If you’re tired of hibernating and love classical music, then join the Moab Music Festival for the 2nd
annual Winterlude.
Winterlude is the education and community outreach activity of the Moab Music Festival, featuring student and teacher workshops and public concerts that will bring music to your ears and hearts.
“(It) will feature talented classical musicians from within the state of Utah, provide a breath of fresh air to patrons in the middle of a cold, cloudy winter, and bring the community together to enjoy classical music by both world-class professional musicians and our very own Grand County string students,” Moab Music Festival Coordinator Erin Groves said.
The culmination of Winterlude will take place on Friday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. at Star Hall, when Grand County students and guest artists will perform selections from Mozart and Beethoven in harmony with one another.
“It is very special to watch parents come to the event and see lightbulbs go off when they watch their children create something beautiful together,” Moab Music Festival co-founder Michael Barrett said.
The event is built on the partnership between the Moab Music Festival and the University of Utah’s School of Music.
Guest artists will include University of Utah professors and professional violinists Hasse Borup and Kasia Sokol-Borup; the Michie Graduate String Quartet; and Barrett on piano and Moab Music Festival Artistic Director and co-founder Leslie Tomkins on viola.
Sokol-Borup will devote six hours to teacher-training workshops for both string and non-string music instructors. Topics will include classroom management, sight reading, performance technique and more. In the weeks leading up to Winterlude, teachers have had the opportunity to present topics of interest to Sokol-Borup to cater this learning experience to their personal needs.
In addition, the festival will host more than 13 hours of after-school workshops for BEACON and Grand County strings students.
“After a long absence, there is once again a school strings program and we are thrilled to include them,” Tomkins said.
Barrett will conduct four two-hour afternoon rehearsals from Monday through Thursday on the week leading up to the main event at Star Hall.
His goal is not only to teach performance techniques, but to show students “how they fit into the ensemble and how they are necessary” to make the music work.
“Students are challenged with coping with the world and the future, and music can have a tremendous anchoring and nurturing effect,” he said. “Music is a safe haven where youths can freely be expressive.”
This year’s Winterlude also features a new event born from a collaboration between the Moab Music Festival and Dead Horse Point State Park: a free concert at the park’s visitor center on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at noon.
This event, which features the Michie Graduate String Quartet, will celebrate not only the park’s 60th anniversary, but also the festival’s 25th anniversary season.
Groves says the event will highlight “music in concert with the landscape,” for which the festival is well known.
Weather permitting, there will be an optional 1-mile round-trip guided walk to the park’s Colorado River overlook.
The Moab Adventure Center will provide a free shuttle from Swanny City Park to the visitor center and back. Shuttles will depart at 11 a.m. and return by 3 p.m. Dead Horse Point State Park is providing a free lunch immediately after the concert.
To reserve shuttle and concert seats, attendees should call the festival’s box office at 435-259-7003. All events are free, with a suggested $10 donation that will benefit the BEACON Moab Strings Program.
Moab Music Festival events unite guest instructors and local talent from Feb. 8-10
“Winterlude will feature talented classical musicians from within the state of Utah, provide a breath of fresh air to patrons in the middle of a cold, cloudy winter, and bring the community together to enjoy classical music by both world-class professional musicians and our very own Grand County string students.”
When: Wednesday, Feb. 8, and Friday, Feb. 10
Where: Events will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at noon at Dead Horse Point State Park; on
Friday, Feb. 10, at 2:30 p.m. on KZMU Community Radio; and at Star Hall on Friday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m.
Cost: Free, with a recommended donation of $10 to benefit the BEACON Moab Strings Program.
Information: moabmusicfest.org/winterlude-2017
For more information, go to: moabmusicfest.org/winterlude-2017.
