dark

Susanna in the Rain

A Conversation

Barbarina Alone

The Countess Interrupts a Quarrel

Voices in the Garden

Nocturne: Figaro and Susanna

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Serenade in C minor for Woodwind Octet, K. 388 (1756 – 1791)

Allegro

Andante

Menuetto

Allegro

e INTERMISSION f

SERGEI PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet Suite for Woodwind Octet (1891 – 1953)

arr. A. Tarkmann

July 25 • 7:00 pm

Dance of the Girls

The Street Wakens

Morning Dance

Madrigal

Aubade

Montagues & Capulets

Friar Laurence

Mercutio

Supporting Sponsors:

First Presbyterian Church, Durango

Masterful Moments

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor

Jason Vieaux, guitar

JOHANNES BRAHMS Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56 (1833 – 1897)

JOAQUÍN RODRIGO Fantasía para un gentilhombre (Fantasy for a Gentleman) (1901 – 1999)

Villano y ricercare

Españoleta y fanfarria de la caballeria de Nápoles

Danza de las hachas

Canario

Jason Vieaux, guitar

e INTERMISSION f

ANTONIO VIVALDI Concerto in D for Guitar and Strings, RV 93 (1678 – 1741)

Allegro giusto

Largo

Allegro

Jason Vieaux, guitar

IGOR STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919) (1882 – 1971)

Introduction – The Firebird and Its Dance

The Princesses’ Khorovod

Infernal Dance of King Kashchei

Berceuse Finale

7:00 pm

Supporting Sponsors:

General Palmer Hotel presents

Community Concert Hall, FLC

Walt Dear & Family

Community Concert Hall, FLC Orchestra Concert

Cha Cha Chá! Latin Jazz Night

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor

Mariano Morales, piano, composer, arranger

Members of PIKANTE Trio: Justin Bransford, bass, Diego Maestas, drums

GEORGE GERSHWIN Cuban Overture

(1898 – 1937)

Selections from the ballet Who Cares?

“ Strike up the Band”

“Bidin’ My Time”

“ I Got Rhythm”

EDWARD KENNEDY “DUKE” ELLINGTON Duke Ellington! A Medley for Orchestra

(1899 – 1974)

arr. Calvin Custer

e INTERMISSION f

All of the following composed and arranged by:

MARIANO MORALES Afro

(1960 - )

Saturday Night

Cha-Cha-Chá Dulzón (Sweet Cha-cha-chá)

RUTVA (Samba) (Pikante Trio)

Bomba Sabrosa (Pikante Trio)

Fantasy on a Theme by Noro Morales (piano solo)

Rumba Abierta

July 29 • 7:00 pm

Walt Dear & Family present

Community Concert Hall, FLC

Kennebec Wealth Management and the Point 92.9 FM present

Heart & Soul

Guillermo Figueroa, conductor Néstor Torres, flute

f

This concert is dedicated to the memory of past board presidents, John Anderson, Mary Jane Clark, and Ann Flatten.

f

Symphony No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38, “Spring” (1810 – 1856)

ROBERT SCHUMANN

Andante un poco maestoso – Allegro molto vivace

Larghetto

Scherzo: Molto vivace

Allegro animato e grazioso e INTERMISSION f

July 30 • 5:00 pm

MARIANO MORALES

Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1960 - )

Néstor Torres, flute

Danzón No. 2 (1950 - )

ARTURO MÁRQUEZ

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The Community Foundation acts as a hub and spoke of investment in our local nonprofits.

We share grants, expertise, and education with nonprofit organizations that are making a difference in our community.

The Community Foundation facilitated $3.96 million in grants in 2022.

Our wheels are turning to ensure our region is a great place to live, work, and play.

Ensure that Music in the Mountains goes on

We make it easy to give.

...and your support matters!

Enhance your Festival experience with benefits and privileges when you make a donation. Your contribution also guarantees the future of Music in the Mountains and helps fund local music education programming.

Your generous support makes a difference. For over 35 years, Music in the Mountains has been presenting artistically innovative concerts and events featuring world-renowned musicians in the enchanted setting of the San Juan Mountains. Your contributions help sustain the unique experience and programming that is the hallmark of Music in the Mountains.

Join the Music in the Mountains family now!

ONLINE: www.MusicintheMountains.com

BY CHECK: Payable to Music in the Mountains can be sent to P.O. Box 3751, Durango, CO 81302

STOCK GIFTS: Support the Festival by donating appreciated securities such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Gifts of appreciated securities generally entitle donors to an income tax deduction for securities’ full market value. Such gifts also enable donors to avoid capital gains taxes that would otherwise be due upon a sale.

PLANNED GIFTS

Consider joining your friends and fellow supporters of Music in the Mountains by making a planned gift that supports the long-term continuity and viability of the Festival. There are a number of planned gift options that can be employed to fit your goals and ability to support Music in the Mountains. Making a planned gift is such an important way to help assure that the Festival and all of our educational programs will be there for future supporters, patrons, and generations of students. The Board has created a “Music in the Mountains Endowment” so that contributors can become members of the Encore Society with a beginning contribution of as little as $500. Consider, for instance, making a contribution to the endowment as a memorial to a loved one. This is simply one of many possible gift options, including a bequest in your will. Many options have tax incentives. If you would like more information on how to join the Encore Society and support Music in the Mountains, please contact us.

Donor Benefits

for years to come...

The Benefits

with the Conductor Summer Soiree (Special Donor Event) Closing Night Reception

HOUSING MUSICIANS

Open your guest home, guest bedroom, or condominium to the Music in the Mountains musicians and help us continue to offer our exceptional classical music festival to our region! Donated housing for musicians is a key element in the production of Music in the Mountains. As one of the Festival’s largest costs, we rely on the generosity of area property owners to offset our housing expenses. Ticket sales only cover about 20 percent of the production costs for our Festival. The value of your donation will be recognized in the Festival program and counts toward your individual donor benefits, including complimentary concert tickets. No need to worry… Music in the Mountains handles the professional cleaning of housing units after musicians depart.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Music in the Mountains is dependent on a large team of dedicated volunteers. We encourage you to lend your time and talents and be a part of this unique and wonderful experience. Volunteer opportunities include ushering, office administration, joining the Music in the Mountains Education Committee, and working on special events.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS

Join an elite group of sponsoring businesses in helping to present this world-renowned Festival. Sponsors of Music in the Mountains reach an affluent, influential, and sophisticated audience. In addition, through our prominent recognition opportunities, sponsors are able to further develop their image of good corporate citizenship and arts patronage. A sponsorship package can be tailored to meet the unique needs of your organization. Music in the Mountains is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. All contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

For more information on all the ways to give, please contact us at 970.385.6820

Artistic Director

Passion and Excellence

Guillermo Figueroa

Festival Artistic Director & Conductor, violin, viola

Since 2007, Figueroa has delighted audiences as Festival Music Director and Conductor. He is the Music Director of the Santa Fe Symphony. He is also the Music Director of the Lynn Philharmonic at the prestigious Lynn Conservatory in Florida. Previously, he served as Music Director and Conductor of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra for ten seasons, and is also the former Music Director of the Puerto Rico Symphony. He has appeared as guest conductor with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, New Jersey, Memphis, Phoenix, Iceland, and Mexico, working with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma, Placido Domingo, and Pepe Romero. Figueroa is a renowned violinist and violist. He was a founding member of the world-renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and for ten years was the concertmaster of the New York City Ballet. Figueroa has given the world premieres of four violin concertos written for him. His recording of Ernesto Cordero’s violin concertos received a Latin Grammy nomination in 2012. Hailing from Puerto Rico’s most distinguished musical family, he studied at the Conservatory of Music in San Juan and at The Juilliard School.

2023 Festival Musicians

Guillermo Figueroa

Festival Artistic

Director and Conductor

The Conductor’s Chair is supported, in part, by the Frederick C. and Margaret E. Henn Conductor’s Fund

Orchestra

Violin I

Emmanuelle Boisvert, Concertmaster

The Concertmaster chair is supported by the Tiffany Haugen Memorial Endowment: a gift of Bob Haugen in memory of Tiffany Haugen

Erin Schreiber

Hannah Ji

Leslie Shank, Concertmaster Emerita

William Hunt

Carlos Elias

Emily Cole (week 2 & 3)

Petros Karapetyan (week 2 & 3)

Carla Kountoupes (week 1)

Nicolle Maniaci (week 1)

Violin II

Oleg Sulyga, Principal

Jacqueline Audas

Valory Hight

Valerie Turner

Richard Silvers

Luke Santonastaso

Ruxandra Marquardt (week 1 & 2)

Viola

Alejandro Valdepeñas, Principal

Dmitry Kustanovich

Philip Kramp

Colin Garner

Rachel Daniels

Rebecca Barnes

Stephanie Block (week 1 & 2)

Cello

Christopher French, Principal

The Cello Principal’s Chair is supported by the Mary L. Whitson Fund

Jan Simiz

Sarah Lewis

Maria Simiz

Keira Fullerton

Annamarie Reader

Double Bass

William Clay, Principal

Boris Astafiev

William Gowen

Flute

Leslie Fagan, Principal

Sarah Frisof

Gloria Yun

Piccolo

Gloria Yun

Oboe

Martin Hébert, Principal

Timothy Daniels (week 2 & 3)

Rebecca Ray (week 2 & 3)

Abigail Hawthorne (week 1)

Amelia Van Howe (week 1)

English Horn

Timothy Daniels (week 2)

Abigail Hawthorne (week 1)

Clarinet

James Shields, Principal (week 2 & 3)

Sergei Vassiliev, Principal (week 1)

Deborah Fabian

Eric Anderson

Bass Clarinet

Eric Anderson

Bassoon

Laura Leisring, Principal

Marissa Olegario

Contrabassoon

Stephanie Magnus (week 3)

Horn

Nikolette LaBonte, Principal

Sheryl Hadeka

Matthew Wilson

Joel Ockerman

Reese Farnell

Trumpet

Kyle Sherman, Principal

Cody McClarty

Rebecca Ortiz

Betsy Bright

Trombone

Sasha Romero, Principal (week 2 & 3)

Steve Peterson, Principal (week 1)

Byron Herrington

Bass Trombone

Jennifer Hinkle

Tuba

Dave Morgan

Timpani

John Pennington

Percussion

Jonathan Latta

James Doyle

Ryder Shelley

Derek Sawyer

Harp

Katherine Ventura

Keyboard/Harpsichord

Linda Mack Berven

Piano

Andrea Arese-Elias

Librarian

Sheryl Hadeka

Librarian Assistant

Amelia Van Howe

Orchestra Manager

Sheryl Hadeka

Personnel Manager

Joel Ockerman

Stage Manager

J.D. Mathis

Guest Conductors

Richard Kaufman

Instrumental Soloists

Erin Schreiber

Néstor Torres

Mariano Morales

Jason Vieaux

Aviram Reichert

Tony DeSare

Philippe Quint

Chamber Music

The Texas Guitar Quartet

Emmanuelle Boisvert

Erin Schreiber

Hannah Ji

Jaqueline Audas

Alejandro Valdepeñas

Guillermo Figueroa

Christopher French

Jan Simiz

William Clay

Martin Hébert

Timothy Daniels

James Shields

Deborah Fabian

Laura Leisring

Marissa Olegario

Nikolette LaBonte

Matthew Wilson

2023 Festival Guest Artists & Soloists

TONY DESARE, piano, vocals

Named Rising Star Male Vocalist in Downbeat magazine, DeSare has won critical and popular acclaim for his concert performances throughout North America and abroad. From jazz clubs to Carnegie Hall to Las Vegas and headlining major symphony orchestras, DeSare has brought his fresh take on old school classics around the globe. He has appeared on the CBS Early Show, National Public Radio, A Prairie Home Companion, and the Today Show. He has been a featured guest artist with over 100 symphony orchestras, including the Cleveland Symphony, New York Pops, San Francisco, Houston, and Chicago Symphonies. He is an accomplished composer with song writing and broadcast commercials to his credit as well as scoring five films. He won first place in the USA Songwriting Contest in 2014. His music sounds fresh and contemporary while paying homage to the Great American Songbook.

RICHARD KAUFMAN, Guest Conductor

Kaufman has devoted much of his musical life to conducting and supervising music for film and television productions, as well as conducting film and classical music in concert and on recordings. Kaufman is in his nineteenth season with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra film series, CSO at the Movies, holds the permanent title of Pops Conductor Laureate with the Dallas Symphony, and was recently given the permanent title of Principal Pops Conductor Laureate with Pacific Symphony. Kaufman regularly appears as a guest conductor with orchestras throughout the world. The 2023-24 concert season includes return engagements with The Edmonton Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, among others. Kaufman received the 1993 Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Performance category. He has conducted for a who’s-who of performers including John Denver, Andy Williams, Nanette Fabray, the Beach Boys, and Amy Grant. He joined the music department of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and for almost two decades, supervised music for all of MGM’s television and animation projects, receiving two Emmy nominations. He has also coached various actors in musical roles, including Jack Nicholson, Dudley Moore, and Tom Hanks.

