Moab Music Festival Newsletter

Volume 12, Number 2, Fall 2008

We were particularly proud of the 2008 Festival. The balance of the new (the latest word on the Tango, the music of William Bolcom, John Musto, Derek Bermel) with the an-cient (Sephardic Spain) and the familiar (Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart) gave our concerts a wonderful scope, covering a great deal of musical territory. Our artists, from the familiar faces returning to the Festival to the exciting new talents making their debuts, performed with ex-traordinary depth and polish. We heard many comments that the artistic level of the Festival is as good as they come. 2009 is shaping up with a similar amount of musical variety, brilliant musicians, and spectacular natural venues. Our next newsletter will bring detailed news of the 2009 Festival. We are all going through volatile economic times right now. What we see in New York City is a deeper, more sincere connection to music from the audience. It seems that the cur-rent uncertainty has helped people re-focus their priorities, and look for an authentic emo-tional and spiritual experience, the kind many of us can experience in music. It gives us hope that many people share the value and power of great music, and we hope that you will support the Festival with your generosity now and attendance next year. The Festival has rewarded so many of us, connecting the greatest music with one of the earth’s greatest landscapes. It is now permanently in our hearts, and we hope that this union will find a place in yours as well.

A Note from the Co-Founders

Leslie TomkinsArtistic Director

Michael BarrettMusic Director

Thanks to our Volunteers! The Board, Staff and Artists shout a hearty Bravo! to our

volunteers for making the 2008 Festival a success.

Joyce Adair, Lanni Asay, Fritz Bachman, Emma Barrett, Jacque Beechel, Chad Beyer, Jean Binyon, Mike Binyon, Jennie Black, Kraig Black, Marvelee Brewer, Keith Brooks, Bill Charles, Alan Clark,

Chanel Crane, Sam Crane, Margaret Cochran, Laurie Collins, Alice Corning, Macey Dalton, Steve Damron, Tracye Davis, Pennellope Decaria, Alan Dennis, Wendy Dickson, Marilynn Dominy,

Jean Eardley, Sarah Fields, Susan Fralick, Lauren Fuller, Valerie Gardner, Joan Gough, Don Hamilton, Janice Hamilton, Jeri Hamilton, Danielle Hansen, Marlene Huckaby, Danette Johnson, Kaaron Jorgen, Carolyn King, Theresa King, Will King, Stephanie Lewis, Suzanne Lewis, Jim Lindheim, Kitty Marshall,

Anthony Mason, Charlotte Mates, Stephanie Meecham, Thea Nordling, Diana Pedley, Greg Poettgen, Judy Powers, Jay Prentiss, Fiona Raisin, Ron Regher, Wright Robinson, Sharifeh Robinson, Judy Rousso,

Rita Rumrill, Hank Rutter, Brooke Schultz, Rarni Schultz, Wes Shannon, Judi Simon, Kelly Stelter, Marge Stocks, Eve Stocks, Nancy Stohl, Tony Stohl, Marcia Tendick, Becky Thomas, Karissa Thomas,

Marc Thomas, Johnna Tipton, Sheila Todd, Merina Tonninelli, Janeen Torres, Nichole Torres, Karla Vanderzanden, Shar Wayment, Irene Werginz, Nichole Whitney, Carly Williams, Anne Wilson,

Suzan Woodward, Maggie Wyatt

Eleven year old Carl Stoye came to Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge for the August 30 concert with his parents and sister to join grandmother Kaye Stoye (a Festival supporter since its inception). Carl, who has been study-ing the alto sax, was excited to see the Jazz Master Paquito D’Rivera perform. But he had no idea that a simple weekend trip would create an unforgettable encounter between a small boy and a world-class musician. During the intermission of the concert Carl got to meet Paquito. Paquito lamented that Carl would not get to see him play the sax

during the program, because his own alto sax was home in New Jersey. As tales of synchronicity tend to go, Carl said to Paquito, “I have an alto sax”. “At home?” Paquito asked. “No.” Carl replied, “In the car.” So the great Paquito D’Rivera bor-rowed Carl’s instrument for the rest of the con-cert and for the Labor Day Family Picnic Con-cert. As a “thank you” Paquito autographed Carl’s instrument case, leaving the boy with a permanent memory of how he “saved the show” at the Moab Music Festival.

