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Festivals

[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.
24 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Michelle Curry Wright talk about her Wine Festival poster]

Web poster image wine fest Michelle Curry Wright is one of the faces regulars see when they visit the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art. She has worked at the gallery for six of the 25 years the must-visit art emporium has been in business. But what you see at the front desk is not all that you get.

Michelle Curry Wright is also a fine artist in the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art's stable and this year, the poster artist for the 29th annual Telluride Wine Festival. The original mixed media painting for the Festival poster is on display throughout the weekend at the Gallery, 130 East Colorado Avenue, open for bids through a silent auction. (Some of the proceeds from the sale go the the Tellluride Wine Fest.) Michelle signs poster, $25 each, during Friday's Toast of Telluride, 4 – 6 p.m.
23 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Maria Bachmann's conversation with Susan]

TMF2010 final:highres Blame it on the the Russians. Telluride Musicfest's Maria Bachmann came to the States when her parents were forced to flee their homeland in 1956 after the revolution in her home country, Hungary, failed and the Red Menace tightened its grip. Eva and Tibor Bachmann's grit and self-sacrifice in their adopted country paid off. Son Peter became a dean of math and science at a college outside Philadelphia. And Maria grew up to be a world-renowned violinist, hailed recently (May 25) by The Philadelphia Inquirer for her:


"...near boundless expressive freedom...violinist Maria Bachmann projected the music's emotionalism, and dazzlingly attenuated the final movement in a mounting cauldron of rhythm."
22 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Chef Omar speak about food and his career]

ILC_0104 Moving on. With the Telluride Bluegrass Festival over, thoughts around town turn from KOTO beer to fine wine. This coming weekend is the 29th annual Telluride Wine Festival, June 24 – June 27.

It's common knowledge among the "Sideways" crowd: There are two fundamental considerations when matching food and wine: find a good match based on similar taste or a match based on contrasts. A look at Chef Omar Collazo's menu for his Telluride Wine Festival dinner suggests he goes on instinct.

Located in the Mountain Village, 9545 at the Inn at Lost Creek is hosting one of a number of special dinners held throughout the long Telluride Wine Festival weekend.

22 June, 2010 /
[Click "Play" to hear Steve Swenson speaking to Susan about Telluride Wine Festival]

IMGP0454 Telluride Wine Festival: Yes, like looks, names can be deceiving, especially the names of entries on Telluride's summer cultural calendar. Festival names are clues as to what might be going on, but they definitely do not describe the whole ball of wax. For example, Mountainfilm in Telluride is not just about mountain living and adventure or films. The event leans heavily towards environmental and socio-political issues. The line-up for 2010 Telluride Bluegrass included the Drepung Monks, Leftover Salmon and Edward Sharpe. And for the past two years, the Telluride Wine Festival, June 24 – June 27, has beer, spirits, and music on its agenda.

21 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Peter Rowan's conversation with Susan]

Prowan This iconic performer is about to join the ranks of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's 30-something club, an elite fraternity that includes among its members The King, Sam Bush, dobro king Jerry Douglas, and Grammy winner Tim O' Brien. He is Telluride Bluegrass veteran Peter Rowan.

Peter Rowan performs at the 37th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival Friday, June 18, 2:30 p.m., in Peter Rowan and Crucial Country with Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas. The event marks a reunion of musical titans.
18 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Tim O'Brien's conversation with Susan]

Tim O'Brien 2010 Telluride is on a first-name basis Tim O'Brien. He's been here for so many Telluride Bluegrass Festivals, so many nights at the Sheridan Opera House as well. We all know by now, Tim O'Brien is an entire rhythm section unto himself. And a bandleader, songwriter, vocalist and mentor to boot. We know Tim's sound by heart, a hybrid of country, folk, bluegrass and swing often described simply as "Americana." Music with a comfortable, comforting old slipper feel. But with Tim as the filter, everything old comes out new again.

It's no big secret Telluride's on again, he's off again 30-year relationship with Tim is not exclusive: the Grammy (Traditional Folk Category) Tim won in 2005, not to mention countless nods from organizations such as the International Bluegrass Music Awards, is proof, positive his peers and the rest of the world love him too.
17 June, 2010 /