Popular Genres Transform American Chamber Music:Pulitzer Prize Winner William Bolcom is

Composer-in-Residence

The 2008 Festival’s second weekend (September 4 – 7) highlights the exhila-rating ways popular genres like jazz, ragtime, blues and Latin zarzuela inspired 2008 Festival Composer-in-Resi-dence William Bolcom to transform contemporary Ameri-can chamber music.

The Saturday September 6 A Celebration of American Chamber Music at Onion Creek will feature Bolcom both as composer and pianist as he performs his own Piano Rags, as well as rags by Scott Joplin. Jazz influences in Bolcom’s music will be on display as the Trio Solisti’s Maria Bachmann and Festival newcomer Andrew Armstrong perform Bolcom’s lyrical Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 2 - In Memory of Joe Venuti (Venuti was the father of the jazz violin).

A Celebration of American Chamber Music also displays an important branch of Bolcom’s “coaching tree” when former student Derek Bermel’s Soul Gar-den for Solo Viola and String Quintet, is performed by Bachmann, Festival debutant and Naumburg prizewinner violinist Ayano Ninomiya, LP How, Alexis Pia Gerlach,Tanya Tomkins and soloist Leslie Tomkins. Bolcom’s teacher Darius Milhaud’s way of transforming popular music adds Brazilian spice to the evening in Saudades do Brazil.

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Moab Music Festival Newsletter Volume 12, Number 1, Summer 2008

2008 Festival Artists:

Paul Appleby, tenor Andrew Armstrong, piano Edward Arron, cello Pablo Aslan, bass Maria Bachmann, violin Michael Barrett, piano Derek Bermel, composer, clarinet Matt Boehler, bass William Bolcom, Composer-in-Residence, piano Paquito D’Rivera, clarinet Timothy Fain, violin Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello Steve Gibb, guitar Karen Gomyo, violin Marco Granados, flute Paul Hersh, piano L P How, viola Mathias Kunzli, percussion Christopher Layer, flutes, bagpipesBecca Jo Loeb, mezzo-sopranoPatrick Mason, baritone Jessie Mills, violinJoan Morris, mezzo-soprano Ayano Ninomiya, violin Fernando Otero, piano Basya Schechter, voice, oud David Shimoni, piano Axel Strauss, violin Christopher Taylor, piano Leslie Tomkins, viola Tanya Tomkins, celloEric Zivian, piano

Festival Staff:

Michael BarrettMusic Director

Leslie TomkinsArtistic Director

Andrew YaroshExecutive Director

Rex HolmanOperations Director

Ann DaltonAdministrative/

Box Office Manager

Aubrey DavisExternal Relations Manager

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Help Make it Happen – Give Generously!

Encore ClubIf you’re coming to the 2008 Festival, join the Encore Club and get a seat “close to the action”

with a Priority Seating card at one or all of the concerts you attend this year. Higher levels of membership to the Encore Club also get you an invitation to a casual Artist Party where you can meet our performers.

If this isn’t your year to come to the desert, join the Encore Club as a way of showing your support for music in concert with the landscape, for our School Assemblies which reach every child enrolled in the Grand County School District,

and for our year-round Artist-in-Residence programs.

Gordon Tomkins EndowmentTo help secure the future of the Festival consider a gift to the Gordon Tomkins Endowment.

For more information please contact Andrew E. Yarosh, Executive Director at andrew@moabmusicfest.org.

435.259.7003www.moabmusicfest.org

58 East 300 South Moab, UT 84532

William

Bolcom

by Katryn C

onlin

Onion Creek Concert Photo by Neal Herbert © 2008

William Bolcom from page 1

An “unrepentant eclectic”, Bolcom concertised with Eubie Blake, studied with the French classical com-poser Milhaud, gained recognition as a leader of the ragtime revival of the 1970’s and with his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris championed concert performances of the 20th century American popular song. His symphonies, concertos, chamber music, operas and cabaret songs have been commissioned by the Boston Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Guarneri Quartet and the Chicago Lyric Opera.

Bolcom’s latest creation, the zarzuela styled comic pocket opera Lucrezia, will be heard in Star Hall on Friday, September 5. Bolcom, Bermel and Michael Barrett will also appear in Star Hall on Friday Septem-ber 5 at 11:00 a.m. at a free (tickets required) Open Rehearsal Conversation.

Tickets for this unique evening available at our Box Office (435-259-7003) and at www.moabmusicfest.org

Western U.S Première of Operas Brings Broadway Star to Moab Music Festival

Friday, September 5 marks the Western U.S. première of the two comic chamber pocket operas Bastianello and Lucrezia.

Soprano Lisa Vroman, who sang Christine in the Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera, will appear with University of Colorado professor, bari-tone Patrick Mason and emerging stars: tenor Paul Appleby, mezzo-so-prano Becca Jo Loeb and bass Matt Boehler in the cast.

Lucrezia, by Composer-in-Residence William Bolcom, is a “riff” on Ma-chiavelli’s La Mandragola. It’s a wickedly funny seduc-tion satire, retold from the viewpoint of the story’s wise and captivating heroine. Bolcom’s score is re-plete with the Latin colors which make zarzuela so popular in Mexico and South America. Bastianello, by popular Festival artist John Musto, is a bittersweet marriage fable of love and folly set in 18th century rural Italy.

