Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — It has been 20 years since Strings in the Mountains hosted its first concert in the Yampa Valley.

Since then, the famed music festival has grown to include about 80 concerts a summer that draw more than 30,000 music lovers.

"You kind of go, 'Where has it gone?'" said Kay Clagett, CEO of Strings. "Twenty years goes by in the blink of an eye."

A free Community Day is from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday to help celebrate Strings in the Mountains' 20th anniversary. The celebration includes two free concerts from country band Riders in the Sky, a mariachi band performance, face painting, a clown and other activities for children.

"It's going to be a great afternoon," said Julie Taulman, a spokeswoman for Strings. "This is our way of giving back to the community and to celebrate what will be a great summer season."

Clagett said Friday also will be an opportunity for the community to see construction plans for a permanent Strings in the Mountains pavilion, which is being built where the current music tent is.

"We're taking our 20th year and giving ourselves an opportunity to look back and to look forward," Clagett said.

Strings began in 1988 under the direction of John Sant'Ambrogio, Betse Grassby and Clagett, who decided a classical music festival was just what Steamboat Springs needed.

"It has succeeded our wildest expectations," Clagett said Wednesday.

The music series has evolved into a summer-long schedule of concerts featuring some of the most talented musicians from around the world. About 45 of the series' concerts are free to the public, she said.

"We're really one of the most widely-recognized music festivals in the nation because of our variety," Clagett said. "We have concerts for every musical taste and age in a casual, comfortable, beautiful mountain setting. The Strings Tent can easily turn into a wonderful party."

Clagett said there are eight spotlight concerts this summer, including classical concerts by Olga Kern and Jon Kimura Parker and Ida Kavafian as well as Different Tempo concerts by Brent Rowan and Friends and Kathy Mattea.

For more information or to purchase tickets for upcoming concerts, call 879-5056 or visit www.stringsinthemountains.com.

- To reach Alexis DeLaCruz, call 871-4234

or e-mail adleacruz@steamboatpilot.com