MARIANO MORALES, composer, arranger, piano

The artistic life of composer, arranger, music director, and instrumentalist Mariano Morales encompasses a wide spectrum of genres. He is a successful contemporary composer, a jazz/ Latin jazz and salsa arranger, and a pianist/violinist. He is considered one of the most eclectic Latin musicians of his generation. He has performed and recorded with leading pop artists and has toured internationally with numerous Latin jazz ensembles including his own ensemble “Pikante”. He has performed as a guest pianist with the New Mexico, Houston, and Puerto Rico Symphonies, and at numerous jazz festivals. He has arranged music for big bands to symphony orchestras and has composed many chamber works for a large variety of ensembles. He has received numerous commissions and is in demand at workshops and master classes in composition and arranging. He has been a professor at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and the University of Puerto Rico, among others. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music/jazz composition and arranging from Berklee College of Music and a master’s and PhD in music composition from Indiana University.

One of the world’s most versatile and imaginative artists, Philippe Quint is internationally recognized for his unique approach to classical repertoire, championing new music, rediscovering neglected works, and creating a new format of docu-concert experience: multimedia journeys about the lives of Astor Piazzola and Charlie Chaplin. An active chamber musician, Philippe has appeared at the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Aspen, Rome, Lincoln Center, and Chatauqua festivals, among others. He is constantly in demand and regularly appears with major orchestras and conductors worldwide. Winner of the “Ambassador of Arts” presented by Brownstone and Gateway Organizations at the United Nations, he is the first classical artist to star in the lead role in the independent film Downtown Express. His live performances and interviews have been broadcast on television as well as radio stations nationwide. His awardwinning discography includes a large variety of rediscovered treasures along with popular works from standard repertoire. Quint studied at the Special Music School for the Gifted and earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School. He plays on a 1708 “Ruby”

2023 Festival Guest Artists & Soloists

AVIRAM REICHERT, piano

Reichert won the Bronze Medal at the 10th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997. He is a frequent soloist with the leading orchestras in his native country, Israel. He has had numerous concert engagements in the Far East, performing with the Tokyo Symphony, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony, and the Korean Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has also performed with numerous orchestras in the United States. Reichert’s past season included performances of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 with the Tacoma Symphony, and Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on Theme of Paganini with the Springfield (MA) Symphony Orchestra. He has had numerous appearances at festivals in the US and the Far East. Reichert is a sought-after teacher who is frequently invited to conduct masterclasses in Japan, Korea, South Africa, Israel and the United States. He is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Seoul National University, College of Music.

ERIN SCHREIBER, violin

Schreiber joined the St. Louis Symphony as Assistant Concertmaster in September 2008, at the age of 20. She has appeared in recital throughout the U.S., as well as in London, Sweden, Italy, and Germany, and toured with jazz legend Chris Botti in Shanghai, Mexico City, and Eastern Europe. She made her St. Louis Symphony solo debut in 2011 and has appeared as a soloist with the Richardson, Gateway, Alton, and Missouri Symphony Orchestras. In the summers, she has performed at Festival Mozaic in California, Olympic Music Festival in Washington, and for the past six years, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in Idaho. Schreiber attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

THE TEXAS GUITAR QUARTET

Formed in 2008, The Texas Guitar Quartet has been hailed as “Impeccable in every respect” by Classical Guitar Magazine. Throughout the United States and the world, audiences have embraced the quartet for their daring programs and dazzling virtuosity. Recent highlights include performances for the Encuentro Internacional de Guitarra 2016 (Nicaragua), Victoria Bach Festival, Guitar Foundation of America Convention, Festival Internacional del Noreste (Mexico), and Texas Music Festival. The quartet has presented a series of concerts in historic cathedrals along the Camino de Santiago, Spain. The group has pushed the boundaries of the guitar quartet medium by premiering new works by Peter Lieuwen, Mark Anthony Cruz, and John Truitt and creating daring arrangements of orchestral works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Ravel. The TxGQ has been featured in concertos with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Bach, and Nicaraguan Youth Symphony, Sam Houston State University Symphony Orchestra, and the Abilene Philharmonic. The TxGQ is comprised of Isaac Bustos, Joseph Palmer, Jay Kacherski, and Alejandro Montiel.

NÉSTOR TORRES, flute

Born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Torres was something of a musical prodigy. His father was a piano and vibraphone-playing musician who encouraged Torres to follow his interest in drums. He studied percussion and saxophone before settling on the flute. When the family moved to New York City in the 1970’s, where the elder Torres found some performing success, Néstor was introduced to Tito Puente, whose band he was allowed to sit in on. This eventually led to regular gigs in NYC, while he continued studies at the New England Conservatory of Music and the Berklee College of Music. Torres gained improvisational experience by playing in charanga bands, a style of music that adapted classical instruments into Cuban danzón rhythms. He decided to relocate to Miami in the 1980’s, establishing relationships with leading musicians there, including Gloria Estefan. He went on to earn a Grammy nomination in 1999 for Treasures of the Heart, and a Latin Grammy Award, for Best Pop Instrumental Album for This Side of Paradise in 2001.

JASON VIEAUX, guitar

Vieaux began his musical training in Buffalo, NY at the age of eight, after which he continued his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1992, he was awarded the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Guitar Competition First Prize, the event’s youngest winner. He has performed as a concerto soloist with over 100 orchestras, both in the US and around the world. As a touring performer, he enjoys repeated invitations with distinguished series including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. He has appeared in major festivals such as Ravinia, Caramoor, and Grand Teton, and has an extensive discography collaborating with many renowned artists. In 2011 he co-founded the guitar department at the Curtis Institute of Music. He has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music for 25 years. In 2012 he launched the Jason Vieaux School of Classical Guitar with ArtistWorks, a technological interface that provides one-on-one online study with Vieaux with students around the world.

2023

Festival Musicians

ERIC ANDERSON, clarinet, bass clarinet

Eric Anderson enjoys a multifaceted career as a solo, chamber music, and orchestral musician. He has held positions with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, Richmond (VA) and Omaha Symphonies and performed as a guest musician with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. During the summers, Eric has performed at the Aspen, Britten-Pears, Colorado, Grant Park, Kent Blossom, Round Top, Spoleto USA, and Tanglewood music festivals. An avid chamber musician, Eric has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, the Chicago Cultural Center, Ravinia’s Bennet Gordon Hall, and live on New York City’s WQXR. A dedicated teacher, he has served as an instructor at the State College of Florida, Oberlin College, and Yale University. Eric received bachelor’s degrees in music and English literature from Oberlin College and Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music.

ANDREA ARESE-ELIAS, piano

Arese-Elías was born in Cordoba, Argentina, and has performed extensively as a solo and chamber musician in Argentina, Mexico, El Salvador, Japan, Bulgaria, South Korea, and the United States. She has taught piano at the National University of Cordoba, University of Cincinnati Preparatory Department, and teaching as the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has also been part of the piano faculty at Colorado Mesa University, where she was a founding member of the Piano Trio “Las Americas.” She frequently performs with her husband, violinist Carlos Elias as part of the Elias Duo. Together they made their New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 2002. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree with honors from the National University of Cordoba and completed her Master and Doctoral degrees in piano performance from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.

JACQUELINE AUDAS, violin

Audas is currently focused on engaging and empowering communities through classical music. Her belief in the power of music to create bonds between people inspired her to found the non-profit organization Classical C.A.R.M.A. (Concerts Aiming to Raise Money & Awareness). As its artistic director, she helps to produce and perform in benefit concert series which fundraise for organizations aiding those in need, bring awareness to obstacles faced by underserved populations, and promote classical music education through outreach concerts. In the past few years, Audas has performed as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician in Israel, Germany, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, and the United States. She recently graduated with her Master’s Degree in Violin Performance from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Prior to attending university, she studied with the late Arkady Fomin, Music in the Mountains’ Conservatory Director. She currently works with Vadim Gluzman at Johns Hopkins’ Peabody Institute.

BORIS ASTAFIEV, bass

Astafiev is currently Adjunct Professor of Bass at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1998. Prior to that, he was a member of the Columbus Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Moscow Philharmonic, which he joined at age 19. He also enjoys performing chamber music. He is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory and The Juilliard School.

REBECCA BARNES, viola

Barnes joined the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2016. Prior to that she held a temporary appointment with the CSO since 2012. She was an Adjunct Instructor of Viola at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music from 2011-2016. Prior to joining the CSO, she was a violist with the Louisville Orchestra. She received her Bachelor of Music degree and completed graduate studies at the CCM, and was a fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival.

LINDA MACK BERVEN, keyboard, harpsichord, pre-concert lecturer

Mack Berven was a long-time Professor of Music at Fort Lewis College. She currently serves as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Durango Choral Society, which has twice been awarded the Chorus America Alice Parker/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. Mack Berven also conducts the Durango Women’s Choir and is a former Music Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Her appearances as a conductor, pianist, and harpsichordist have included the San Juan Symphony, Fort Lewis College faculty recitals, Third Avenue Arts Recital Series, Showcase Concert Series, and the Durango Bach Festival. Mack Berven has conducted choirs and orchestras at Carnegie Hall in 2010 and 2018, as well as in Prague, Greece, Zagreb, Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Linz. She has prepared numerous choral works for the Music in the Mountains Festival through the years and has served as pre-concert lecturer and keyboard performer since 2012. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Illinois.

2023 Festival Musicians

STEPHANIE BLOCK, viola

Block is a Chicago-born violist and joined the Sarasota Orchestra in 2023 as their Acting Principal Viola. She has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician and gave the U.S. premiere of Alejandro Cardona’s Sweet Tijuana: Danzas Fronterizas for Viola and Orchestra with the New Juilliard Ensemble. An alumna of the New World Symphony, she has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. She was featured on PBS NewsHour and appeared on PBS American Masters. Block has performed and toured with the Amernet String Quartet and is an artist at the Sitka Music Festival. She also has a passion for jazz music and performed with Wynton Marsalis at Dizzy’s Jazz Club in New York as part of Daniel Chmielinski’s Four by Four. A pediatric cancer survivor, she was a headline speaker for the Miami Cancer Institute’s Inspire You and is an inaugural ambassador for the Histiocytosis Association.

EMMANUELLE BOISVERT, violin, concertmaster

Following her tenure as a member of the Cleveland Orchestra, she was welcomed in 1988 as the first and youngest woman ever to be named concertmaster of a major orchestra, serving 23 years as the Detroit Symphony Concertmaster. She is currently Associate Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony, while performing as a soloist in diverse concerto repertoire. As a founding member of the St. Clair Trio, Boisvert’s artistry as a chamber musician places her in demand as artist-teacher in residence at such venues a Seattle String Project, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Wayne State University, Center for Creative Studies, National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, and the Emmy award-winning All-Star Orchestra, currently broadcasting its third season on PBS. Other guest concertmaster appearances have included Seattle Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Grand Tetons Music Festival. She is an alumna of the Marlboro Music Festival. She holds degrees from the Quebec Conservatoire and The Curtis Institute of Philadelphia.

BETSY BRIGHT, trumpet

Bright has been a member of the Tucson Symphony trumpet section since 2003 and she is also a member of the TSO Brass Quintet, Monsoon Brass, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, and the Tucson Pops Orchestra. Additionally, she has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony, San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, American Wind Symphony, Britt Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, and Bay View Music Festival. She is also a deeply committed trumpet teacher. She has maintained a private trumpet studio since 1997 and she is the founder and director of Tucson Brass Workshop. Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, she studied at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA. She graduated summa cum laude in 2003 with a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance and a minor in composition. Betsy is married to TSO principal tuba, David Morgan.

WILLIAM CLAY, bass

Originally from Colorado, Clay has held the position of principal double bass of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 1995. Before arriving in north Texas, he was principal bass of la Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon (Spain) and was a charter member of the New World Symphony. As a soloist he has performed with the Fort Worth, New World, Colorado and Metropolitan State University Symphonies. An active chamber musician, he is a member of the Board of Spectrum Chamber Music Society and has performed with a variety of ensembles including Mount Vernon Music, Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth and Chamber Music International. He has performed as guest with the Oregon, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas Symphonies. He has also performed with other music festivals including the Crested Butte Music Festival and the Colorado Music Festival. He holds the Master of Music degree from Indiana University and the Bachelor of Arts from Metropolitan State University.

EMILY COLE, violin

Cole joined the Oregon Symphony in 2011. An avid chamber musician, she is a member of the Mousai Remix string quartet with fellow Oregon Symphony musicians. She has also performed locally with Third Angle Ensemble, Fear No Music, 45th Parallel, and Northwest New Music. During the summer months, Emily has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival, The Seattle Opera, and The Apollo Music Festival. She is on the faculty of Lewis & Clark College and coaches chamber musicians with Portland Summer Ensembles and Seattle’s Music Northwest. She earned her Master of Music from the University of North Texas, where she held a teaching fellowship. She received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Austin.

RACHEL DANIELS, viola

Daniels holds viola positions in the Las Colinas and Wichita Falls Orchestras, and is a former member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with the Fort Worth Symphony, Dallas Chamber Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Tulsa Symphony, and New World Symphony. As a chamber musician, Rachel was a member of the resident piano quintet aboard the Holland America cruise ship line and has performed in masterclasses for members of the Dover, Brentano, Jerusalem and Quatuor Ébène string quartets. Rachel was a fellow at the Colorado College Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival USA, Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, and the National Orchestral Institute. As a trained Suzuki teacher, Rachel balances her performing career with an active private studio. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music from the Rice University Shepherd School of Music.

