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Performing Arts

Photo_all7 For two years running, the man who is arguably America's greatest living composer of classical music was artist-in-residence for the Telluride Musicfest. During that time Philip Glass was pretty busy doing what he does. He performed all over the world, wrote two new operas and several more film scores. One of the classical pieces Glass agreed to write at the time was commissioned through the Meet the Composer program by Martin Murray as a special birthday gift for his wife, Lucy Miller Murray. Mrs. Murray was celebrating her 70th birthday and 27 years as the founding director of Market Square Concerts. Glass's "Sonata for Violin and Piano," premiered in Harrisburg, PA, in February and got raves. Maria Bachmann of the Trio Solisti, artistic director of the Telluride Musicfest, was the violinist.
07 December, 2009 /


Follow the Yellow Brick Road to the historic Sheridan Opera House, where the Sheridan Arts Foundation's Young People's Theater presents "The Wizard of Oz," this weekend, December 4 – December 6, 6 p.m. nightly.

Director Jen Julia's Telluride production is based on the classic MGM musical "The Wizard of Oz," and features 33 locals, grades 6 – 8.

04 December, 2009 /

You may have seen them last Fall on Letterman, but if you missed the show at Telluride's Sheridan Opera House on December 2 with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, you missed one hell of a show. And right there in the front...

03 December, 2009 /

Wiz of Oz Telluride's Sheridan Arts Foundation's Young People's Theater begins its 11th season with director Jen Julia's adaptation of the MGM classic (1939) "The Wizard of Oz," one of the most popular musicals of all time.

"Everyone can identify with Dorothy, the bewildered yet brave farm girl, on her journey through Oz," explained Jen.  "What's more, the songs are catchy, and the lyrics, almost tongue twisters, are extremely clever."

The production, performed by 33 students, grades 6, 7, and 8, includes all the usual suspects: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "If I Only Had a Brain," "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," "We’re  Off to See the Wizard." But in keeping with the YPT tradition Julia established, the show has some non-traditional elements, including a few songs from the musical, "The Wiz," to spice up the action.

01 December, 2009 /


[click "Play" to hear Alex Ebert's conversation with Susan]   

Noel Nite in Telluride, December 2,  is the official launch of the holiday season in town. The idea: Shop til you drop, but put some in storage. Following the feeding frenzy, guaranteed you'll be shaking what your mommy and daddy gave you and then some, when Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros performs at the historic Sheridan Opera House.

30 November, 2009 /

You've heard it before. Telluride is a global sandbox, a place supernovas gather to play. Now in its ninth season, Telluride Musicfest occurs over several weeks in June, mostly chamber music style, in the living room of two of its producers. Telluride Musicfest's artist-in-residence...

29 November, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Sandra Dorr]

Bilde Friday, November 20, Telluride welcomes acclaimed poet/ teacher Sandra Dorr to town for two distinct events at the Wilkinson Public Library. At 1 p.m., Sandra offers a workshop: “Out of Your Mouth:  Performing Stories and Poems in Public. " She has this to say about that:

 "Sometimes reading in front of a crowd dries your mouth, freezes your throat, and jams your tongue.  This is a workshop for writers, young and old, to bring in samples of work, in poetry or prose, and, through several passes, improve the quality of their reading and thereby make the work, and their voices, live in public.  I will read short excerpts of my work, and explain some of the basics in elocution and just plain enjoyment in reading to an audience.  Come learn how to enjoy reading aloud."

At 6:30, the Program Room at the Wilkinson Public Library reopens for a reading by Sandra Dorr at 7 p.m. She will select works from her latest book of poems, "Desert Water."

19 November, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Dr. David Lingle on the concert]



104 At 6 p.m., Saturday, November 14,  the Michael D. Palm Theatre welcomes guests to a beer, wine and champagne reception (cash bar). At 7 p.m., the Telluride Choral Society and artistic director, Dr. David Lingle, join colleagues from The San Juan Symphony and the Durango Choral Society for a second joint MasterWorks Concert. In keeping with the San Juan Symphony’s 2009 season theme, “Once Upon A Time”, this musical collaboration offers the audience a journey through the myths and fairy tales select composers drew upon to create well-known and well-loved works. Specifics on this MasterWorks program are Brahms' "Nänie," Op. 32," and Mahler's "Forest Legend."


Based on a poem by Friedrich Schiller, "Nänie," Op. 82, was composed in memory of Brahms's friend and 19th century German classicist painter Anselm Feuerbach. But "Nänie," comes with a warning label: Enter at your own risk.  Due to the difficulty of the chorale composition, "Nänie,"is one of Brahms's most rarely performed pieces, tackled only by extremely experienced choirs.
12 November, 2009 /
[click "Play to listen to Susan's conversation with Arthur Post]

Snapshot 2009-11-13 15-35-33 The San Juan Symphony and the combined choruses of the Telluride Choral Society and the Durango Choral Society present a MasterWorks choral concert, “From The Old Country”,  Saturday, November 14, 7 p.m., following a beer, wine and champagne reception (cash bar), at the Michael D. Palm Theatre. Included in the program are the beautiful albeit professionally daunting Brahms "Nänie, Op. 82," and Mahler’s wildly dramatic "Forest Legend," an early work by the inspired composer.


The artistic director of the Telluride Choral Society, Dr. David Lingle, and his counterpart at the Durango Choral Society, Linda Mack, are charged with prepping the chorus, which involves teaching singers the notes and the German. Arthur Post, now in his eighth season as music director of the San Juan Symphony, conducts.
11 November, 2009 /