Paquito and the Sax

Listening to Messiaen’s solo piano masterwork Vingt Regards Sur L’enfant Jesus(roughly “Twenty Views of the Infant Jesus”) is a challenge for an audience. The twenty “views” are actu-ally twenty different move-ments of varying lengths. If played without interruption, it runs over 2 hours. The stu-dious listener can follow with a score card, since each view is quite distinct and full of reli-gious significance (View of the Father, View of the Cross, the View of the Terrible Unction, etc.). One could imagine hours and hours of musical/religious dialogues at Julliard over the structure and meaning of each of its parts. When Christopher Taylor performed Vingt Regards in the grotto on August 28, he somehow made this complex masterwork ac-cessible and even embracing. Seated alone on the red sand “stage,” he gave the audience the titles of the movements in pairs of two or three and took a break after the first ten. But what was clear from the very first notes was that he was truly one with this music. He played it all by memory, and his entire body was involved in the playing. From the moment he turned from his audience chat back to his instrument, he and the piano were one thing

– a powerful embodiment of Messaien’s vi-sion. Never has playing “by heart” been more literally true.

The musical styles were all over the map. Sweet and gentle, harsh and demand-ing, a little jazzy, a pounding agony, and then glorious and uplifting. In every genre, Tay-lor was comfortable and con-fident. He changed with every “view.” All of this was taking place on a warm afternoon in “nature’s perfect concert hall” – a perfect setting for an in-tensely spiritual piece of mu-sic. As is often the case, the

ravens and magpies occasionally helped the music along. But the setting also helped the accessibility of the music. No one was track-ing this with a score card – it was the most natural of happenings, washing over listeners, thrilling them with every nuance that a piano can offer. Comfortably chatting with audience members after his virtuoso performance, Tay-lor seemed like a different person. Warm, engaging, dad of two little girls – not a math-ematical and musical genius. Not the person whose incredible talent had just astounded and deeply gratified his audience.

Christopher Taylor on the Rocks

Franck Revolution When Music Director Michael Bar-rett told the audience at Onion Creek to stay in their seats for a little “surprise,” he said he had never seen anything like it in his entire career. A group of artists were demanding the opportunity to play a piece. It was like a revo-lution. Here is the story. Patrons at the September 4 Colorado River Benefit Concert had enjoyed an exhila-rating performance of Cesar Franck’s Quintet in f minor for Piano and String. Violinists Ma-ria Bachmann and Ayano Ninomiya, violist LP How and cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach joined pianist Andrew Armstrong to send the audi-ence back up river in a swirl of surging melo-dies and lush harmonies as only this master-piece of high Romantic chamber music can deliver. The musicians felt such a strong con-nection to the music and so enjoyed play-ing with each other that they decided they weren’t done with the Franck just yet. They simply had to do it again. They went to Michael Barrett and asked for a chance to play the piece again. Or should we say, they descended on his con-do like “Franck Revolutionaries,” only lacking scythes and pitchforks and threatening the guillotine. But what could Michael do? The pro-

grams for the rest of the weekend were set and they were very full. And yet, how could we not share this wonderful gesture by these musicians with our Festival audience? Michael came up with a solution wor-thy of Solomon. Rather than play the entire 40-minute piece, the artists could play one movement – of their own choosing. At the end of the concert, as the ap-plause for Derek Bermel’s atmospheric Soul Garden was fading, Michael came on stage, told the story of the musicians’ joy in their col-laboration and in the music and invited the audience to stay for an encore. Everyone settled back into their seats and were treated to a passionate performance

of the last movement of Franck’s Piano Quin-tet. The Revolution was over, and the Festival patrons were the winners.

My hosts - a fiesty couple - were kind and generous. They lent me a bicycle so that I could check out some of the local scenery during my stay. One of my favorite excur-sions was the stunning bike trip down Kane Creek Road. Pedaling around a bend, the majestic Colorado River suddenly swung into view on my right. Here, aside from a few scattered campgrounds, I was serenely alone, feeling the dry breeze whistling through my ears, half-expecting to spot a mountain goat perched atop the high, precarious terrain on

the opposite shore. The venues where we performed were equally spectacular: The Grotto, Onion Creek, and Castle Valley each comprised a unique manifestation of the majestic red rock land-scape of Southeastern Utah. Concert music seemed quirky, yet perfectly natural, in these poetic surroundings. The inherent tension between the awesome and the humble, the contemporary and the prehistoric, the sonic and the silent, helps to make the Moab Music Festival unforgettable.