2023 Festival Musicians

TIMOTHY DANIELS, oboe, English horn

Daniels has held the English horn and section oboe chair with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since the fall of 2021. Prior to that, he held the same position with the Kansas City Symphony, with which he was a featured soloist on Aaron Copland’s Quiet City. He has been a guest performer with numerous orchestras including the San Francisco, New World, and Memphis Symphonies as well as the Metropolitan Opera and IRIS Orchestra. He has held fellowships at the Aspen Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, National Repertory Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival of Japan, and Spoleto Festival USA. He holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Juilliard School, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Daniels is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he studied under the late Daniel Stolper.

JAMES DOYLE, percussion

Doyle is based in the Pacific Northwest where he serves on the faculty at the University of Puget Sound and performs with orchestras and new music ensembles throughout Seattle, Bellevue, and Olympia. He is a member of Striking Music, a Seattle percussion and multimedia ensemble, and tours internationally with the U.S. and Japan-based ensemble, Apricity Trio. As a soloist and multi-discipline collaborator, he has performed throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia, with recent appearances on the Seattle Symphony’s Octave9 Series, the Nakanojo Biennale (Japan), and Artist-in-Residencies at Gunma University in Maebashi, Japan. Before relocating to Washington, Doyle served on the faculty at Adams State University and performed throughout Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. Prior to his tenure in Colorado, he was principal percussionist with the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

CARLOS ELIAS, violin

Elias is currently Professor of Music and Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra at Cedarville University in Ohio. He has performed in solo recitals and in orchestras in the United States, El Salvador, Argentina, Bulgaria, Japan, and Korea, and has represented El Salvador at the World Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Lorin Maazel. Before joining Cedarville in 2013, he was the Director of Strings and Orchestra at Colorado Mesa University. In addition, he was Concertmaster of the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Symphony in the Valley in Glenwood Springs.  He and his wife, pianist Andrea Arese-Elias, gave their New York debut at Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall in 2002. He holds degrees from Biola University, the University of Cincinnati’s CollegeConservatory of Music, and Duquesne University.

DEBORAH FABIAN, clarinet

Fabian joined the clarinet faculty at the University of North Texas in the fall of 1990. She is concertmaster of the Dallas Wind Symphony and is the principal clarinet of the Plano Symphony Orchestra. Fabian has also been featured as a soloist with other ensembles, including the Texas Chamber Orchestra. She has performed frequently with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Opera Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. In demand as a teacher and clinician, several of her former students have gained international recognition for their achievements in music competitions as well as positions in major symphony orchestras. Fabian earned a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance and Music Education from the University of Buffalo and a Master of Music in Clarinet Performance/Woodwinds from Michigan State University.

LESLIE FAGAN, flute

Fagan is currently Assistant Principal Flute of the Nashville Symphony. Before moving to Nashville, she was Assistant Principal Flute with the Omaha Symphony from 2007-16. For many years prior, she was an active freelancer and teacher in the Chicago area and was a regular substitute for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, participating in their 2009 Asia Tour. While in Chicago, she was also a substitute/extra player for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Formerly a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, she performed with that organization at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. She has been an interim studio instructor for flute majors at Roosevelt University in Chicago and is currently Acting Associate Professor of Flute at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. She holds a Doctor of Music in Flute Performance from Northwestern University.

REESE FARNELL, horn

Farnell is a free-lance horn artist in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. In 2017 he was Principal Horn at the Sichuan Symphony. He earned his Bachelor of Music at the University of Texas, Austin, and a Master of Musical Arts in Horn Performance from Yale University.

CHRISTOPHER FRENCH, cello

The seventh in a “full octave of musical siblings,” French is the associate principal cello of the Houston Symphony. Before joining the orchestra in 1986, he held titled positions in both the Shreveport and Honolulu Symphonies. He has appeared in concerto performances with the Houston Symphony and in the Chamber Players series, Da Camera of Houston, Greenbriar Consortium, and the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego. He teaches orchestral repertoire at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and teaches cello to younger students, including coaching the Youth Orchestra of the Americas as they prepare for their international tours.

SARAH FRISOF, flute

Currently the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Maryland, Frisof serves as principal flute with the Dallas Wind Symphony. Frisof has attended the Verbier, Tanglewood, Pacific, and Aspen Music Festivals, and she has substituted with the Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Detroit, Boston, Kansas City, and Fort Worth Symphonies. She was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Kobe International Flute Competition and the 2nd prizewinner of the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition and the Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition. She has maintained a private studio for over 20 years, and her interests in humanitarian outreach and education have taken her to Zimbabwe and Brazil. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Michigan and she also received degrees from The Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music.

KEIRA FULLERTON, cello

Fullerton has been assistant principal cello of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 2008 and was an adjunct professor of cello at the University of Texas at Arlington from 2015-2020. In the spring of 2023, she served as visiting cello professor for six weeks at Baylor University. Before joining the FWSO, she held the position of assistant principal with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in Winnipeg, Manitoba for three seasons. She has also performed as an extra musician with the Houston, Pittsburgh, and Seattle Symphonies. She spent three summers as a participant in the Crested Butte Music Festival and has also performed with the Colorado Music Festival during the 2017-2019 summer seasons. A native of Ohio, Fullerton moved to Toronto, Ontario at age eleven, where she studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She then earned her Bachelor of Music at Rice University and received her Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

COLIN GARNER, viola

A native of Littleton, CO, Garner has been a member of the Dallas Opera Orchestra viola section since 2008. He is also a regular extra violist with the Fort Worth Symphony. Previous positions include associate principal viola of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and principal of the West Texas Symphony and Abilene Philharmonic. While playing with the West Texas Symphony, he was also the violist in the Permian Basin String Quartet. Additionally, Garner participated in the Crested Butte Music Festival during the summers of 2015-16. He received undergraduate degrees in viola performance and music education from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Master of Music from the University of Southern California.

WILLIAM GOWEN, bass

Gowen is currently the principal bassist of the Dallas Opera Orchestra. He has won numerous awards and honors including the first prize of the 2013 Tuesday Musical Club Young Artist Competition in San Antonio. Gowen has also given a solo performance of Paganini “Moses Variations” in Carnegie Hall. At the age of nineteen, Gowen became the youngest member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with PianoTexas and performed Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet. He graduated with an artist diploma from Texas Christian University. Additionally, he received a fellowship to attend the National Orchestra Institute summer music festival in Maryland. He was a recipient of the Emerson Scholarship to attend the Interlochen Arts Camp. He has performed in master classes with several notable double bassists such as Gary Karr, Lawrence Hurst, Paul Ellison, Timothy Cobb, Jack Budrow, and Jeffrey Turner.

SHERYL HADEKA, horn, librarian, orchestra manager

Hadeka began her role as the assistant librarian of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 2022. Hadeka has formerly held library roles at the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Santa Fe Opera, and the Eastman School of Music. As a horn player, Hadeka is 2nd horn in the Pittsburgh Opera and also performs with the Music in the Mountains orchestra. She has formerly held playing positions in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, and Louisiana Philharmonic. She grew up in Vermont and received a bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music in Horn Performance and Music Theory at Southern Methodist University.

ABIGAIL HAWTHORNE, oboe, English horn

Hawthorne holds the Oboe II / English horn position with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra as well as the McKinney and the Allen Philharmonic Orchestras. She held the third oboe and English horn position with the Wichita (KS) Symphony Orchestra for the 2017-2018 season, performed with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra in the July 2022, 2018, and 2016 seasons, and has participated in the American Institute of Musical Studies (Graz, Austria), Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, and Sarasota Music Festival, among others. Hawthorne is also an associate musician with The Dallas Opera and has performed with the Dallas Winds, Symphoria (Syracuse NY) and the Fort Worth, New World, Plano, and the Richardson Symphony Orchestras. Hawthorne graduated with a Master of Music in Oboe Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music. She maintains a studio of middle to high school oboists. She also works as administrative manager with the Orchestra of New Spain, a Dallas-based ensemble specializing in Spanish baroque and contemporary Hispanic music.

2023 Festival Musicians

MARTIN HÉBERT, oboe

Hébert was appointed principal oboist with the Oregon Symphony in 2006. He has held that same position with symphony orchestras in Tampa, Mexico City, Savannah, and Honolulu. He has served as guest principal oboe with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony, among others. Hébert has participated in many summer Festivals including Crested Butte in Colorado, Lyric Opera Cleveland, and Grant Park Festival in Chicago. As a featured soloist, Hébert has performed frequently with ensembles throughout North America. In November, 2021, he played the Bach Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin with the Oregon Symphony. Hébert has played with opera, ballet, and chamber ensembles throughout the United States. In Oregon, he has performed with Chamber Music Northwest, Portland Opera, and the Oregon Bach Festival. He can be heard on recordings with the Oregon Symphony on the PentaTone label, the Atlanta Symphony on Telarc, and the Mexico City Philharmonic on Decca. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Hébert attended the Cleveland Institute of Music.

BYRON HERRINGTON, trombone

Herrington has performed with and occasionally conducted the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra for 30 years until 2011. He holds a degree from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied with Dr. Irvin Wagner. Herrington is a founding member of the New Mexico Philharmonic and is principal trombone with the Santa Fe Symphony.

VALORY HIGHT, violin

Virginia native Hight, although classically trained, has collaborated with artists of many different genres including the Dallas String Quartet, Grammywinning gospel artist Kirk Franklin, and contemporary Christian singer Lauren Daigle. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and David Geffen Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center, the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, and Rudolfinum in Prague. She has performed with prominent musicians including Paul Neubauer, Peter Wiley, Peter Serkin, Dawn Upshaw, and the Escher Quartet, among others. She currently tours with pianist and composer Eric Genuis, whose non-profit, “Concerts for Hope”, performs in prisons, schools, nursing homes, and homeless shelters across the country. Hight is on faculty at Zhen Music and Arts Institute and Rockwall School of Music in Dallas. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bard College and Conservatory and completed her master’s degree at Southern Methodist University. Currently, she is in the Performer’s Diploma program as a recipient of the Meadow’s Artistic Scholarship at SMU.

JENNIFER HINKLE, bass trombone

Hinkle’s adaptability to different musical styles has led to a performing career with a myriad of ensembles, from Broadway shows including Wicked, Aladdin, and Beautiful, to the Afro-Bop Alliance Big Band, and to the Oregon, Seattle, Spokane, and New Haven Symphonies. She has also performed with drummer/composer Dan Pugach’s Grammy-nominated ensemble Nonet. She has given solo recitals and led clinics and studio classes at colleges, elementary and high schools, and industry symposia across the country. Her work spans not only musical genres but other artistic media (art, literature, public speaking, etc.). As a founding member of Calliope Brass, she has had a hand in its administrative operations and performances, but it’s her original storylines, artwork, and collaboration with puppet-makers from Sesame Street that have been integral to the development and production of Calliope’s sought-after educational programs.

WILLIAM HUNT, violin

Hunt performed in the first violin section of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for 43 years. Currently, he serves as concertmaster of the Penfield Symphony Orchestra, a position held since 1988. Previous posts include the Filarmonica de las Americas, Canary Islands Opera Festival Orchestra, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Fredonia Chamber Players, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and concertmaster of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. In addition to several appearances as soloist with the Penfield Symphony Orchestra, Hunt has also appeared as guest artist with the Cincinnati Community Orchestra, Fredonia Bach and Beyond Festival, Society for Chamber Music (Rochester), and Madrigalia. He holds music degrees from the University of Cincinnati, the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Rochester’s William E. Simon School of Business Administration.

HANNAH JI, violin

Ji joined the first violin section of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 2020. She began her musical studies at the age of seven in South Korea. As a soloist, Ji’s performances have been publicized on NPR, PBS, and other radio stations. She has performed at The Kennedy Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, David Geffen Hall, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall and A. Mickiewicz University Hall in Poland. As a chamber musician, Ji has collaborated with renowned groups and artists and has been an active participant in The Juilliard School’s ChamberFest and Focus! Festival, which features U.S. and world premieres. She was a contemporary ensemble artist at Atlantic Music Festival. She has served as Concertmaster and Principal Second at The Spoleto Festival USA, YMF Debut Orchestra, The Colburn School, The Juilliard School Orchestra and Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Ji has held several Artist Faculty positions at numerous conservatories and institutes. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the The Curtis Institute of Music, a Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and an Artist Diploma from The Colburn School.

PETROS KARAPETYAN, violin

Originally from Yerevan, Armenia, Karapetyan joined the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in 2019. He is a former member of the Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra, and has also played with the Houston Symphony, the IRIS Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Sinaloa de las Artes, and Symphoria in Syracuse, NY. Petros has had fellowships at Tanglewood Music Center, Pacific Music Festival, Lake George Music Festival, and Colorado College Summer Music Festival. As an educator, he teaches at the Chamber Music Institute for Young Musicians in Stamford, CT and has previously given master classes at the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes and the Orquesta Sinfónica Esperanza Azteca in Mexico. He holds a Bachelor of Music with Performance Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, a Bachelor of Arts in Business from the University of Rochester, and a Master of Music from Rice University.

