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Strings music lineup announced

Chang to open season; new bathrooms added to pavilion

Margaret Hair
Singer-songwriter Marc Cohn is scheduled to play for the Strings Music Festival’s Different Tempo concert series Aug. 13. The summer music festival announced 2010 season highlights this week.
Strings_courtesy2_3-20

2010 season highlights

June 26 (opening night): Sarah Chang, classical violin

June 27: The Kingston Trio, folk

July 1 and 2: Jesse Cook, flamenco guitar

July 16: Paula Cole, singer-songwriter

July 30: Chris Botti, jazz trumpet

Aug. 1: Free community jazz-classical crossover matinee

Aug. 6: Keb’ Mo’, blues

Aug. 13: Marc Cohn, singer-songwriter

Aug. 14 (classical season finale): Vivaldi program with chamber orchestra and choir

Aug. 21 (closing night): Golden Dragon Acrobats, performance troupe

For ticket information and updates about the 23rd Strings Music Festival season, visit the festival’s Web site at http://www.stringsmusicfestival.com





Singer-songwriter Marc Cohn is scheduled to play for the Strings Music Festival’s Different Tempo concert series Aug. 13. The summer music festival announced 2010 season highlights this week.

2010 season highlights

June 26 (opening night): Sarah Chang, classical violin

June 27: The Kingston Trio, folk

July 1 and 2: Jesse Cook, flamenco guitar



July 16: Paula Cole, singer-songwriter

July 30: Chris Botti, jazz trumpet



Aug. 1: Free community jazz-classical crossover matinee

Aug. 6: Keb’ Mo’, blues

Aug. 13: Marc Cohn, singer-songwriter

Aug. 14 (classical season finale): Vivaldi program with chamber orchestra and choir

Aug. 21 (closing night): Golden Dragon Acrobats, performance troupe

For ticket information and updates about the 23rd Strings Music Festival season, visit the festival’s Web site at http://www.stringsmusicfestival.com

Strings Music Festival staff members hope to present “an eight-week conversation with our audience” with their 23rd season, Executive Director Kay Clagett said this week.

The eight-week festival based on chamber music and featuring classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, blues and world music acts starts June 26 and ends Aug. 21. Season brochures outlining all concerts and programs are expected to be in mailboxes the last week of March. Tickets go on sale April 5.

World-renowned violinist Sarah Chang starts the season June 26. Superstar jazz trumpeter Chris Botti plays at the Strings Music Pavilion on July 30. Chinese performance troupe Golden Dragon Acrobats close the season Aug. 21. Filling in the gaps are a variety of classical, jazz, bluegrass, blues, folk and world music performances for a range of age groups.

Folk group The Kingston Trio, blues guitarist Keb’ Mo’, flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook and “Walking in Memphis” songwriter Marc Cohn are on the schedule for the festival’s Different Tempo series. Also on the schedule are Saturday night classical performances; Tuesday youth and family programs; Wednesday night chamber concerts; and Thursday free lunchtime concerts.

With several free programs planned, Strings has tried to offer concert tickets at a range of prices, said Clagett and Jennifer Shea, Strings marketing and development director.

Tickets to the Chang and Botti concerts are among the most expensive of the series, with advance seats going for $55 on opening night and $80 for Botti’s performance. The Strings staff worked to lower prices on other shows to balance the higher costs and keep the average ticket price the same on the season as it was in 2009, Shea said.

A season of firsts

In addition to its usual programs, Strings will offer several new events this summer.

The festival will present a community matinee concert featuring a crossover of classical and jazz compositions and musicians Aug. 1 at the pavilion. With program selections including Pachelbel’s Canon in D and songs from George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” event organizers hope the event will “give people the chance to sample the classical programming that Strings offers in a very comfortable setting,” Shea said.

Also new this season are several collaborative programs with Bud Werner Memorial Library. Composers Mike Garson and David Stock will discuss their work during a meet-the-composers series. Continuing its outreach efforts and collaborative programs, Strings also will offer three music classes at the library for young children and their parents with Strings co-music director Monique Mead.

A 24-person choir will join a chamber orchestra for the first time on a pavilion stage during the classical season finale Aug. 14. The group will present an all-Vivaldi program, Clagett said.

Pavilion’s new bathrooms

A new addition to the Strings Music Pavilion is “the final touch on the whole facility,” Clagett said.

The venue’s bathrooms have about twice the number of stalls as the old facilities, and are the sole inhabitants of a recently completed addition to the Strings Pavilion. Work on the new wing, which sits close to a hillside and is hard to see from the road, started in October and ended about a week ago.

Until the project got under way in October, the Strings toilets were in a trailer on the backside of the pavilion. The facility needs working bathrooms to host events, but it was extremely difficult to insulate the pipes in the trailer to keep the toilets running through the winter, Clagett said. Installing permanent, indoor, insulated bathrooms is a step toward being able to use the pavilion year-round, Clagett said.

“The Strings board of directors has always thought there’s room for us to do some specialized evenings — maybe a winter series or maybe something in the fall,” Clagett said. “And then when you have a building that’s this beautiful, you have a lot of requests to rent the building, and that’s the big thing.”

Strings rents the building when it’s operational, usually between May and October. The new bathrooms make the facility usable year-round, but permitting, parking and other logistical elements necessary for mid-winter performances are still in trial stages. The next step is to try winter events and “see what our challenges are,” Clagett said.

“The bathrooms were the biggest piece, and everything is a progression now,” she said.

Various community groups will use the facility this spring, with the Steamboat Springs Orchestra hosting its season finale concert March 28 at the pavilion and the Steamboat Springs Arts Council presenting its annual Cabaret variety show May 6 to 8. Strings will host its second annual School Days educational outreach concert series May 12 to 14. The facility is rented out for some private events before opening night June 26.

— To reach Margaret Hair, call 871-4204

or e-mail mhair@steamboatpilot.com


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