Three unique public chamber concerts take place on Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, in Moab – one of which people can listen to from the comfort of their home – or wherever they happen to be mid-day that Friday.
The Moab Music Festival’s third annual Winterlude event kicks off with featured guest artist the Fry Street Quartet, which will perform at KZMU Community Radio from noon to 1 p.m. The concert will be broadcast live at 90.1 or 106.7 FM.
The Fry Street Quartet is a professional string quartet and ensemble-in-residence at Utah State University in Logan. KZMU staff will ask questions of the musicians in-between songs, MMF Marketing Coordinator Bobby Hollahan said.
Later that evening at Star Hall is the “culminating concert,” where both Moab strings students and the Fry Street Quartet will perform. From Feb. 5 to Feb. 9, the quartet will hold workshops for advanced strings students in Grand County schools and the BEACON Afterschool Strings Program in preparation for the Feb. 9 evening performance.
Twenty students will perform, with perhaps a member or two of the quartet joining in to help reinforce what the students have learned. Afterwards, the Fry Street Quartet will perform a piece by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana.
“This is a totally family-friendly concert,” meaning children under 6 are allowed to attend, Hollahan said. “We hope to see a lot of families and other community members supporting our education efforts.”
At Star Hall on Feb. 10, “The Crossroads Project: Rising Tide” performance will feature a work that the quartet has created with physicist Robert Davies. The multidisciplinary collaboration combines music, climate science and visual art.
The performance features Davies narrating the program, whose theme is “humanity’s relationship to environment” with music supporting his narration, Hollahan said. Original photography and artwork will be projected on a screen behind the performers.
“We’re trying to create an intellectually stimulating experience that provokes a response from the audience,” Hollahan said.
Immediately following the performance, there will be a panel discussion with Davies, members of the quartet, and a trio of Moab sustainability experts – city sustainability director Dr. Rosemarie Russo; Utah State University-Moab assistant professor of sustainability Dr. Roslynn Brain McCann; and Jeff Adams, president of Resiliency Hub, a local grassroots organization that advocates for sustainability through public education events and workshops.
“Grounded in science and elevated by art, the ‘Crossroads Project: Rising Tide’ uses the power of performance art to draw attention to humanity’s most critical issues,” an event news release stated.
McCann, who works statewide and nationally on sustainability issues, said she is excited to talk with both Russo and Adams – all three are working locally to promote environmental sustainability.
Panelists expect to discuss efforts to improve air quality, and promote water-wise, pollinator gardens – not only on public property but also with private homeowners. The conversation will also include a discussion of local students’ efforts to promote sustainability.
Adams said he attended a similar concert with Davies and the quartet in Logan.
“It’s a wonderful assemblage of good music and topics of climate change and sustainability and what we can do locally, and regionally,” Adams said. “I’m excited to be on this end of things (for the Moab performance).”
What: Moab Music Festival’s third annual Winterlude
When: Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10
Where: “Tiny Station Concert” streaming live at KZMU Community Radio on Feb. 9 from noon to 1 p.m; “Star Hall Family Concert” will be held on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m at Star Hall, 159 E. Center St.; and “The Crossroads Project: Rising Tide” will be held on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. at Star Hall
Cost: Family concert is free or by donation; Rising Tide performance is $15 for adults, and $5 for ages 6 to 18
Information: 435-259-7003; tickets are available at the door
For more information, go to: moabmusicfest.org/winterlude-2018-schedule-%E2%80%94-concerts-broadcast, or call 435-259-7003.
We’re trying to create an intellectually stimulating experience that provokes a response from the audience.
Moab Music Festival events to feature Fry Street Quartet