CARLA KOUNTOUPES, violin

Kountoupes is a member of The Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Opera Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and Piazzolla da Camera Piano Trio. She has toured and performed professionally with orchestras and chamber ensembles in Central America, Taiwan, Germany, and all over the United States, including as a member of the New Century Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco and the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra. She is currently on the faculty at the New Mexico School for the Arts. She was awarded Music Teacher of the Year by the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) of New Mexico and received the Santa Fe Public Schools’ 2017 Teachers Who Inspire Award. She is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College and holds a Master of Music in Music Teaching. Inherited from her grandfather, her violin was made in the 1740s.

PHILIP

KRAMP, viola

Kramp currently freelances in the BaltimoreWashington, DC area. He frequently performs with the Baltimore Symphony, Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is also a regular substitute with the St. Louis Symphony. Prior to moving to the DC area, he performed with the Kansas City Symphony. As a chamber musician, he has attended the Marlboro, Yellow Barn, and Ravinia Festivals, among others, where he collaborated with great artists including members of the Guarneri and Juilliard String Quartets. Kramp studied at the Curtis Institute and New England Conservatory.

DMITRY KUSTANOVICH, viola

Hailing from Worcester, MA, Kustanovich joined the viola section of the Fort Worth Symphony in 2005. He has also performed with the Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Seattle Symphonies, touring much of the US and Europe. He graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music as a violist. He also received a bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music as a violinist.

NIKOLETTE LABONTE, horn

LaBonte is the Associate/Assistant/Utility Horn of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She previously held a position with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and served as Acting Principal Horn of the Fort Worth Symphony from 20192021. She also currently serves as the Instructor of Natural Horn at Eastman School of Music, and is the Assistant Artistic Director of the Kendall Betts Horn Camp. She has been a guest lecturer at institutions including Baylor University and the University of Texas at Austin, and is an avid chamber musician. She has performed with orchestras across the country including the New York Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, and others. She is an award-winning soloist and was a participant in the prestigious ARD International Competition in 2021, the only American horn player invited. She has presented performances and lectures as a member of the International Horn Society. LaBonte received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music and is currently pursuing her doctoral studies.

JONATHAN LATTA, percussion

Latta has been at University of the Pacific since 2014 and has served in leadership roles in the Conservatory of Music, Office of the President, and Enrollment Management. He has also maintained an active performing career including the Stockton Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, and Stockton Concert Band. Latta was formerly Director of Percussion Studies at Fort Lewis College. He has performed as a chamber musician in the Durango Chamber Music Festival, the Animas Music Festival, and at the Percussive Arts Society International Conference. In 2019, he performed at Carnegie Hall as a soloist with the University of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Prior to earning his doctorate, he was a member of the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West, where performances included the Tournament of Roses Parade. He received his bachelor’s from the University of the Pacific, his master’s from East Carolina University, and his doctorate from the University of Arizona.

2023 Festival Musicians

LAURA LEISRING, bassoon

Leisring is principal bassoon of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Previously, she served for 14 seasons as principal bassoon in the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra in Spain, where she performed the European Premiere of Ellen TaaffeZwillich’s Concerto for Bassoon. She has also performed with the Milwaukee and Barcelona Symphonies. She studied at The Juilliard School, Mannes College of Music, and the University of North Texas.

SARAH LEWIS, cello

Lewis is in her 14th season with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. She gave the U.S. premiere of Malcolm Forsyth’s Eclectic Suite, for cello and piano. Prior to joining the SPCO, she was a member of the Milwaukee Symphony, and performed as a substitute musician with the Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She has performed solo and chamber recitals in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Twin Cities. She holds degrees from Southern Methodist University and The Juilliard School.

STEPHANIE

MAGNUS, contra bassoon

Equally at home in a performance venue or classroom, Magnus has been an active bassoonist and contrabassoonist in the North Florida region since relocating to Jacksonville in 2016. In addition to regular chamber concerts, she frequently performs with the Jacksonville Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, The Florida Orchestra, and the Coastal Symphony of Georgia. When she is not performing or teaching at Jacksonville University or University of North Florida, she can be found fixing up her historic Springfield home, training for a marathon, or camping with her husband, fellow Jacksonville Symphony cellist Brian Magnus. In addition to a bachelor’s degree from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and a master’s degree from Southern Methodist University, she earned a Master of Music in Musicology and Literature, also from SMU.

NICOLLE MANIACI, violin

Maniaci is Principal Violin II and orchestra personnel manager of The Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. She is also the director of the string program at Bosque School in Albuquerque. She was a member of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra First Violin Section for 11 years and is now a first violinist with the New Mexico Philharmonic. Maniaci is a founding member of the Eleganza String Quartet and Chamisa Chamber Players. She also enjoys performing with the Taos Chamber Music Festival, Chatter, Orchestra of the Duke, and Opera Southwest. She was a sectional coach for the Albuquerque Youth Symphony for 18 years. Maniaci was born in Long Island, New York and moved to New Mexico with her parents in 1974. She grew up in the Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program and received her music degree from the University of New Mexico. She spent her summers studying the violin at various festivals around the country.

CODY MCCLARTY, trumpet

McClarty was appointed to the assistant principal trumpet position of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in May 2018. Prior to this, he served two years as principal trumpet for the Las Colinas, Garland, and the Arlington Symphony Orchestras. He has also performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Chamber Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, and the Breckenridge Music Festival. In the summer of 2014, he was a member of the National Repertory Orchestra. He has also been offered positions with the Air Force Academy Band, the Navy Band, as well as a one-year position with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, McClarty began trumpet studies under his older brother, James McClarty. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from Southern Methodist University.

RUXANDRA MARQUARDT, violin

Romanian-born Marquardt attended the George Enescu School of Music and Conservatory of Music in Bucharest. As a young musician, she won several prizes and medals in international competitions including the AllRomania Prize and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition. She was Principal Second Violin and Concertmaster of the Jacksonville Symphony in Florida and guest Concertmaster with the New Mexico Philharmonic, where she also appeared as soloist. Her other solo performances include appearances with the Bucharest Philharmonic, the Syracuse Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, and Boston Virtuosi, among others. As a chamber musician, she has participated in the Bayreuth, Skaneateles, Eastern, and the Grand Tetons Music Festivals, Serenata Santa Fe, and Santa Fe Opera. She frequently performs in the Abiquiu Music Festival and is a member of the Santa Fe Symphony. Ms. Marquardt is a violin teacher and chamber coach in central New Mexico.

DAVE MORGAN, tuba

Morgan has been Principal Tuba of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra since 2010. Additionally, he is a member of the TSO Brass Quintet, Tucson Pops Orchestra, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, and Monsoon Brass.  He has performed as guest principal tuba with the San Diego Symphony, The Phoenix Symphony, and the Britt Festival Orchestra, and he has participated in the Aspen, Hot Springs, and Bay View Music Festivals. He has been featured as a Guest Soloist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Pops Orchestra, Sierra Vista Symphony, and Arizona Symphonic Winds.  Morgan hails from Vienna, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC. He studied tuba with Michael Bunn (Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra) at the Shenandoah Conservatory; he earned a Bachelor of Music in Tuba Performance in 2003 and minored in bass trombone. He later began graduate work at Carnegie Mellon University.

JOEL OCKERMAN, horn

Ockerman is an active freelance horn player and teacher in Austin. He recently served as acting principal horn of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra and has also frequently performed with numerous ensembles throughout the state of Texas, including the Austin Symphony, Round Rock Symphony, and the United States Air Force Band of the West. Additionally, he has frequently collaborated with the Austin-based New Music ensemble Density512, and has performed on natural horn with the Austin Baroque Orchestra. He received his bachelor’s and doctorate from the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas, Austin.

MARISSA OLEGARIO, bassoon

Olegario actively performs in the US and abroad and is Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has worked with artists from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmoniker, and Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet. She has presented recitals at the International Double Reed Society Conference and other symposia. She was a semi-finalist for the 2016 Matthew Ruggiero International Woodwind Competition and a recipient of the Yale School of Music Alumni Prize. Committed to engaging with her community, she has collaborated in performance with Dance for Parkinson’s, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, and Beyond Foundation’s Meet Me at Maynards community events in Tucson. She has commissioned and premiered works by living composers of diverse backgrounds and enjoys performing in unconventional spaces to reach broader audiences. She holds degrees from Northwestern University, the Yale School of Music, and SUNY Stony Brook.

REBECCA ORTIZ, trumpet

Ortiz has been an avid chamber musician, freelance artist, and private studio teacher over the last 8 years. She frequently plays with many local churches and ensembles to maintain her diversity in freelance performance. She has substituted with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and performed the opening concert for the Women In Classical Music Symposium at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. She has been actively involved in many national and international competitions. She was the first-place winner in the 2022 National Trumpet Competition Small Ensemble Division, and the 2021 Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Brass Solo Division Colorado, among others, and was semi-finalist for the 2022 Roger Voisin Memorial International Trumpet Competition and the National Trumpet Competition graduate solo-division. She received her Bachelor of Music from The University of Texas at Austin and her Master of Music from Southern Methodist University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Trumpet Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Colorado.

JOHN PENNINGTON, timpani

Pennington is an educator, composer, performer, author, producer, and conductor. He is currently a Professor of Music at Augustana College. Pennington is the associate principal timpani with the South Dakota Symphony and is currently a Cultural Envoy for the State Department in the Middle East. With performances on four continents and over twenty-five states, he has performed on Prairie Home Companion and has been a featured performer at four Percussive Arts Society international conventions. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University.

STEVE PETERSON, trombone

Peterson has performed as principal trombone with the San Antonio Symphony since 2016. He has also performed with Dallas, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras.  Steve has taught at Richland College in Dallas, Texas State University San Marcos interim faculty, and is currently adjunct professor of trombone at St. Mary’s University and Trinity University. Steve has performed with many chamber groups including DFW Brass, Bishop Arts Brass, and the Dallas Symphony “Yes” Brass Quintet. Prior to moving to Texas in 2011, Steve played in jazz and commercial ensembles on Princess Cruise lines, which allowed him to travel to Europe, Australia, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean. Peterson is also a videographer and creates many original satirical and documentary videos that can be found on his YouTube channel: stevepetersonproject. He has a Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Music from Southern Methodist University.

2023 Festival Musicians

REBECCA RAY, oboe

Ray is currently principal oboe with the Las Cruces Symphony and the San Juan Symphony, second oboe and English horn in The Santa Fe Symphony, and freelances regularly on oboe and English horn with the New Mexico Philharmonic. Ray’s other freelance groups include Chatter, Opera Southwest, Music at St. John’s Cathedral, and the 505 Winds. Her former positions in music education include Instructor of Oboe and Bassoon at New Mexico State University, Elementary Music Teacher for Las Cruces Public Schools, Director of Bands at the Bosque School in Albuquerque, among others. Currently Ray’s teaching focus is through private instruction and as an active clinician and double reed advocate in local school band programs. She has a studio in uptown Albuquerque, Desert Double Reeds, where she specializes in double reed family instrument repair (NAPBIRT member since 1997). She has degrees from Ithaca College (1994 BM, Oboe Performance and Music Education) and the University of New Mexico (1997 MM, Oboe Performance).

ANNAMARIE READER, cello

Reader grew up in Wichita, Kansas. She has performed with small and large ensembles including the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Mercury Baroque Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony while maintaining a private cello studio of her own in Houston. In recent summers she has enjoyed playing in the Bellingham Music Festival in Washington State and also participating in chamber music festivals in Texas, Colorado, and Utah. She completed her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University Shepherd School of Music, where her primary teachers were Melissa Kraut and Desmond Hoebig.

SASHA ROMERO, trombone

Romero grew up within the acclaimed Texas band system and achieved musical success at a young age. She was appointed principal trombone of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2018. Prior to her appointment at the Met she held the position of principal trombone with the Fort Worth Symphony from 2016 – 2018. She has been a guest trombonist with the New York and London Philharmonic, among others. She was a semi-finalist in the first Brass Division of the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg in 2019. She serves on the trombone faculties of Rutgers University, Mannes School of Music and Bard Conservatory as well as presenting solo recitals and masterclasses at numerous colleges, universities, conservatories, and industry conventions across the US. She has a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance from Baylor University, and a Master of Music from Rice University.

DEREK SAWYER, percussion

Sawyer is a local Durango percussionist who is both a professional musician and a licensed structural engineer. He has lived in the Durango area for the past 3 years. He has been the principal timpanist with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra in Cheyenne, Wyoming for the past 9 years. In addition to this, he has performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Music in the Mountains, Colorado College Summer Music Festival Orchestra, Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Pro Musica, and several other orchestras on the Colorado Front Range. In 2013, he won the Undergraduate Concerto Competition at the CU School of Music performing the Creston Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra. He graduated in 2015 from the University of Colorado, Boulder with degrees in Engineering and Percussion Performance.