Musical Memories by Composer & Clarinetist Derek Bermel

Thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, the Moab Music Festival was able to present a morning Open Rehearsal Conversa-tion featuring Festival Composer-in-Residence William Bolcom and composer/clarinetist Derek Bermel. Moderated by Music Director Michael Barrett and held at Star Hall, the Open Re-hearsal Conversation was the perfect venue for Bolcom and Bermel to preview pieces to be performed during the Festival Onion Creek concert, and to discuss with audience mem-bers the popular genres which inspired their compositions. After a brief introduction by Michael Barrett, Bolcom took the stage with pianist Andrew Armstrong and violinist Maria Bach-mann. They waited patiently to rehearse Bolcom’s Second Violin Sonata as he regaled the small audience with stories of attending college with the poet Theodore Roethke and studying with Darius Milhaud at Mills Col-lege. Bolcom shared with the audience that he had always wanted to play the violin, and to write a piece for the violin that would cel-ebrate the work of the great jazz violinist, Joe

Venuti. A few minutes later, as Armstrong and Bachmann played, Star Hall was infused with sounds reminiscent of the great Venuti. Composer Derek Bermel, a student of William Bolcom’s has said, in his blog Inspi-rations, “Bill, in his infinite (or perhaps finite, but substantial) wisdom, awakened in me a feeling of gratitude for having been the ves-sel for the creation of a work of art, an act of great spiritual power.” Bermel took the stage, following the rehearsal by Armstrong and Bachmann, and spoke to the audience about creating a piece of great spiritual power. Soul Garden stars the viola at its most hauntingly beautiful and was inspired by the sounds and quality of Afri-can-American gospel music. The sensual and stirring Soul Garden, a string sextet, was per-formed by violist, Leslie Tomkins, cellist Alex-is Pia Gerlach, and violinists LP How, Maria Bachmann and Ayano Ninomiya. The Open Rehearsal Conversation was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius and was open to the public with a free ticket.

NEA Sponsors Open Rehearsal with Acclaimed Composers

On September 12 when Moab Charter School student Bates Lawson came home from school, his mother asked what he had learned that day. “More about com-post,” he re-s p o n d e d . When pressed, Bates told his mother that the rest of the morning was spent at a school assembly with (face lighting

up) “Rockin’ good music.” Bates Lawson was one of more than 800 students from Red Rock Elementary, HMK Intermediate and the Moab Charter School who traveled on a musical journey through Judeo-Spanish musical traditions guided by traditional artists Paul Woodiel, Christopher Layer, Steve Gibb and Festival newcomers Mathias Kunzli, Basya Schechter and Greg Heffernan. Grand County Middle and High School students also heard Festival musicians perform on August 29. Flutist Marco Grana-dos, pianist Emilio Solla, bandoneon player Raul Juarena, violinist Tim Fain and bassist Pablo Aslan performed traditional as well as Nuevo Tango music for students. 2008 Fes-tival School Assemblies reached over 1400 students and teachers during the Festival.

School Assemblies Make Rockin’ Good Music

While our house was being construct-ed, the workers put a basketball hoop at the end of the “great room” and played pick-up games in the space. Usually, they kept a boom box in there as well, turning it to full volume to blast a pulsating, heavy-metal rock music. They thought their basketball court would become a living room. They didn’t know that they were designing a chamber music venue. This year’s house concert proved what a high quality venue they crafted for music making. Chamber music historically was per-formed in small rooms (“chambres”), not in concert halls. It has been called “making mu-sic among friends” not only because of the unique demands on the musicians to work as a harmonic team but also because of the in-timacy of the audience experience. Close to the musicians. Close to the music.

Michael Barrett chose two wonderful classical pieces for this year’s house concert: Brahms Trio in a minor for clarinet, cello and piano and a Mendels-sohn string q u i n t e t . Neither is exactly an “old saw” but both have all the rich harmonies and classi-cal struc-tures that make them seem like old friends. During the afternoon, we could hear the artists rehearsing. All seemed to be going well. Except for cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach. For reasons that my untrained ear could not detect, she was not happy with where she was. So after the other musicians had retired