Tickets for this rolicking Italian romp available at our Box Office (435-259-7003) and at www.moabmusicfest.org

Colorado River Benefit Concerts - Tickets Available

Guests of this memorable event begin their concert experience by arriving at the Potash dock mid-morn-ing. They board the jet boat for a 40 minute trip down the winding Colorado River. Stepping off the boat into an all but invisible opening in the low river brush and traversing a short path, guests emerge into the middle of a cavernous red rock grotto, soni-cally perfect, visually awesome, and settle in for the Festival’s signature event, the Colorado River Benefit Concert.

• August 28: Virtuoso pianist Christopher Taylor per-forms Olivier Messiaen’s transcendent Vingt regards

sur l’Enfant Jésus (Twenty Views of the Infant Jesus). Music Director Michael Barrett called this “the ul-timate test of pianism and artistry”. Taylor will perform the ethereal 176 page score from memory.

• September 4: Magnetic composer/clarinetist Der-ek Bermel performs his Thracian Sketches for solo Clarinet. Maria Bachman and Alexis Pia Gerlach of Trio Solisti join Andrew Armstrong, LP How, Ayano Ninomi-ya, Leslie Tomkins and Tanya Tom-kins for Franck’s brilliant Quintet for Piano and Strings in f minor. Brahms’ rhapsodic second Sonata for Clarinet and Piano completes the afternoon.

• September 11: Leslie Tomkins and Jesse Mills team up for Rebecca Clarke’s gypsy-tinged Dumka for

Violin, Viola and Piano. The Zivian-Tomkins Duo thrill with Beethoven’s late Sonata Op. 102 for Cello and Piano and team up with violinist Axel Strauss in Ravel’s exciting and im-pressionistic a minor Piano Trio. This is sure to be an unforgettable expe-rience of music in concert with the landscape.

Tickets $300 per person, ($175 tax-deductible) available at our Box Office (435-259-7003) and at www.moabmusicfest.org

Derek Bermel Chosen for 2008 Gordon Tomkins Chair

Leslie Tomkins and Michael Barrett have selected com-poser / clarinetist Derek Bermel as the 2008 recipient of the Gordon Tom-kins Chair; choosing Bermel both for his extraordinary accomplishments as a composer and performer, as well as for his commitment to music educa-tion.

The Tomkins Chair was established to honor the memory of Leslie’s father, the late Dr. Gordon Tom-

kins, who was a gifted scientist and mu-sician. The Tomkins Chair endowment makes it possible for us to bring musi-cians of exceptional talent to the Moab Music Festival.

Hailed for his creativity, theatricality and virtuosity as both composer and performer, Derek Bermel filters the sounds of the world through his musical palette. From complex Bulgarian melodies in Tied Shifts, to Irish bagpipes coupled with Led Zepplin-inspired riffs in Voices, Bermel’s music reflects myriad folk tradi-tions within a sophisticated style.

Festival musicians will perform one of Bermel’s major compositions, Soul Garden for Solo Viola and String Quintet in the Festival Tent at Onion Creek beneath Fisher Towers at the Saturday, September 6, A Cel-ebration of American Chamber Music concert where Bermel will also play the second movement of Com-poser-in-Residence William Bolcom’s Concerto for Clarinet and Piano.

At the Thursday, September 4 Colorado River Benefit Concert, Bermel will perform his haunting Thracian Sketches for solo Clarinet and Brahms vibrant Sonata Op. 120 No. 2 in E-Flat Major. At the House Ben-efit Concert on Sunday, September 7, Bermel will be joined by Andrew Armstrong and Alexis Pia Gerlach of Trio Solisti for Brahms’ Op. 114 Trio in a minor.

Inaugural Ranch Benefit Concert to Feature Paul Woodiel, Christopher Layer and Steve Gibb

Join us on Tuesday, September 9, at a private ranch north of Moab for our first Ranch Ben-efit Concert. This glorious riverside location provides the perfect setting for an intimate program of traditional gems from the Celtic repertoire of the rocky Breton coast, the Loire valley, Limousin and the Auvergne regions of the Massif Central.

Long time collaborators Paul Woodiel and Christopher Layer, together with brilliant guitarist Steve Gibb will delight patrons in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served.

Tickets $100 per person, ($75 tax-deductible) available at the Box Office (435-259-7003) and at www.moabmusicfest.org

You also don’t want to miss….

• Festival Opening Night at Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge. Hear Christopher Taylor’s scintil-lating collaboration with Karen Gomyo, Leslie Tomkins and Edward Arron in Martinu’s virtuoso Piano Quartet. Friday August 29, Tim Fain also performs.

• Buenos Aires Now: Tango After Piazzolla. Paquito D’Rivera, Marco Granados, Fernando Otero and Pablo Aslan return to Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge on Saturday, Au-gust 30 for a sensuous evening of music inspired by the modern tango.

• Piano Talk’s Paul Hersh trailblazes an in-depth jour-ney through Beethoven’s first and last Vio-lin Sonatas. Virtuoso violinist Axel Strauss assists on Wednesday, September 10 at Star Hall.

• Crypto Judaica: Paul Woodiel’s Mediterranean mu-sical cruise of the Sephardic diaspora with Christopher Layer and Basya Schechter from Pharaoh’s Daughter at Sorrell River Ranch Resort & Spa on Friday, September 12.

• The Festival Finale September 13 at Sorrel River Ranch Resort and Spa. Violinists Axel Strauss and Jesse Mills help bring chamber music masterpieces to the Pa-vilion for the first time as timeless com-positions by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Dvorák close the season.

Tickets for these concerts available at our Box Office (435-259-7003) and at www.moabmusicfest.org

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