LUKE SANTONASTASO, violin

Originally from Los Angeles, Santonastaso works as a musician, educator, and mentor throughout the United States. He currently performs as a section member of the Santa Cruz Symphony, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and the chamber orchestra One Found Sound. He has performed with the New West Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic, Symphony Silicon Valley, and the Fresno Philharmonic, among others. As part of numerous chamber music and masterclass events, Luke has performed alongside world class artists such as Midori Goto, and The Borromeo String Quartet. He has received fellowships with the National Repertory Orchestra, National Orchestral Institute, and Incontri in Terra di Siena music festivals. Luke is passionate about educating young musicians in his private studio and has worked with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, the Crowden School, and the Santa Monica Youth Orchestra as a coach and private instructor. He holds degrees from the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA.

LESLIE

SHANK, violin, concertmaster emerita

Shank was a member of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for 30 years, 24 years as assistant concertmaster, and is a founding member of the Minneapolisbased chamber music group, The Isles Ensemble. Shank gave her New York recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall as a winner of the Artists International Competition. Shank served as concertmaster of the Music in the Mountains Festival in Colorado for 11 years, and has performed at numerous other festivals. In addition to her musical activities on violin, she frequently plays viola in chamber music and is an avid photographer.

2023 Festival Musicians

RYDER SHELLEY, percussion

North Carolina native Shelley performs frequently as a percussionist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also played with the San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Fort Worth Symphony. In addition to serving as Stage Manager for Music in the Mountains, he recently completed his first season as Company Manager for the Princeton Festival in Princeton, NJ. Ryder is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

KYLE SHERMAN, trumpet

Sherman joined the Fort Worth Symphony as principal trumpet in 2016. He has appeared with the Dallas Symphony and as a soloist with the Garland, Arlington, and Las Colinas symphony orchestras. He has also performed on the Broadway national tours of the Book of Mormon, Porgy & Bess, and Matilda, among others. Sherman is a Yamaha performing artist. An active educator, he regularly appears as a clinician and recitalist at universities throughout Texas and the United States. He is an alumnus of the Yale School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Tanglewood Music Center, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Round Top Festival.

JAMES SHIELDS, clarinet

Shields joined the Oregon Symphony as principal clarinet in the fall of 2016. Prior to that, he served as principal clarinet of the Canadian Opera Company as well as the New Mexico Philharmonic. He has appeared as a soloist with the Oregon Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Interlochen’s World Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, and as guest principal clarinet with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, and Santa Fe Pro Musica. He is becoming increasingly known as a performer of chamber music, making over 30 appearances annually throughout the US and Canada. He is co-artistic director of Chatter, an Albuquerque-based chamber music organization, and a core member of the Portland-based chamber music collective 45th Parallel Universe. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and holds a Master of Music in Composition from the University of New Mexico.

RICHARD SILVERS, violin

Silvers currently serves on the faculty at Fort Lewis College as a Visiting Instructor of Music Theory and Upper Strings. As an undergraduate, he was the concertmaster for the UCLA Philharmonia, the school’s flagship orchestra. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the Herb Alpert School of Music there. He was the winner of the 2018-2019 UW Madison Concerto Competition and a finalist in the Montgomery Symphony Concertmaster Competition. He has performed at Carnegie Hall and at venues in Italy and Switzerland. He earned his Master of Music from the University of Indiana and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

JAN SIMIZ, cello

Simiz is assistant principal cello of the Phoenix Symphony and principal cello of the Phoenix Symphony Sinfonietta. A native of Romania, he studied at Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory in Bucharest and received a master’s degree from the University of Southern California. Simiz is a faculty member at Arizona State University.

MARIA SIMIZ,

cello

Simiz is a cellist with the Amabile String Quartet and head of the string department at the Arizona School for the Arts since its inception in 1995. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and her master’s from California State at Long Beach.

OLEG SULYGA, violin

Sulyga is a violinist with the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and a frequent chamber musician. He was a member of The Moscow Virtuosi, with which he performed in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, and a participant in numerous international festivals. He began his studies in his native Moscow, and continued them at SMU in Dallas, Paris, and the University of Houston.

VALERIE TURNER, violin

Turner is a native New Yorker who has appeared with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the United States. She has performed with New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, and Albuquerque Chamber Soloists. She is co-founder (with husband, Guillermo Figueroa) and Artistic Director of Festival de Musica Rondeña in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

AMELIA VAN HOWE, oboe

Van Howe has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Pittsburgh Musical Theater, and the Westmoreland and Johnstown Symphony Orchestras, among others. She earned third prize in the 2018 National Society of Arts & Letters Pittsburgh Chapter Music Competition and was the winner of the 2017 Duquesne University Concerto Competition. She has performed at many summer festivals, including the Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, the Music School Festival Orchestra at the Chautauqua Institution, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, among others. She is an avid chamber musician and performs regularly with the Windfluence Quintet. She earned her Artist Diploma and Master of Music from Duquesne University and her Bachelor of Music from Michigan State University. She is also a small business owner of Sunshine Reeds, which provides high quality oboe and English horn reeds to amateur and professional oboists.

2023 Festival Musicians

ALEJANDRO VALDEPEÑAS, viola

Valdepeñas enjoys a multi-faceted career as a violinist and violist. He joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as the Associate Principal Viola at the start of the 2022/2023 season. Valdepeñas made his solo debut on violin at age 9 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Recent engagements include performances and recordings with the Amici Chamber Ensemble and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Chamber Soloists. He has spent multiple summers as a violinist with the Santa Fe Opera and has also performed with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. His future summer engagements include performances at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Valdepeñas received his Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory and his Master of Music from Rice University.

SERGEI VASSILIEV, clarinet

Vassiliev has served as principal clarinet with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic since 2009. He has appeared in the US and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician, and clinician, including presenting masterclasses at Kharkiv Conservatory in Ukraine. He has held principal clarinet positions with Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra, Boise Philharmonic, and has performed with the Houston and Colorado Symphonies as well as many others. He recently founded Educational Partnerships Immersive Concerts (EPIC), an original concert series that received the Peak Arts Prize upon its inception in 2020. EPIC has since become an acclaimed chamber music series. He maintains a teaching studio in Colorado Springs and serves on the faculties of the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He holds degrees and awards from the University of Michigan, Rice University, and University of Southern California.

KATHERINE VENTURA, harp

Ventura is currently Acting Principal Harp of the Kansas City Symphony. She has also performed as guest principal harp with the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Houston, St. Louis, National, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Rochester Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra (London, UK), and the United States Air Force Band. Festival appearances include Principal Harp of the Britt Festival Orchestra 2022 (Oregon), Principal Harp of the Verbier Festival and Verbier Chamber Orchestras (Switzerland), the Spoleto Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Aspen Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, and with the Sun Valley Music Festival in Idaho. Ventura is pursuing a Doctorate in Musical Arts at Temple University and holds degrees from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and Carnegie Mellon University.

MATTHEW WILSON, horn

Wilson joined The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra starting in the 2017-18 season, after playing as a guest musician for many years. He was Principal Horn of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra from 2012–2017. He was Acting Associate Principal Horn with the Minnesota Orchestra for the 2021-22 season and on their 2016 European tour. He has also been guest Principal or Associate Principal Horn with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, and the South Dakota Symphony, and has had engagements with the Colorado Symphony and The Phantom of the Opera Broadway touring company. He has been Principal Horn of the Crested Butte Musical Festival for several years. A Southern California native, he started playing horn at the age of 9. Wilson received his undergraduate degree from University of Northwestern in Saint Paul, Minnesota and his Master of Music from the University of Minnesota.

GLORIA YUN, flute, piccolo

Born in New York and raised in a musical family, Yun studied piano with her mother and clarinet with her father. She was influenced by her older brother, an orchestral conductor, to become a symphony musician.  She has performed with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra. She joined the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in 2018 and the Britt Festival Orchestra in 2019. She has won prizes from the New York Flute Club, Pittsburgh Flute Club, and Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia Young Artist Competitions as well as First Prize in the Wind Division of the LISMA International Music Competition. She made her European debut in the fall of 2016 as a concerto soloist with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. Yun has studied at the Mannes College of Music and DePaul University.

With our Deepest Appreciation

The Board of Directors and Staff of Music in the Mountains would like to thank the Festival Musicians for their time, talent, and dedication.

blue cathedral

Jennifer Higdon (1962 - )

According to the American Symphony Orchestra League, Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral is one of the mostperformed contemporary works in the United States; more than 250 orchestras have performed it since its 2000 premiere. Higdon composed blue cathedral in 1999 on commission from the Curtis Institute to commemorate its 75th anniversary.

Higdon studied composition with George Crumb and Ned Rorem. She received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, which was cited as a “deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.”

blue cathedral, a memorial for Higdon’s brother, produces an other-worldly effect of floating sound, yet the neoromantic work never lacks direction. It opens with soft belllike peals and quiet solos. As the work gains in intensity, many instruments are featured. After the music reaches its climax, the celestial quiet of the beginning returns with subtle, little bell-like sounds sounding again. Although Copland’s pastoral works inform its musical language, the attractive and melodious blue cathedral is both daring and inventive.

Higdon wrote the following note for blue cathedral: “Blue... like the sky. Where all possibilities soar. In a school where talent and ability are not a question, the sky is the limit. Cathedral...a place of thought, growth, spiritual expression... serving as a symbolic doorway into and out of this world. Cathedrals represent places of beginnings, endings, solitude, fellowship, contemplation, knowledge and growth. In so many ways, Curtis fits this description perfectly; it is a house of knowledge -- a place to reach towards that beautiful expression of the soul which comes through music. Coming to the writing of this piece at a unique juncture in my life, I found myself pondering the question of what makes a life. The recent loss of my younger brother, Andrew Blue, made me reflect on the amazing journeys that we all make, especially at Curtis, where the pursuit of ‘the singing soul’ is what music and life are all about. This piece represents the expression of the individual and the whole of the group...our journeys and the places our souls carry us.”

Concerto in D for Violin,

Erich

Op. 35

Wolfgang Korngold (1897 – 1957)

When Nazi Germany invaded Austria in 1938, Erich Korngold, already popular and successful, was in California working on a movie score; he decided to remain there. Over 20 years, he wrote 21 extraordinary film scores, winning two Academy Awards. In his later years, he returned to concert music: after World War II, he composed a string quartet, a symphony, and a violin concerto.

Concerto for Violin marked Korngold’s transition to concert music from exclusive concentration on film music. Composed in 1945 at the urging of Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman, the concerto, dedicated to Alma Mahler-Werfel, draws on material from Korngold’s 1939 film scores for Anthony Adverse and Another Dawn. At the concerto’s 1947 premiere, the composer wrote a tribute to soloist Jascha Heifetz: “In spite of the demand for virtuosity in the finale, the work with its many melodic and lyric episodes was contemplated rather for a Caruso than for a Paganini. It

is needless to say how delighted I am to have my concerto performed by Caruso and Paganini in one person: Jascha Heifetz.”

The eloquent 1st theme comes from Another Dawn; the 2nd theme borrows from Korngold’s Juarez, one of whose sources was a Franz Werfel novel. The concerto was dedicated to Werfel’s widow. The 2nd movement, Romanze, “an elegant, lyrical cantabile, uses material from Korngold’s Oscar-winning Anthony Adverse score.”

After the gigue-like beginning of the last capricious movement, a rondo, the title music for the film, The Prince and the Pauper appears.

Francesca da Rimini, (Symphonic Fantasy after Dante), Op. 32 Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)

In 1876, in Paris, Tchaikovsky heard Bizet’s Carmen, then just a year old. It initially aroused his interest to compose a new opera. Rereading Dante’s tragic love story of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, and inspired by Gustave Doré’s illustration of it, Tchaikovsky decided instead to compose an orchestral fantasy.

Following historical fact, Dante relates the story of Francesca, daughter of the Lord of Ravenna, who married Giovanni Malatesta da Rimini but then fell in love with her husband’s younger brother, Paolo. In 1289, Giovanni discovered them embracing and murdered them. The next day, friends and neighbors buried them in a single grave. Dante placed the tale in the second circle of Hell, reserved for the punishment of sins of the flesh. There, the two lovers are eternally tossed about by fierce winds.

The opening of the symphonic fantasy begins, Andante lugubre, at the gateway to the Inferno, bearing the famous inscription, “Leave all hope behind, all ye who enter here”; it depicts the torture and agony of the condemned. Next, a lyrical section, a lovely clarinet melody against string pizzicati represents Francesca recounting her love for Paolo. The wild, stormy closing section repeats the initial music, mirroring the turmoil of Hades.

JENNIFER HIGDON is one of America’s most acclaimed figures in contemporary classical music, receiving the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, a 2010 Grammy for her Percussion Concerto, a 2018 Grammy for her Viola Concerto and a 2020 Grammy for her Harp Concerto. In 2018, Higdon received the prestigious Nemmers Prize which is awarded to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition. Most recently, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works, and blue cathedral is today’s most performed contemporary orchestral work, with more than 750 performances worldwide. Her works have been recorded on more than sixty CDs. Higdon’s first opera, Cold Mountain, won the International Opera Award for Best World Premiere and the opera recording was nominated for 2 Grammy awards. Her music is published exclusively by Lawdon Press.

