Thank You to Our Community

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Within the 15-minute meeting, everyone had a plan and jumped on the old Challenger lift to create one last memory with her. Complete with headlamps on, the team started building the venue.

We told the coaches the night before about the plan at the Team Captains’ meeting and asked for their help. They were kind of looking at us like we were crazy, and it didn’t seem like they had much faith we would pull the race off. But as our crew started setting up, a wave of coaches from across the country showed up to lend a hand. By 9:10 a.m., the jury was able to confirm the schedule and we opened the course inspection on time. We set up more than 200 rolls of B-net and prepared the track in less than three hours.

By noon, the sun was out and so was our community to support. The crowd was awesome, and the venue looked spectacular. Three SVSEF athletes were in the top five that day with Finnigan Donley winning the U21 National Championship in Super G. After the races, the crew met at the yurt and hugged and laughed. Just 24 hours before, it seemed as though all the hard work by so many for months was about to go down the drain. But we never stopped trying and our community came together to pull it off.

On the day after hosting U.S. Nationals, it felt weird driving to Warm Springs only to look up and not see B-net on Greyhawk. I missed seeing the venue we built together and its beauty. I missed the camaraderie with the team. Cleaning the yurt that morning, I realized the venue will never look the same again with the changes coming to Warm Springs. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m stoked for the upgrades, and it’s totally needed; but these weeks were the last races on Greyhawk and Challenger. This is the first time since I’ve lived here that something is going to change that I care about and am connected to. I’m new to this feeling of change that so many locals know too well, but I sure am going to miss 10 and 7.

This event has been inspiring to be a part of. It simply doesn’t happen to this level without a group of people that find joy in being a part of something bigger than oneself.

I can’t thank Sun Valley Company enough for their support in bringing this event to our community. I can’t thank our community enough for their sacrifice and support for the sport I love. For those of you that put in time over the weeks to support, I can’t thank you enough. For others in our community that find ski racing a nuisance, thank you for your sacrifice as well and I appreciate you putting up with us. I love ski racing and snow sports and it takes all of us coming together to be good at it.

Our valley has the opportunity to consistently be one of the best venues in ski racing in the world. It is so fun to be a part of this!

THANK YOU!

Sun Valley Music Festival Announces New Associate Conductor

The Sun Valley Music Festival is pleased to announce that Stephanie Childress has been appointed as its new Associate Conductor. Childress is a rising star in the classical music world and has appeared with major orchestras throughout Europe and the United States. She currently serves as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Associate Conductor and as Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. She’ll make her Sun Valley Music Festival debut this summer, conducting works during the August 4, 10, 14, and 17 concerts. Additionally, she will be working with students at the Festival’s Music Institute and hosting Pre-Concert Chats before select summer performances at the Pavilion.

Music Director Alasdair Neale comments, “I’m delighted to introduce Stephanie Childress as our new Associate Conductor. Stephanie is a prodigiously gifted musician and an immensely thoughtful artist with an impressively wide range of interests. I eagerly look forward to our collaboration and know that she will be given the warmest of Sun Valley welcomes.”

Since winning 2nd prize at the inaugural La Maestra International Competition in 2020, Childress has conducted major opera companies and orchestras worldwide, including the Paris Mozart Orchestra, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and New World Symphony Orchestra. She has served as St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Associate Conductor since 2021 and has fulfilled similar roles with Opera de Paris, English National Opera, and at Glyndebourne Festival. Her 2023/24 season highlights include conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Glyndebourne, his Abduction from the Seraglio with the Hamburg State Opera, and Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves with the Detroit Opera. She also makes a return appearance with the North Carolina Symphony and will debut with the orchestras of Cleveland, Detroit, and Ottawa.

Childress will take to the Sun Valley Pavilion stage for the first time during the Festival’s 39th annual Summer Season, this July 30-Aug. 24, conducting Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones Concertantes on Aug. 4, Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony on Aug. 10, Sibelius’s Finlandia on Aug. 14, and excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty on Aug. 17. She’ll also host Pre-Concert Chats, held 45 minutes before most Festival concerts at the Pavilion. The chats, which are held at the paver bar on the Pavilion lawn, are a great way to learn more about the music and gain each host’s unique take on works to be performed before the concert begins. Childress will also work with students at the Festival’s Music Institute and will conduct the Advanced Chamber Orchestra during the education concerts at the Pavilion on Aug. 11.

All summer Festival concerts are admission-free, except for the Aug. 8 fundraising Gala Concert, and take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Sun Valley Pavilion (300 Dollar Rd., Sun Valley, Idaho). While some seats in the Pavilion may be reserved in advance by donors at certain giving levels, great seats are always available to the public in both the Pavilion and on the lawn. For concert dates, details, and up-to-date information on attending, visit the Festival website at svmusicfestival. org or sign up for e-news at svmusicfestival.org/subscribe to receive the latest season updates by email.

Friday & Saturday, May 5 & 6, 2023 7 pm

Sunday, May 7, 2023 2 pm

Tickets $10 Limited

SVSEF Freeski Team Brings Passion, Talent, and Heart to USASA Freeski Nationals

George Corkery, left, and Zeppelin Pilaro, right, represented SVSEF in the Youth Men category. Corkery showed some serious character after taking a nasty fall in training and chipping a tooth. He came back to compete and posted a respectable score and a ninth-place finish in his qualifying heat. Pilaro put down an insane run featuring a massive double cork 1260 with a mute grab, but unfortunately fell on a rail and was unable to make it through to finals. Photo courtesy of SVSEF