Festivals

[click "Play" to listen to Toshiko Akiyoshi's conversation with Susan]

Akiyoshi The 34th annual Telluride Jazz Celebration welcomes Guest of Honor, award-winnning (Downbeat polls, Grammy nominations, etc.) arranger-pianist-bandleader Toshiko Akiyoshi.

Manchurian born Akiyoshi began her piano training at  the age of seven. Her career as a jazz pianist was launched in Japan in 1946. Be-bop pianist Akiyoshi made her first U.S. appearance over 50 years ago: in 1956 she appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival before touring top jazz clubs across the country.


When Telluride Inside... and Out first heard the term "Americana" attached to "music," the words were used to describe Grammy-winner and Telluride Bluegrass Festival regular Tim O'Brien's hybrid of country, folk, bluegrass and swing. Americana is music with a comfortable back-porch feel.

Co-producers (Barbed Wire Productions/Sheridan Arts Foundation) of the Telluride Americana mini-Fest, July 21-24 sum up their event this way: "Americana, roots, blues, folk with a kick, and country with a rock ‘n roll heart."

By Jennie Franks, founder/artistic director
 
IMG_4495 While our small band of Telluride Playwrights Festival participants were busy talking, plotting, acting and reading, the Telluride Rep has been quietly rehearsing the third play of the Festival – This Isn’t What It Looks Like, Philip Gerson's zany, political comedy that anyone who lives in today's America can relate to.
 
This year I knew I wanted to do something bold and different for the Telluride Playwrights Festival, and Philip’s play immediately caught my eye. The vitality of This Isn’t What It Looks Like  jumped off the page.

The 2010 San Miguel Basin County Fair and Rodeo celebrates 100 years of 4H in Norwood this week - so put on your western wear and prepare yourself for several days of down home, country fun. The annual eight-day event kicked off with...

IMG_5505 BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival (September 3-6, 2010), presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce its 2010 Guest Director, Michael Ondaatje. The celebrated writer has been invited to select a series of films to present at the 37th Telluride Film Festival.  The Guest Director program is sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
 
Each year Festival directors Tom Luddy, Gary Meyer and Julie Huntsinger select one of the world’s great film enthusiasts to join them in the creation of the program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to Telluride.

by Tracy Shaffer

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Tracy with Paul Page

This is the question slated for the Telluride Playwrights Festival Open House on Thursday, and a conversation that circulates through the theatre community like a five dollar bill. I've popped this and a few other questions to some of the TPF participants. Grabbing a post-rehearsal snack at Smugglers with director/playwright William Missouri Downs, in from Wyoming to direct Telluride Rep actors in Phillip Gerson's This Isn't What It Looks Like.  A prolific author and playwright, Bill has eight upcoming productions around the country and just closed the Denver hit, Books on Tape.

Honnold Telluride, CO – June 29, 2010. Mountainfilm in Telluride will host a cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception at the Historic Sheridan Opera House from 6 to 7 pm on July 5 followed by a program of award-winning short films. The selected films include: Making the Crooked Straight, about Dr. Rick Hodes’s inspiring work with victims of spinal tuberculosis in Ethiopia (2009 Moving Mountains Prize); Alone on the Wall, about big-wall free-climber Alex Honnold (2010 Charlie Fowler Award); and, Fish Out of Water, about fly fishing as therapy for US veterans of war suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (Moving Mountains Prize 2010).  Alex Honnold and combat vets Christian Ellis and Joe Garcia will be special guests.

The aim of the evening is to raise $5,000 for each of three Mountainfilm initiatives: 

by Erik Dalton

Andy Bagnall Surfing The 3rd Annual Ridgway River Festival at Rollins Park in Ridgway, CO on Saturday, June 26, was a huge success and a great day of fun along the banks of the Uncompahgre River. Jagged Edge, as well as the Telluride Kayak School, event sponsors, were there with a fleet of demo kayaks and a series of free kayaking clinics to help introduce folks to the sport.

Junk of the Unc Race As midday approached and the temperature steadily climbed, it was time for a series of fun races open to all species of  river rats: down-river races for kayaks, racing kayaks, inflatables, and make-it-yourself contraptions to compete in the "Junk of the Unc" race. A kayak rodeo in the mid-afternoon rounded out the fun. Imagine whitewater kayakers competing on a set of waves for who could throw the best tricks and impress the judges the most.

SHORTS AND STUDENT FILMS DEADLINE: JULY 1, 2010FEATURES DEADLINE: JULY 15, 2010Telluride Film Festival, a four-day international event celebrating the art of film, plays host to a selection of feature length and short films. Considered one of the world’s leading showcases for foreign and domestic...

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Cat Cora]

Cat Cora Iron Chef Cat Cora hits the ground running when she arrives in town this week for the 29th annual Telluride Wine Festival. She is everywhere you want to be, with the spotlight  on her newly released  "Cat Cora Classics with a Twist: Fresh Takes on Favorite Dishes."

Friday, June 25,  9:30 – 11 a.m.,Telluride Farmer's Market, the Iron Chef signs copies of "Cat Cora Classics with a Twist." That same afternoon, 2:30 – 4 p.m., she puts her words to the test at a cooking demonstration in the private home of Chef Chad Scothorn. (Seating is extremely limited, so reserve your ticket now.) Saturday, June 26, Cora goes "uptown" to the Mountain Village, where she is joined by Chef Michael Weist for a luncheon at Allred's inspired by recipes from the cookbook. Telluride Wine Festival co-director, Steve Olson, aka the wine geek, and Ted Diamantis pair Cora's "classics" with Greek wines, tying into roots of this Olympian chef. Both the demonstration and the luncheon should debunk the mythology that all Greek food is straight out of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," heavy and greasy.