from sight, she stayed planted in the center of the living room working out whatever de-mons she felt she possessed. Guests started to arrive, and she played on, not only filling the living room with lovely solo cello music but also providing a splendid backdrop to the cocktail event on the lawn. I had planned to put some Philip Glass on the stereo for the cocktails (to contrast with the coming mu-sic), but Alexis kept playing and playing. The sound of the solo cello was exceptional. It was as if the walls themselves had become part of the instrument. Then there was the concert itself. It was one of those goosebump - producing musical experiences. There was the sumptuous clari-net playing of Derek Bermel along with Alexis (who had definitely beat her demons) and Mi-chael Barrett at the piano. And then the glo-rious harmonies of the Mendelssohn. About halfway through, my eyes actually welled with tears at what I was hearing. The artistry was

perfect --- particular-ly the lead v i o l i n i s t A y a n o N i n o m i -ya. It was as if we were all in-side Men-delssohn’s h e a d —h e a r i n g e x a c t l y what he wanted us to hear. The next

morning I put some chamber music on the stereo and tried to blast it like the workers’ boom box. It was loud but it wasn’t the same thing at all. Nothing equates with live instru-ments played by talented musicians in the center of that room. I guess it’s time for me to get really serious about my piano playing. And get friendly with a cellist.

Music in Our Living Room by Jim Lindheim

Take a group of obsessive-compulsive, temperamental people (that would be us– the musicians) and put them all together under pressure. More often than not, dramas and personal tensions ensue. But this was not the case in this year’s Moab Music Festival. Instead, I observed countless examples of my colleagues expressing their support for each other and experiencing a genuine excited pleasure in their work. There was the house concert out in Castle Valley. After listening to colleagues Alexis Pia Gerlach, Der-ek Bermel, and Michael Barrett play possi-bly one of the most beautiful performances of the Brahms Clarinet Trio one could hear, I performed in a Mendelssohn Quintet. Happy after our performance, I joined the other mu-

sicians in the cozy “back stage” bedroom and burst out spontaneously, “It just doesn’t get better than this.” Alexis and violinist Ayano Ninomiya looked up from packing up their instruments, and said. “We were JUST saying that!” A moment of shared happy satisfaction with what we had accomplished together. Rehearsals can sometimes bring up conflicts, hurt feelings and power struggles be-tween musicians. Often we will let off steam by walking away with a colleague, harshly complaining about whatever -- the light-ing, the temperature, or somebody’s tone of voice. After an intense rehearsal in Star Hall, I was walking out to my car and saw violinist Maria Bachmann in a passionate conversation with new-to-the-festival pianist Andrew Arm-strong. I hurried up to catch the nature of the complaint. But it turns out that Maria was enthusiastically saying to Andrew, “This really is a fun festival, isn’t it?” I would have to agree.

Musical Memories by Cellist Tanya Tomkins

One couldn’t help but wonder wheth-er a hurdy-gurdy had ever been played at the confluence of the Dolores and Colorado Rivers. Indeed, hear-ing bagpipes and ancient Celtic tunes at this spot seemed incon-gruous. And, yet, it all seemed to come together so comfortably. Just below the place where these two great rivers converge, on the evening of September 9, patrons en-joyed the Festival’s first Ranch Benefit Event, A diverse collection of Moab folk and out-of-towners gathered on the lawn of Cot-tonwood Bend Ranch. They delighted in a gourmet buffet of appetizers prepared by Center Cafe as well as a variety of delicious

wines. The atmosphere was relaxed and the conversations engaging, so much so that it was hard to get the audience to stroll over to the tent for what turned out to be a fasci-nating Celtic musical journey through France -- from Brittany across to the Loire valley into the heart of Limousin and the Auvergne re-gions. Paul Woodiel, performing on fiddle and making his Festival “debut” on hurdy-gurdy, was joined by Christopher Layer on flutes and bagpipes. Steve Gibb’s guitars provided the underpinning for the gavottes, bourees and mazurkas of these ancient Celtic areas. For a few special selections they added their singing voices in perfect harmony. And even the ranch “dinner bell” made a special appearance with something of a spine chill-

ing result. It seems that the word confluence has many meanings. That night it was not only the flowing together of two rivers, it was also the intermingling of intriguing music, good food, and diverse people.

Confluence at the Confluence

Sshh! It’s a secret. Where exactly did those 43 people go for their Musical Walk? They were seen gathering at the parking lot of the Eastern Utah Community Credit Union and reappeared there a couple of hours later. But no one is revealing where they went. Unnamed sources have provided some limited off –the-record information. The walk itself was about 15 minutes up a large dry wash. At the end, a little scramble up a rock dam landed the adventuresome troupe in a large shaded area where flooding had carved a massive overhang, a natural stage and had provided many opportunities for comfortable seating. It was a Bach to Bach program.

