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Performing Arts

[click "Play" for Susan's conversation with Leo Nocentelli]


Telluride's Sheridan Arts Foundation continues its bad ass holiday concert series at the Opera House,  December 28, 8:00 pm, with a performance by The Meters Experience with Leo Nocentelli, a legend discovered by a legend.


In 1957, Fats Domino went looking for a young musician to join his band, someone with a big reputation on the streets of New Orleans. What he found was a child prodigy, a boy of 11 who had already hit his stride. At age 14, Leo Nocentelli became a session guitarist for Allen Toussaint.
26 December, 2009 /


Her latest release, "Shawn Colvin Live,"  was nominated for a Grammy for best Contemporary Folk Album. Shawn Colvin appears live at Telluride's historic Sheridan Opera House on Sunday, December 27, 8 p.m.

Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, a small college town just south of Sioux Falls. At age 10, she picked up her brother's Harmony four-string guitar and bought the plain vanilla Mel Bay chord books. At 13, she confiscated a classical gut instrument her father meant to give her mother. Colvin's first recording session occurred in high school, when she was also singing the role of Anna in "The King and I." She made her first public appearance on campus at the University of Illinois at age 15.

25 December, 2009 /

by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer(editor's note: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer will be reading her poetry Saturday, December 19 from 5:00-7:00 pm, at Between the Covers in Telluride. Rob Story will also be reading. By the way, take the time to check out Rosemerry's website. Don't miss "Finn...

19 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan speak with Suzanne Cheavens]

525_v1 Used to be women who sought membership in this men's club had better be butch. No more. Thanks to Mark Galbo of the Telluride Rock and Roll Academy, the girls in the band are preening, strutting rock stars.


 On Saturday night, December 19, 8 p.m., The 525s – Suzanne Cheavens, Suz Remec, Barbel Hacke, Cindy Carver, and Molly Papier – plan to rock out - wait a minute, in the Program Room at The Wilkinson Public Library. Yep, the Library, the perfect place to make noise.
18 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Jeb Berrier speak about playing Shakespeare]

Jeb_shakes Friday, December 18 – Tuesday, December 22, 8 p.m., Telluride Second Stage presents "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged." at the Sheridan Opera House. The production is directed by Jeb Berrier and stars the unholy trinity of the Telluride stage: Berrier, Ashley Boling and Buff Hooper. Fair warning: Hooper will be wearing tights.

Why do we keep returning to Shakespeare? Short answer: no other writer holds up a truer mirror to human nature. The Bard manages to slice and dice, distill and dramatize emotions that don't date, and without an agenda: rather than trying to save mankind with his pen, Shakespeare cuts to the quick with his poetry, which acts like dime store magnifiers that allow us to see what is actually described in the small print.
17 December, 2009 /
Light one candle poster In Telluride, around the world, certain songs make-up the soundtrack of December, evoking images of Jack Frost nipping at your nose. The chestnut about the reindeer  named Rudolph with the red nose is on the Telluride Choral Society's  WinterSing program, which also includes "Tambourine Carol," "Go Tell It On the Mountain," Vivaldi's "Laudamus Te" from the "Gloria," and an original composition by singer/songwriter Peter Yarrow, "Light One Candle," the theme of this year's concerts.

"This year marks my 10th WinterSing in Telluride," said longtime Choral Society member Eileen Burns. "I love getting together with close friends to rehearse every Wednesday at Christ Church.  For such a small community, Telluride is loaded with talent and I am thrilled to be a part of the magic."

14 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Mark Galbo's take on learning]

Triton F09 Telluride's Rock and Roll Academy holds its 6th annual Winter Rock Concert at the Sheridan Opera House on Saturday, December 12, 2009. The extravaganza showcases nine bands featuring 43 student musicians ages 7 – 18, including 13 girls, from the public school, the Mountain School, Norwood and Ophir.


Innovative music educator Mark Galbo founded the Rock and Roll Academy is 2004 on the strongly held conviction music is "instant community."  The goal of his School within the School at the Mountain School and his after-school initiatives are the same: deliver an experiential music program that promotes team building, self-expression, personal transformation, and social responsibility. In a nutshell, Galbo's Rock and Roll Academy has little to do with priapic strutting and lots more to do with teaching kids how to make positive choices in their lives. They are taught fearlessness, finding mystery and fun.
12 December, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Katy and Alex]

"Nutcracker" at Telluride's Palm Theatre, December 12 & 13

Nutcracker poster red Scrooge may complain of a whopper of a toothache from all that sugar, but for the rest of us sentimental saps, "The Nutcracker" remains as much a part of Christmas as evergreens and eggnog. The ballet's enduring appeal stems from the fact this coming-of-age story speaks to the child in us all.

Prima ballerina Valerie Madonia choreographs the Telluride Dance Academy's extravaganza which stars Ebba Green and Emma Spaulding, alternating as Clara, the girl on the edge of woman, Ashley Boling as Drosselmeier, the embodiment of the ballet's magic, Katy Bowlby as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Alex Kramer as her Cavalier. Dancer and teacher Shirley Fortenberry is the Snow Queen.

12 December, 2009 /