Performing Arts

[double click to view in larger format]Ask anyone who has been a member of the Telluride Academy's Mudd Butts Mystery Drama Troupe and they will tell you that theater is the ultimate learning tool – and not just because drama impacts all the senses. For...

by Warner Paige Telluride Chamber Music Festival and the Stronghouse Studio have officially launched "The Violin on Parade Project."Area artists transformed ten violins, with freedom to interpret their artistic visions into unique works of art and two artists created a sculpture that includes the violin....

[double click to view in larger format]

The idea to create a drama camp for kids in Telluride had been blowing in the wind. In 1987, the seed took root:  the Telluride Academy under the direction of  Wendy Brooks became the producer. Sally Davis and Kim Epifano (and John Fago, who is no longer directly involved) became co-directors. Mudd Butts thrived and grew: today, Mudd Butts International acts as a diplomat without portfolio, forging relationships and developing mutual understanding and respect for young neighbors around the globe through the medium of theater.

After 23 years and counting, Davis and Epifano remain the heart and soul of the Mudd Butts, because the two abundantly talented ladies possess childlike wisdom and grown-up teaching skills.

[double click to view in larger format]

The Telluride Academy's Mudd Butts Mystery Theater Troupe is an intensive drama workshop that covers all aspects of theater from script and songwriting to marketing. During the month-long program, kids also learn invaluable life lessons: how to laugh at themselves and ways to navigate the minefield of group dynamics.

Our big fear: Mudd Butts goes away. Right now, however, not so much, because this weekend, August 14 – August 16, the 23rd annual Mudd Butts ensemble performs its next musical. The production is based on the book, "Fears of Your Life,"  by Michael Bernard Loggins.

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Bruce Gomez]

TCMF Poster '09 Final Artist Bruce Gomez is the poster boy for the second year in a row for the Telluride Chamber Music Festival, this weekend, August 7 – August 8 and next weekend, August 14 – August 15.
On Thursday, August 13, patrons of the arts and the Chamber Music Festival can stop by Gomez's local gallery, the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, to view the original, a work entitled "Rudy's Ingram Falls," named in honor of the artist's pal, Rudy Davison. The pastel will be sold at a silent auction following the concert of the series.

On Friday, August 14, 12 – 2 p.m. and Sunday, August 16, 10a.m. – 1 p.m., Gomez will be in the Great Room, at the Peaks Hotel, working at his easel, developing new paintings.

[click "Play" for Roy Malan's comments on Chamber Music Festival]

Malan Johannes Brahms is the alpha and omega of the 36th annual Telluride Chamber Music Festival. The event opens on Friday, August 7, with Brahms closing the first big evening. The final concert, Saturday, August 15, is dominated by Brahms. In between, the venerable Festival, among the three oldest on Telluride's cultural calendar, celebrates two big birthdays: Felix Mendelssohn was born February 3, 1809, just a few days before Abraham Lincoln.

Born to a poor but musical family in the slums of Hamburg, Germany, Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897), studied music as best he could, supporting himself by playing piano at bars and brothels and by turning out arrangements of light music. Eventually Brahms grew to become the brick of classicism in his country. His compositions showed no traces of extraneous – nonmusical – allusions, yet they resonated with strong personal statements. In chamber music circles, Brahms is the go-to guy if you really want to test your mettle and strut your stuff: often just a smattering of notes conveys a universe of emotion. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

[click to hear Eileen speak with author Howard Greager]


“COWBOY TALES OF A WEST END COWBOY”

Show_image_in_imgtag The Telluride Historical Museum's Fireside Chat series continues this Thursday, August 6, at the Fire Pit in Telluride's Mountain Village with "Cowboy Tales of a West End Cowboy", featuring guest speaker and author, Howard Greager.  Greager was born into a cowboy family and continued the tradition for a good portion of his life. 

Howard Greager was a cowpuncher in many western states but his home has always been on the western slope.  In his travels as a cowboy he met many a character and his stories are both funny and poignant. 

DSC_0034  The Women's and Men's choruses of the Telluride Choral Society will be performing an eclectic collection of choral music entitled "A Stream of Consciousness" at Christ Church. The final performance is Sunday afternoon, August 2nd at 3pm.  There will be something for everyone to enjoy in this hour and 15 minute concert, from Prairie Women to Drunken Sailors, from Schubert to Broadway and much more. Dr. David Lingle will be conducting and Bobby Shaffer will accompany on the piano.

Dr. Lingle did not have a particular theme in mind when he set the repertoire for this concert, he simply picked literature he liked.  Those selections in combination with suggestions from several chorus members shaped the literature.  Originally a women's ensemble was planned, but a men's group emerged, and additional songs were added to round out the program.  "Several of the women's pieces that are just plain gorgeous." stated Lingle. "Specifically the Lauridsen setting of the Rilke poem, Dirait-on, the Pablo Caslas, Nigra Sum, and the Erb arrangement of Shenandoah are beautifully constucted with rich Romantic Style period harmonies."  he continued.  Molly Fast will sing all four parts from "The Erlking", Schubert's setting of the epic poem by Goethe, and Sharon Sharp will demonstrate her incredible vocal range when performing the first Coloratura aria from the Pirates of Penzance.