Tanya Tomkins had gamely carried her antique baroque cello up the wash and introduced the group to the important char-acteristics it has versus the modern cello. All of that was prelude to her lovely performance of Bach’s Suite No.1 for solo cello. The natu-ral little amphitheater was without echo. The unusual sound of the antique instrument was crystal clear in the still air.

Jesse Mills, who had been sitting like

a old cat on a rock in the sun during Tanya’s performance, then descended to the “stage”

to thrill the audi-ence with Bach’s Partita No. 3 for solo violin. At the beginning, he claimed to be “freezing cold”, but the heat of his powerful playing warmed up both artist and audi-ence. Like Tanya, he then answered

people’s questions about his instrument and the piece he had just played. Our secret sources claim that this was a brilliant music in concert with the landscape experience in all respects – the hike in and out, the intimacy of the site, the interaction with the artists, the quality of the performanc-es. But everyone remains mum about the actual locale. Festival officials have refused to confirm or deny that they might go Bach there for next year’s Musical Walk.

The Mysterious Musical Walk

2008 Summer Artist-in-Residence Christopher Layer returned in Au-gust as 2008 Summer Community Artist-in-Residence. He helped the Moab Commu-nity Dance Band prepare for their Fall Contra Dance. The dance featured guest-caller Pat To-gnoni from Colorado and a special appearance by compos-er/clarinetist Derek Ber-mel. More than 30 Con-tra Dancers whirled to the Dance Band’s lively tunes and Pat’s wit-ty calls. The event benefited Festival Educa-tion and Community Outreach programs. The Dance Band dates back to 2004, when Christo-

pher, as part of the Artist-in-Residence program ,inspired community members to form this “instrumental” part of Moab’s cultural scene. During his residency, Christopher also joined local musicians for two Slow Jam Sessions (opportunities for musicians of all abilities to make music together), and led Sight Reading and Sight Singing Seminars, where he helped improve ear training, mu-sic reading, improvisation and rhythm skills. He also served as a guest host on KZMU’s Desert Dance program, which explored the sonic kaleidoscope of dance music from around the world. We anticipate Christopher will return to Moab as Community Artist-in-Residence in January 2009 to organize the annual Rabbie Burns Birthday Tribute and other residency activities.

“I feel so happy to have experienced this superb concert” and “A fabulous expe-rience for my bucket list” are just two com-ments appearing on 2008 Moab Music Festi-val surveys. Each year the Moab Music Festival passes out surveys to patrons attending con-certs. It’s our hope that patrons will take ad-vantage of the survey as a way to let us know more about the experience of attending mu-sic in concert with the landscape. The survey is also extremely important to the Festival be-cause it gives us more knowledge about our patrons – allowing us to report that informa-tion when applying for grants and reporting to our funding partners and our Board of Direc-tors about the success of each festival. Survey results show that 46% of pa-trons attending the Moab Music Festival were new patrons, while 54% were return visitors. 22% of patrons come directly from Moab; 21% come from Utah but from outside of Moab, while the remaining 57% come from Out-of-State. Moab Music Festival patrons enjoy a host of activities when in Moab attending the

Festival. Survey results show that Festival pa-trons are avid hikers (48%) and enjoy din-ing out in local restaurants and cafes (56%), golfing, touring National Parks, boating on the Colorado River (11%), cycling (10%), 4WD touring (8%), shopping in local stores (33%) and participating in other arts events (15%). The Survey also asked patrons how they felt about the Festival. Our highest scores came under the categories of “Quality of Per-formances” and “Quality of Sound”. Patrons also considered locations and venues to be very important in their choice of concerts to attend. We also recieved some good sugges-tions, such as how helpful it is to have com-posers at concerts speak about their work, and to continue to serve or sell wine and hors d’oeuvres at intermission. Please consider completing a survey during the next Moab Music Festival concert you attend. It only takes a few minutes to fill out, but will continue to serve the Festival in learning more about our audience and how we can improve the experience of attending the Festival for the future.

Patrons Tell Festival A Thing or Two

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Save the Date17th Annual Festival

September 3 - 19, 2009