Torrey Chamber Music Festival brings classic masterpieces to life in the majestic landscape of southeastern Utah – St George News
Audiences watch live performances during the Torrey Chamber Music Festival, Torrey, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Torrey Chamber Music Festival, St. George News/Cedar City News
CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — Just steps from Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey and nearby towns welcome talented chamber musicians from around the world each summer to explore and perform amidst the wild and rugged lands of southeastern Utah.
The fifth year Torrey Chamber Music Festival will take place from June 16 to 19. The festival’s mission is to create intimate and inspiring musical experiences and to foster community through engagement with chamber music. With captivating programming, audience interaction, free community concerts, and youth education initiatives, event organizers are committed to making classical music accessible to everyone.
“The whole community seems to be involved,” festival president Ada Mae Crouse said. “We’re getting a great response.”
Following the theme of “Music of Night and Day”, the 2022 festival celebrates the natural world and strives to connect past and present by linking Southwestern Native American lunar legends with contemporary local interest in astronomy and dark sky observation. The list of artists includes international musicians and two composers in residence.
This year’s featured work is composer Chickasaw Jerod Tate’s “Moonstrike” for string quartet and narrator. The narrator will be Navajo composer Michael Begay, a Tate alumnus and currently studying composition at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore.
The lineup will also include masterpieces like Vivaldi’s “Summer” in “The Four Seasons” and “String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.”
The Torrey Chamber Music Festival brings the joy of classical music to new audiences and the next generation of musicians in rural Utah. Many families in the area have limited resources and opportunities for musical education and ensemble experience.
In 2019, the festival expanded to offer a three-day Strings Camp with a focus on chamber music. Strings Camp was developed in partnership with local strings teacher Lynsey Shelar and her students at Sleeping Rainbow School of Music.
Strings Camp coaches work with young musicians on technique and fundamentals, with an emphasis on collaboration and ensemble leadership skills. The camp concludes with a concert on the first night of the festival, in which the students perform side by side with the featured musicians.
Utah-based composer Aaron Peterson has composed a new work for Strings Camp students. This will be the first opportunity for Strings Camp attendees to meet and work directly with a living composer, Crouse said.
The Strings Camp concert is Thursday at 6 p.m. at Robbers Roost in Torrey. It’s free and open to the public, although tickets are required due to limited seating.
Featured festival concerts are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Teasdale Cultural Hall. Borodin’s ‘Notturno from String Quartet No. 2’, Haydn’s ‘Sunrise’ string quartet, László Lajtha’s ‘Transylvanian Nights’ and Paul Coletti’s ‘Moonlight Journey’ are among the additional works that will be performed.
Return to Robbers Roost Sunday at 2 p.m. for a special concert featuring “Moonstrike,” “Summer” and Mendelssohn’s String Octet.
Tickets to each of the featured concerts are still available for $30 per person, and festival passes are $50. Book your place on line.
As lovers of chamber music, the organizers of the Torrey Chamber Music Festival sought to combine beautifully orchestrated classical performances with the striking natural beauty of the Colorado plateau. The event started as a grassroots effort and is now in partnership with the Entrada Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the region’s natural, historical, and cultural heritage.
“People from all walks of life and walks of life come here,” Crouse said. “It was quite an amazing experience.”
Written by ALEXA MORGAN for St. George News.
• SPONSORED CONTENT •
Event details
- What: Torrey Chamber Music Festival.
- When: Thursday to Sunday, June 16 to 19, all day.
- Where: Teasdale Cultural Hall, 73 Main St., Teasdale and Robbers Roost, 185 W. Main St., Torrey.
- Tickets: Strings Camp concert, free; day pass, $30; festival pass, $50.
- Resources: Website.
Copyright St.George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.