Concerto in B minor for Four Violins, RV 580 Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)

Vivaldi was modestly employed as director of a conservatory for orphan girls in Venice, but his compositions spread his name throughout Europe. In 1711, he published 12 violin concertos as L’Estro armónico (“The Spirit of Harmony”), one of the most influential collections of the 18th century, prized for its original style, form, and orchestration. Each is a concerto grosso, which sets one or more violin soloists against a body of strings and a harpsichord continuo. (Bach knew Vivaldi’s music well and transcribed six of these concertos for different instruments, using them as his own, which would be highly questionable today but was then viewed differently: this Concerto for Four Violins became Bach’s Concerto for Four Claviers in A minor, BWV 1065.)

Vivaldi established the concerto’s 3-movement form. Here, the four soloists dominate the first movement, Allegro, which does not begin with the usual ritornello (a recurring thematic passage for full orchestra), but rather with two solo violins introducing the principal subjects. Vivaldi constantly varies the solo parts’ combinations: the four are never featured all together, but most often alone or in pairs. The movement features a clever contrapuntal texture and much rhythmic variety.

The slow movement has a multi-section structure: first, Largo, an introduction dominated by dotted rhythms, then a Larghetto, featuring repeated figures, but with a different figure in each part; finally, an Adagio, displaying cadenza-like embellishments.

The last dancelike movement adheres closely to ritornello form. The first solo violin is most highlighted, but each soloist has a chance to shine before the concerto concludes with a spirited tutti.

Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, “Unfinished” Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)

Schubert wrote his first music when he was 13; before his 32nd birthday, he died of typhoid, having written about 1500 works. His earlier symphonies are lyrical, witty, dramatic, even tragic and include all that Schubert desired to express musically except qualities of which his idol, Beethoven, was the supreme master: forcefulness, power, and grandeur. Here, in the “Unfinished” Symphony, Schubert added these qualities, writing with new eloquence.

When Schubert began to compose the symphony’s 3rd movement, for unknown reasons he abandoned the score. Probably, uncertain of the direction the symphony should take, he turned to other work, intending to finish the symphony later. He wrote only 9 measures of a scherzo, fully scored, (a piano sketch shows he planned the entire scherzo and a trio’s beginning.) Many musicians have tried to “finish” the “Unfinished” Symphony None has succeeded; the symphony remains an exquisite torso, music’s Venus de Milo.

Thirty-seven years after Schubert’s death, Josef Hüttenbrenner approached Johann Herbeck, the conductor of a Viennese concert series, asking him to perform his brother Anselm’s work. To stimulate interest, he told Herbeck that Anselm possessed several unknown Schubert works, among them a fine symphony, unfortunately incomplete. Herbeck took the bait, promising to perform Anselm’s work and inquiring about the Schubert manuscripts. Anselm gave him an armful, among which Herbeck discovered the “Unfinished” Symphony. The two

completed movements premiered December 17, 1865, in Vienna.

The 1st movement begins with lower strings playing an ominous opening before the winds introduce a protracted melody over nervous strings. Cellos sing the famous second subject many school children will remember learning: “This is the symphony that Schubert wrote and left unfinished.” The lyricism soon becomes dramatic: the 2nd theme is interrupted by silence that precedes some orchestral turmoil. Schubert builds the development, not on his two lyrical themes, but on the dark introductory melody. After the themes’ recapitulation, the movement ends with a quiet memory of the introduction.

The second movement, a haunting but sublime Andante con moto, combines the violins’ peaceful lyricism with a more monumental, majestic brass subject. Contrasts in mood persist until the movement’s end, when peace returns in a beautiful, lengthy coda.

Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra

George Gershwin (1898-1937)

Gershwin, one of the America’s most successful songwriters, was admired for the beauty and originality of his melodies and the vigor and ingenuity of his rhythms. Rhapsody in Blue, his first large work, so impressed conductor Walter Damrosch that he commissioned Gershwin to write another work for piano and orchestra. Gershwin, who had written many musical comedies, had little experience with formal composition and bought an orchestration manual to study. (At that time, Broadway composers were discouraged from orchestrating their own work.) Damrosch asserted, “Composers have been walking around jazz like a cat around a plate of hot soup, waiting for it to cool off so that they could enjoy it without burning their tongues,” but Gershwin approached jazz boldly, while still using the concerto’s classic language and structure.

Gershwin originally decided to call the 1924 work New York Concerto, but settled on the less evocative Concerto in F. The opening movement has a sonatalike form freely modified and adapted to the composer’s melodic style. Gershwin described it, “The first movement . . .is quick and pulsating, representing the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life. It begins with a rhythmic motif given out by the kettledrums, supported by other percussion instruments and with a Charleston motif introduced by bassoon, horns, clarinets and violas. The principal theme is announced by a bassoon.”

The 2nd movement embraces the blues with a sustained, lyrical nocturne. A bassoon introduces the sprightly first theme, while the piano plays a warm-hearted contrasting theme. In ternary form (ABA), it features a muted, sultry solo trumpet with the piano and a banjo-style string accompaniment. Gershwin said: “The second movement has a poetic nocturnal atmosphere which has come to be referred to as the American blues.”

The vigorously rhythmic finale recalls themes from earlier movements. Gershwin declared, “It is an orgy of rhythms, starting violently and keeping the same pace throughout.” This energetic movement begins with timpani, cymbals, and bass drum. Full of athletic dynamism, the unique work sports optimism throughout and ends much like it begins, with big timpani strokes.

Octet for Strings in B-flat, Op. posth Max Bruch (1838-1920)

Bruch, like Mendelssohn, was a child prodigy composer, maturing remarkably early. His mother, a noted singer, was his first piano teacher; at eleven, he was given systematic musical training outside the home.

Bruch composed the Octet in early 1920, a few months before his death. It was lost after he died and only rediscovered in 1996. An intensely nostalgic work for four violins, two violas, one cello, and one bass, it has an autumnal, somewhat late-Brahmsian quality. It is apparently a reworking of a string quintet that Bruch had recently written and seems to have been modeled on Mendelssohn’s Octet, although Bruch replaces the second cello with a double bass. Each of the eight instrumental parts is distinct; Bruch interweaves the parts, allowing each instrument’s unique sound to be highlighted.

The Octet’s genial melodies, sentimental harmonies, and luxurious form are impressive; this lush music seems firmly rooted in the traditional Romantic style, with striking contrapuntal interweaving and unusual harmonic qualities, yet it was composed seven years after Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring premiered and just before Schoenberg’s 12-tone music.

Originally requested by Bruch’s friend, violinist Willy Hess, the Octet, unsurprisingly, often highlights the 1st violin. The viola leads the tranquil introduction and introduces the lovely, calm principal theme of the relatively slow lengthy first movement, Allegro moderato, in a sonata form that becomes quite spirited. Bruch adds a second more forceful theme; the development follows the mood of the opening until the work builds to a grand unison climax, which has been compared to that in Mendelssohn’s Octet.

The tenderly elegiac Adagio, a serenade-like central movement, begins in a minor key, before the 1st violin enters with the movement’s principal theme; the 1st violin also introduces the secondary thematic material in a major mode, Andante con molto di moto, with an accompaniment that includes cello pizzicati. This serene music contains a few more impassioned moments; after a short transitional passage, the second theme returns, bringing the movement to a calm end.

The final movement, an elfin Allegro molto, has something of Mendelssohn’s perpetual motion and lightness of texture, but begins ominously. Soon the mood and key are contrasted, with an effective lyrical secondary theme the cello introduces with help from the 2nd viola. These short but memorable lyrical interludes highlight the lower strings, interrupting the passionate good-natured temperament pervading the rest of the movement.

Octet for Strings in E-flat, Op. 20 Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)

Mendelssohn was a musical prodigy, a little boy who wrote mature compositions, sure in conception and execution. The best-known work of his youth is the Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream, a miraculous score for a 17-year-old to have written. Almost a year earlier, Mendelssohn composed this remarkable octet.

On November 6, 1825, Mendelssohn’s teacher, Karl Friedrich Zelter, wrote to his friend, the poet Goethe, “My Felix has just completed an Octet that is very cleverly written.” The Octet instruments, four violins, two violas, and two cellos, the equivalent of two conventional string quartets, have had few works composed for them; Mendelssohn’s was the first of its kind. It “must be played in symphonic [i.e. orchestral] style by all the instruments,” he said.

The richly textured Octet begins with a magnificent movement based principally on the first violin’s long, soaring opening theme. Next comes a melancholy Andante, followed by a Scherzo, one of Mendelssohn’s greatest compositions.

The Scherzo, but for a single phrase before its closing coda, is played pianissimo, very softly. The music seems to come from the same elfin country as would the Scherzo for A Midsummer Night’s Dream when it was written 18 years later. The composer’s sister, Fanny, attested that Felix’s inspiration in the Scherzo was the scene in Goethe’s Faust depicting the dancing on Walpurgis Night, a witches’ festival on May 1st, named for the 8th century nun St. Walpurga, who helped introduce Christianity to Germany. Mendelssohn valued this Scherzo so highly that, in 1829, he orchestrated it for performance in place of the original Minuet in his Symphony No. 1. Its last movement is fugal and fast, modeled after that in Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony Into it, Mendelssohn inserted a quotation from the Scherzo.

Figures in the Garden for Woodwind Octet

Nathan Dove (1959 - )

Dove is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, orchestral, and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera.

Dove composed Figures in the Garden for Glyndebourne’s 1991 Mozart bicentenary celebrations. Glyndebourne commissioned wind serenades from 5 composers, each to be musically connected with a specific opera and to be performed outside before the performance.

Dove was asked to compose a piece to precede The Marriage of Figaro; although he felt Mozart’s opera needed no introduction, he was attracted to the project of creating a serenade to be performed in a garden, because the opera’s last act is set in a garden, and the opera includes several serenades: “Voi che sapete,” “Deh vieni, non tardar,” and Susanna and the Countess’ letter-writing duet, “Canzonetta su sull’’aria.’”

Dove developed each movement from a musical idea in the opera, resulting in an alternative scenario: Susanna sings her aria in the rain because of England’s weather, and Figaro and Susanna enjoy a moment of shared tranquility Mozart never gave them.

Dove’s musical language, grounded in minimalism, is very different from Mozart’s. Dancing in the Dark, a lively dance, ends with recitative; Susanna in the Rain is a dreamy rain soundscape with cascading woodwinds accompanying Susanna’s aria “Deh vieni, non tardar” played by the French horn; A Conversation begins with uneven rhythms then builds in intensity as the conversation develops. Barbarina Alone precedes The Countess Interrupts a Quarrel which starts with tense rhythms that yield to the opera’s finale, here reharmonized. In the movement’s center, Dove again uses “Deh vieni.” “Voices in the Garden” begins and ends with recitative, while the center features a famous melody enclosed in ascending arpeggios. The last movement, Nocturne: Figaro and Susanna, is serene.

Serenade in C minor for Woodwind Octet, K. 388 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)

As a young musician in Salzburg, Mozart wrote almost three dozen serenades, divertimentos, and similar works. They were not performed at formal concerts, but simply provided background music at festive evenings at the town’s wealthy citizens’ homes, heard while people ate, drank, talked, and even danced. After Mozart moved to Vienna in 1781, other work occupied much of his time; he composed few serenades there.

In 1782, when his father wrote asking for a serenade for the party celebrating Haffner’s elevation to nobility, Mozart sent only one movement and said, “It has been altogether impossible to do more for you because I have had to compose a serenade quickly, but only for wind instruments (or else I could have used it for you too.)” The serenade he was rushing to complete was this one, in C minor, K. 388, but it is not known who needed it in a hurry.

The little wind band of pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns was a fixture in many noble Austrian households. Earlier that year, Mozart mentioned that a young Prince might want some works for a new band he was organizing; at the same time, he also wrote music for Prince Schwarzenberg’s band. Schwarzenberg was a serious music-lover later involved in Haydn and Beethoven’s careers. His interest might explain why Mozart wrote this extraordinary work.

Unlike some other serenades, this work has only four basic movements. It is not light in tone; it was obviously meant to do more than just entertain. Five years later, Mozart even arranged it for string quintet, the medium of some of his most serious chamber music. In effect, this extraordinary Serenade is really a symphony for wind instruments.

The source of this music’s newfound depth is clear: Mozart had just discovered Bach and Handel’s music, then not only little known but generally dismissed as skillful but obsolete stylistically. Their music, nevertheless, was a revelation to Mozart. In it, he found counterpoint and fugue could greatly expand musical vocabulary and rhetorical skill.

The Serenade’s intensely developed first movement, Allegro, opens with a huge main theme. Its first four notes are a simple but powerful statement of a C minor chord, which all the instruments play; the rest of the theme supplies several motives that become fully developed in the dark-toned music-drama that follows. The Andante, a compact sonata-like piece, has a plaintive hymn as its main subject. The Minuet and Trio are both written in the style of canons, a procedure Haydn popularized. The Trio is a reverse or inverse canon in which the melody is turned upside down in its successive entrances. The final Allegro, a set of 8 variations, continually increases in intensity until, after a momentary relaxation, the tonality changes from minor to major, bringing the Serenade to an optimistic conclusion.

Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56

Johannes

Brahms (1833 – 1897)

In 1870, Brahms was shown an unpublished set of six suites or divertimentos for wind instruments that it was believed Haydn composed in the 1780’s or 1790’s. One suite’s 2nd movement was entitled Saint Anthony’s Chorale (from H. II: 46); Brahms admired it, and 3 years later, based this set of variations on it. (20th century musicologists suggest that Haydn’s student, Ignaz Pleyel, actually composed the work.) The title is probably the name of the melody on which the suite, itself derivative, was based. Musicologists suggest Saint Anthony’s Chorale was a pilgrims’ hymn.

Variations on a Theme by Haydn is the only major Brahms work for which detailed preliminary sketches exist; they indicate that he had been mulling over the musical possibilities of the chorale long before he composed the variations. In 1873, Brahms created two versions of the variations: Op. 56a was his first purely orchestral composition in 14 years; 56b, for two pianos, was his last large keyboard work.

The versions of the Variations are similar. The inner voices’ rich texture, a hallmark of Brahms’s orchestral style, is perfectly idiomatic piano writing, too. It is unclear whether Brahms originally planned the two-piano version or the orchestral one, but he first showed the work to his friend Clara Schumann in piano form, then presented the other to his publisher a month later. When the orchestral work premiered, it was well received and quickly joined the repertoire.

Although the work’s content is sophisticated and subtle, its structure is simple and direct. The theme is stated; then, 8 variations follow. Brahms develops a series of rich, new melodies based on the harmonic and rhythmic structure of the original theme. In the finale, he creates a new set of 16 short, continuous variations on a 5-measure motive derived from Variation IV; he then briefly reprises some of the original theme in a grand closing section.

Fantasía para un gentilhombre (Fantasy for a Gentleman)

Joaquín

Rodrigo (1901 – 1999)

Rodrigo, the most widely performed Spanish composer of his generation, blind from early childhood, studied abroad, traveled widely, and became an influential figure in Spain’s musical life. In France, he studied composition with Dukas and was included in Ravel’s circle of friends, while also receiving advice from his compatriot, de Falla. Rodrigo composed Fantasía para un gentilhombre in 1954 for guitarist Andrés Segovia. He adapted most of the thematic material of the Fantasía from the work of 17th century Spanish guitarist Gaspar Sanz. In Sanz’s time, Spanish musical taste was changing, with the noble grace of French style dances succeeded by the lighter style of indigenous Spanish dances, the marizapanos, villanos, españoletas, canarios, thought more appropriate to popular theater than to palace balls. Sanz’s 1674 dances on these melodies faithfully reflect the new tastes and are generally short and simple.

Fantasía has 5 movements: Villano y ricerarcar is developed in the period’s style. In Ricercare, Rodrigo worked out a fugue that Sanz had only sketched. Españoleta y fanfarria is interrupted by an episode that serves as a contrasting central trio Toques de la Caballería de Nápoles (Fanfares of

the Neapolitan Cavalry), a musical reference to Spain’s rule over the Kingdom of Naples. Danza de las Hachas (“Hatchet Dance”), a duel between guitar and orchestra, has lively rhythms. Canario, a popular folk dance full of gaiety, concludes the work.

Concerto in D for Guitar and Strings, RV 93

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)

In Vivaldi’s manuscript for this concerto, the solo instrument is not guitar, but lute, an earlier, plucked string instrument. Recently, some classical guitarists have begun to study this predecessor of their instrument, but usually lute music is now performed on guitar.

In 1703, Vivaldi became a teacher at the famous school for orphan girls, the Seminario musicale dell’ Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, where he became director of concerts. It is unlikely that the girls for whom he composed his works were still being taught the then already nearly obsolete lute. Vivaldi composed his few lute pieces for an older musician, Count von Wrtby, a royal governor and hereditary treasurer of Bohemia. Musicologists hypothesize Vivaldi may have met the Count in Prague in the early 1730’s, while attending Czech revivals of his operas.

This agreeable work is brief, divided into three movements in the traditional fast-slow-fast sequence, Allegro giusto, Largo, and Allegro. The slow central movement is particularly well-known.

Suite from The Firebird (1919)

Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971)

In 1910, the impresario Diaghilev planned a ballet based on the Russian legend of the Firebird and commissioned a score from Anatoly Liadov (18551914). Three months later, when he asked Liadov how the work was progressing, Liadov replied, “Marvelously! I’ve already bought the music paper.” Impatient, Diaghilev withdrew the commission and gave it to Stravinsky, then still in his 20’s and relatively unknown. Stravinsky completed the score in time for the première at the Paris Opera in 1910. Thus began the StravinskyDiaghilev association that led later to the creation of Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, Le Rossignol, and Pulcinella.

The Firebird tells the story of a beautiful, rare bird who, with Prince Ivan’s help, struggles against the immortal, evil magician, Kashchei. The Firebird was named for her beautiful feathers that glitter and flicker like fire’s flames. The Firebird music melds the orchestral finesse Stravinsky had learned as Rimsky-Korsakov’s student with Russian folk music to yield a dazzling, evocative score.

When, in the 1st movement, the strings suddenly tremble, it signals the Firebird’s arrival. High woodwinds punctuate her lavishly orchestrated dance. In a calm, pastoral section, the Firebird casts a spell over Kashchei and his followers, who are forced to dance themselves into exhaustion in a savage “Infernal Dance.” When their spasms subside, the Firebird lulls the hypnotized Kashchei and the monsters to sleep with a serene lullaby, the Berceuse, with the bassoon and soft string tremolos. Finally, a solo horn sounds the score’s mostfamous folk-tune, followed by a harp glissando; the brass join in a song of deliverance after Kashchei’s demise, which concludes this brilliantly orchestrated fantasy.

Symphony No.1 in B-flat, Op. 38, “Spring” Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

In 1840, the year Schumann was married, he wrote more than 100 songs. In 1841, he composed Symphony No. 1, sketching it in 4 days and orchestrating it in 3 weeks. It was an overwhelming triumph at its 1842 premiere, which Mendelssohn conducted.

Schumann entitled his symphony “Spring,” and explained that he had images of spring in his mind while he was composing. He revealed a source of his inspiration, an Adolph Böttger poem, whose last line announces: “In the valley, spring is in bloom.” Schumann used this line’s rhythm for the brass fanfare of the symphony’s introduction. The brass fanfare also introduces the theme that becomes the work’s guiding motive.

In 1843, he wrote to the conductor of the upcoming Berlin premiere, “I should be pleased if you would imbue your orchestra with something of the spirit of springtime. I should like to have the opening trumpet call sound as if it came from on high, like a summons to awakening. In what follows I suggest how the green leaves are sprouting everywhere, perhaps how a butterfly appears; and at the Allegro, how gradually everything that belongs to Spring bursts forth - but these are fancies which occurred to me after I had completed the work. I imagined the last movement to represent the departure of Spring.”

The 2nd movement begins with violins articulating a tender theme. A cello variation expands the subject, which oboes and horns repeat. The initial, delicately beautiful melody gives the movement its intimate character. At the end, the trombones enter, transforming the melody and quietly announcing the vigorous Scherzo’s theme, which follows without pause. The complex 3rd movement opens with a strongly accented variation of the preceding movement’s main subject. Breaking with tradition, Schumann gives his Scherzo not one, but two contrasting trios. Like the 1st movement, the finale begins with a fanfare-like introduction. About the supple violin theme that follows, Schumann said, “I like to think of it as the farewell of spring, and so I shouldn’t want it to be played too frivolously.”  Another fanfare introduces the elaborate development, which concludes with an ornate section featuring horns and flute. After the recapitulation is a swift, exhilarating ending.

Concerto for Flute and Orchestra

Mariano Morales (1960 - )

The Puerto Rican composer Morales is a Latin jazz and salsa arranger and a pianist/violinist. His jazz flute concerto was commissioned by the Conservatory of Music at Lynn University and Maestro Guillermo Figueroa and premiered on April 21, 2018 with Lynn University Philharmonia, Guillermo Figueroa, conductor and Nestor Torres, flutist.

This concerto is a tribute to the Puerto Rican people who, despite devastation caused by Hurricane María, continue to be resilient, resourceful, and strong in spirit. Musical devices such as the song of the Coquí (a species of frog endemic to Puerto Rico) and the use of the Bomba Sicá rhythm generate the one-movement work’s melodic and rhythmic ideas and indicate Puerto Ricans’ sense of pride.

The work begins with an unaccompanied flute melody; then, the soloist and orchestra present and develop the main theme. The slow middle section showcases the solo’s lyrical aspects and leads to a cadenza. The percussion carry on an extended exchange in which the orchestra’s different sections are also showcased. After some soloist improvisation, the whole orchestra joins in. In the finale, the bassoon reprises the initial unaccompanied flute melody; then, the orchestra and soloist join in a final commentary.

Danzón No. 2

Arturo Marquez (1950- )

Márquez’s early works were frequently experimental; by the 1990s, he veered from the avant-garde to a more accessible style, particularly in his series of danzónes. His danzónes constitute his tribute to popular music and dance and their important role in Mexican urban music.

A danzón is a formal, refined salon dance that has late 19th and early 20th century Cuban origins, with antecedents in the Spanish habanera and the French contre-danse. From Cuba, the danzón traveled to Veracruz, Mexico; then Mexico City’s dance salons took it up, as danzón bands became popular. In parts of Mexico, the danzón is now as important as the tango is in Argentina; like the tango, it is a distinctive urban dance with nostalgic melodies.

The danzón, with its pronounced sensuality, requires small hip and foot movements and is usually danced in a very small amount of space. Most danzónes are composed in rondo form with a recurring refrain and typically feature instrumental solos with rhythms that accentuate its sensuality.

Márquez explained, “Danzón No. 2 endeavors to get as close as possible to the dance, to its nostalgic melodies, to its wild rhythms, and although it violates its intimacy, its form and its harmonic language, it is a very personal way of paying my respects and expressing my emotions towards truly popular music.”

Danzón No. 2 (1994) begins with an elegant clarinet theme, accompanied only by piano chords and a slow, steady rhythm from the claves. Later, the full orchestra articulates thematic complexity and passionate rhythms. Danzón No. 2 has become so popular in Mexico that it is often referred to as their second National Anthem.

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MAESTRO’S COUNCIL

$10,000-$14,999

Bank of Colorado

El Pomar Foundation

Helen Root

TBK Bank

BENEFACTOR

$5,000-$9,999

Axis Health System

Mary Lyn & Richard Ballantine

Terry & David Clark

Colorado Creative Industries

Elizabeth & Stephen Crandall

Jo & Ron Davis

Durango Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

Sandra & Don Mapel/ Meredith Mapel & Jimmy Kight

Durango Dermatology

Durango Friends of the Arts

First Southwest Bank

Katherine Freiberger & Larry Althouse

Liz Hogan & Keith Lucas

Mary & Dick Jalkut

Sheryl & Tom Kaufman

Kennebec Wealth Management

Donna LaBonte

Nancy & John Loftis

Morehart Murphy Motors/ Subaru of America

Melanie & Clark Palmer

Debra Parmenter & Terry Bacon

Carol Salomon & Norman Broad

Dene & Gordon Thomas

Tish & Pete Varney

Leslie & Rob Wigley

PATRON

$2,500-$4,999

Accurate Backhoe and Excavation

Kathleen Adams

Sue Agranoff & Doug Jacober

Kim & Bill Babcock

Ballantine Family Fund

Jeannie Benhardus & Clark Jordan

Buddie & Jim Bertrand

Judy Burgess

Centura Health/ Mercy Hospital

Beverly Dittmer

Deni Dorminy & Don Squires

Margie & Henry Dudley

Durango Motor Company

Durango Premier Auto Care

Kim Emanuel

Ann Flower & Thomas Hill

Carolyn & Mark Frankel

Madeleine Fulford & Matt Janowiak

Gordon Greve

Michele & David Harris

Harald Jordan

La Plata Electric Association, Inc.

Susan Lander

Teresa Lashley

Marguerite Sours Foundation

Kim Martin & Steve Phillips

Florence (Foxie) & Dick Mason

Debra May

Melinda Michael

Donald Novak

Marcey Olajos

Sara Olsen & Geoff Hickcox

Carol & Gary Orlowski

Oxford Financial Advisors

Carla Pinahs

Jeani & Bud Poe

Christine Pollock

Georgeann & Richard Reitz

Joan & Bill Rhoades

Deborah Russell & Elmer Wheeler

Nancy & Jim Schamadan

Janice Sheftel

Debra Smith

Karen Soltes & Thomas Penn

Marilyn Swanson

Lucia Thompson

Three Springs

Anne Timmins & Rick Post

Visit Durango

Ann & Peter Voldstad

The Wells Group

Susan & Scott Wortman

CONTRIBUTOR

$1,500-$2,499

Linda Mack Berven & Wynn Berven

Bruce Bleakman

Sally & Gene Bradley

Deborah & Steve Chapman

Mimi & Bob Chaput

Charlotte Coffen

Larry & Elizabeth Crawford

Family Foundation

Jan & Gary Derck

Durango High Noon Rotary Grant

Durango & Silverton

Narrow Gauge Railroad

Stanna Galbraith

Goldman, Nicholson & Mack, P.C.

Ruth Guarino

Gail Harris

Brenda Hight

Gregory & Julia Hustis

Annemarie & Carlos Kummel

LeMaire Family Fund

Elizabeth May

Mary Nowotny

Michelle & Robert Oppenheimer

Betsy Petersen

Karen Peterson & Dwight Frankfather

Cynthia Phillips & Thomas Martin

Janet & Charles Plosser

Ann Schwarz

Christine & John Serwe

Vicki & Paul Singer

Jacqui & Gil Van Lunsen

Charlotte Williams

Wolf Creek Broadcasting LLC

MUSIC LOVER

$500-$1,499

Gillian & Craig Arnwine

Lois & Ed Bartig-Small

Berkshire Hathaway

Stephen Bisbee

Alan Cathcart

Central Bank

Nanc Cole

Margo & Ernie Cotton

Jessica & Bob Cox

Libby & Dave Culver

Kathy Deaderick

Jacquelyn & Bryan Dear

James Dulin

Deborah & David Duncan

Catharine Eppinger

Linda Espinosa & James Laffey

Mary Gilbert & Family

Marty & Lee Gisclon

Carol & David Grenoble

Sue & Richard Griffith

Rene Haas & David Perry

Linda & Gerald Harris

Holly Hatch

Laura Hawk

Debbie & Duane Henderson

Cindy Hillmer

Heather Hooten

Deanne & Edward Idar

Virginia Jenks

Shirley & Tom Jones

Tamara & Peter Joslin

Annette & Bill LeMaire

Livia & Bob Lynch

Cheryl & Dan Lynn

Sherry Malone

Meredith & Jose Madrigal

Molly & Gregg Martin

Phyllis R. Max

Kathleen Meehan

Karina & Mason Miner

Amy Mosher MD

Pam & John Patton

Nancy Peake

Jim Peters

Beth Porter

LeeAnn & Fred Rader

Ellynn Ragone

Gary Rottman

Jill Schuman

Kicki Searfus

Anne Sheehan

Margit & Charles Squire

Jigger & Paul Staby

Sheri Teeter

Karen Thompson & Larry Eads

Jean & Brian Van Sickle

Bev & Sam Vaugh

Janet & Rich Wheeler

Janet & Chuck Williams

Wise and Reeves PLLC

2023 Festival Donors and Supporters

FRIEND

$100-$499

James Abbey

Julie Andersen

Anonymous

Adrienne & Michael Aronson

Dennis Aronson

The Arts Academy

Toini Babinski

Mary & Clint Barter

Sally & Vic Bellerue

Denise & David Bern

Vicky Biondi

Emily & Joseph Bodensteiner

Bill Bolden

Abby Bowen

Patty Brown

Adele & Curt Brown

Derek Brown

Julie & Charlie Brown

Heather & Paul Buddenhagen

Linda & Ron Bunk

Susan & Wayne Caplan

Phyllis & Tom Ceglia

Deb & Jerry Celmer

City of Durango

Community Support

Grant

Jan & Jerry Conrow

Suzie Cox

Bob Coyle

Louanne Crawford

Create Art & Tea

Curt Crowther

Barbara Dahl

Steven Danko

Carolyn Davis

Alex Dawson

Kandye & Scott Dille

Kristin Dills

Cathy & Paul Duggan

Joan & Tad Dunn

Ellingson Condie Family Trust

Lynn Eustance & Jim Adkins

Barbara & Martin Faigin

Bill Ferguson

Laurie Ford

Charles R. Freuden

Ulys & John Gardella

Brian Ginna

Margie & Will Gray

Gail & Richard Grossman

Carol & Al Harper

Wendy & Donald Hassemer

Elsa & Lee Horowitz

Carol & Larry House

Marcia Hull

Nancy & William Hunt

Cory & Bret Jameson

Barbara & Steve Johnson

Larry Johnson

Sondra Joyce & Paul Nazaryk

Connie & Mike Kane

Kelly & Rick Kniffin

Mary Koehn & John Cox

Charley & Larry Konz

Susan & Tim Kroes

Robert Lee

Sheila & Frank Lee

Denise & Charles Leslie

Joe Lewandowski

Lori & Jeff Londa

Look Up Accounting

Sonja & Greg Lough

Pat Love & Larry Parks

Lisa & Steve Mackey

The Thane Malison Charitable Fund

Rochelle Mann

Kristine & Darcy McCann

Lorraine & Hunter McCleary

Martha Minot

Brooke Mooney

Heather & Alex Morris

Jane & Richard Norton

Bo Nottingham

Robert Parker

Hilary & Roy Parker

Susan Parks & J.D.Watson

Marie & Phil Pearthree

Mary & John Pennington

Susan & Robert Pensec

Karen N. Perkins

Christine & Mike Phillips

Dianne & Richard Pratt

Katy Pytte {re}Love

Consign & Design

Judith Reynolds

Jean Richards

Suzanne & Bruce Rodman

Ruth & Bill Rosol

James Santos

Linda & David Scholes

Sarah & Gordon Shepherd

Jane & Steve Short

Annie & Doug Simonson

Gloria & David Smiley

Cary Smith & Alden Foster

David Smith

Dawn Spaeder

Jenny St. John

Kenneth Stilwell

Brad Tafoya

Dorothy & Bill Tarpley

Suzanne Tyrpak

Steve Weisberg

Barb & Paul Wirsching

Richard Witherspoon

Sue Woll & Mike Silver

Daryl & Jim Wotkyns

Laura & Michael Young

Jessica & Steve Zeller

Patti Zink

MEMORIAL/HONORARY CONTRIBUTIONS

In memory of John Anderson

Angie Beach & Rich Coulson

Shirley & Tom Jones

Brad Tafoya

In memory of Brad Burgess

Jacquelyn & Bryan Dear

In memory of Barb Cannon

Heather & Paul Buddenhagen

In memory of Mary Jane Clark

Angie Beach & Rich Coulson

Suzie Cox

Julie & Charlie Brown

Curt Crowther

Carolyn Davis

James Dulin

Martha Evers

James Foster

Ulys & John Gardella

Jayne & Bob Griffith

Carol & Al Harper

Larry Johnson

Susan Lander

Kristine & Darcy McCann

Ruth & Bill Rosol

Kenneth Stilwell

Dorothy & Bill Tarpley

Paul Urone

In honor of Walt Dear

Sarah & Gordon Shepherd

Patti Zink

In honor of Ann Flatten

Angie Beach & Rich Coulson

In honor of Gregory Hustis

Jenny St. John & Mischa Semanitzky

In honor of James P. McLaughlin

McLaughlin Family Charitable Fund

In memory of Byard Peake

Nancy Peake

In memory of David B. Reynolds

Judith Reynolds

In memory of Jill Ward

Mary Lyn & Richard Ballantine

Arnhild Buckhurst

Paul Cahill

Charlotte Coffen

Jacquelyn & Bryan Dear Katherine Freiberger & Larry Althouse

Laura Hawk

Cory & Bret Jameson

Shirley & Tom Jones

Charley & Larry Konz

Molly & Gregg Martin

Mary Nowotny

Mary & John Pennington

Susan & Robert Pensec

Gay & Ted Robson

Endowment

Contributions

Frederick C. & Margaret E. Henn Conductor’s Fund

Florence (Foxie) & Dick Mason

CURRENT ENCORE SOCIETY MEMBERS

Anonymous

Cissy Anderson

Debra Parmenter & Terry Bacon

Julia Dodd

Ann Flatten

James Foster

Katherine Freiberger

Lucia & Chuck Jenney

Florence (Foxie) Mason & Dick Mason (The Frederick C. & Margaret E. Henn Conductor’s Fund)

Michelle & Robert Oppenheimer

Carol & Gary Treat

VOLUNTEERS

Becca Arndt

Barbara Ayres

Kim Babcock

Bill Bolden

Ginny Brown

Luanna Castellano

Nanc Cole

Suzanne Cramer

2023 Festival Donors and Supporters

Jackie Creson

John Creson

Linda Crossett

Charlotte Deters

Carol Diver

Dan Doty

Jane Doty

Roberta Eickman

Melanie Ellison

Todd Ellison

Lou Fontana

Carlotta Frank

Nancy Galbraith

Paul Herz

Marilyn Hickey

Dan Hunt

Lindie Hunt

Sharon Jarrett

Amy Johnston

Gail Johnston

Karyn Jones

Rachel Kuss

Victor Locke

Nancy Mace

Thomas Mace

Madeline Marquardt

Margaret Martin

Margaret Mayer

Mary Moorehead

Carole Mower

Virginia Nanna

Kay Neal

Mary Ellen Newman

Liz Oetter

Susan Page

Annie Pare’

Susan Peabody

Trish Pegram

Jeffrey Peltz

Kristi Peltz

Joan Petersen

Linda Philp

Charles Plosser

Janet Plosser

Janice Prendergast

Mary Ramsay

Katherine Reynolds

Bruce Rodman

Katie Roseberry

Jenni Santopietro

Cathy Schadt

Steve Short

Gloria Smiley

Karen Spickard

Nancy Stoffer

Sherry Suenram

Robin Walsh

Will Walsh

Sue Weber

Charles Whyte

Maggie Whyte

Janine Wilkes

Rita Willmott

Karina Woodland

Eula Yancey

FESTIVAL PROMOTION

American General Media

Community Concert Hall, Fort Lewis College

Colorado.com

Durango.com

Durango Business Improvement

District (BID)

Durango Chamber of Commerce

Durango Herald

Durango Magazine

Durango Telegraph

Durango TV

Durango Welcome Center

Four Corners Broadcasting

KSJE

KSUT

KDUR

KWUF

Pagosa Springs Chamber of Commerce

Rocky Mountain PBS

WhatsHappening

Durango.com

Visit Durango

PHOTOGRAPHY

Paul Boyer

Julie Brown

Kara Cavalca

Cole Davis

Dwight Frankfather

Ri Ganey

Scott Griggs

Jonas Grushkin

Nick Manning

Christopher Marona

Branson Reynolds

Paige DeNier

Scott Smith

Pete Varney

MUSIC PUBLISHERS

Boosey and Hawkes

Bourne Co

EAM Publishers

Ediciones Joaquin Rodrigo

Edwin F. Kalmus

EMI Music

European American Music Distributors

Faber Music

G. Schirmer, Inc

Hal Leonard Corporation

Hawkes and Son

Ingo Luis Self Publishing

Lauren Keiser

Music Publishing

Lawdon Press

Luck’s Music Library

Peermusic

RAB Music

RUTVA Music Publishing

Schott Music

Sikorski Musikverlage

Simrock Original Edition

Thanks to the following for loaning us music from their library:

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

Erie Philharmonic

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Santa Fe Symphony

CONCERT VENUES

Boyle Park, Mancos

Buckley Park, Durango

Claire Viles Park, Durango

Community Concert Hall

Eagle Park, Bayfield

First Presbyterian Church, Durango

Fort Lewis College

Cottonwood Park, Durango

Glacier Club

Shoshone Park, Ignacio

Sky Ute Casino Events Center, Ignacio

Three Springs

Town Park, Pagosa Springs

PHYSICAL FACILITIES & TRANSPORTATION

City of Durango

Durango Fire & Rescue

Fort Lewis College

The Wells Group Real Estate

ONLINE AUCTION

Thank you to the artists and businesses that support Music in the Mountains with their generous gifts.

Allison Ragsdale

Photography

Artesanos

Bank of Colorado

Carver Brewing Company

City of Durango

Parks & Recreation

Colorado Restrung

Columbine Landscapes

Creede Repertory Theater

Dalton Ranch Golf Club

Kathy Deaderick

Durango Bluegrass

Meltdown

Durango & Silverton

Narrow Gauge Railroad

Durango Choral Society

Durango Dental

Durango Hot Springs

Durango Playfest

Durango Treasures

Eolus Bar & Dining

Eye D

Flying Fish Co, II

Four Leaves Winery

Fox Fire Farms

Gardenswartz Outdoors

Horsefly History Tours

Peter Giuliani

Glacier Club

Glacier Club Mineshaft Bar & Grill

Grassburger

Horsefly History Tours

Gregory & Julia Hustis

Jimmy’s Music & Supply

JW Marriot

Kaiut Yoga

Ancient Echoes at Kelly Place

KSUT

Liz Hogan & Keith Lucas

Mahogany Grille

The Oxford

Passion Flower Bouquet Farm

Pause Yoga and Pilates

{re}Love Consign & Design

Rocky Mountain Balloon Adventures

Salt 360 Float Studio

Carol Salomon

Sky Ute Casino Resort

Southwest Appliance

Still Life Café & Botanicals

Sun Sapphires

Sunnyside Farms Market

The Bookcase & Barber

The Glacier Club, Kimberly Lohre

The Santa Fe Symphony

Gordon & Dene Thomas

Toh-Atin Gallery

Urban Market

Vallecito Marina & Yacht Club

Viking River Cruises

Weminuche Woodfire Grill

Charles & Margaret Whyte

If we have omitted your name or listed your name incorrectly, please accept our sincere apologies and contact the Festival Office at 970.385.6820 so we can update our records.