2009 Crested Butte Music Festival ’Äì Featuring Top Talent in Innovative Ways

Crested Butte Music Festival opera performance.

2009 Crested Butte Music Festival ’Äì Featuring Top Talent in Innovative Ways

This music festival is as unique and free-spirited as the place it calls home

GUNNISON-CRESTED BUTTE, COLORADO (June 22, 2009) ’Äî Highlights from the Crested Butte Music Festival’Äôs 12^th season, ’ÄúFollow the Generations throughParadise,’Äù point to the fact that this is no ordinary music extravaganza. From July 4 ’Äì 26, festival-goers will hear more than strings and woodwinds in concert halls, they can drink beer and listen to Beethoven in a barn, take in the sounds of a ney (Persian flute), attend home soirees for an intimate concert setting, see what happens when dance troops from Boston and Las Vegas come together to form Rhythm Fusion, and watch stars from the Met and a conductor from the Royal Opera House present Mozart’Äôs ’ÄúTheMarriage of Figaro.’Äù

Festival Highlights

¬… A celebration of the 200-year anniversary of Joseph Haydn’Äôs death, the most famous composer of the classical period at the time, and the birth of Felix Mendelssohn, one of the most well-known composers of the early romantic period, along with composers of the generations in between.

¬… For the first time, Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF) will have two conductors, who also will represent two generations: 29-year-old Benjamin Wallfisch, who is already acknowledged as one of Europe’Äôs leading and upcoming conductors and will direct symphony performances, and David Syrus, longtime conductor at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in London, will lead the CBMF opera.

¬… Mozart’Äôs Le Nozze di Figaro ’ÄúTheMarriage of Figaro’Äù opera also will feature stars from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and around the country. Keith Miller, a bass-baritone who has performed frequently with the Met, will serve as artistic manager.

¬… New York-based jazz saxophonist and composer-in-residence Daniel Schnyder will work and perform with the CBMF symphony orchestra and jazz band from the University of North Texas.

¬… A free patriotic concert on July 4 by Alpen Brass, a symphonic brass ensemble that includes 12 professional brass musicians and percussionists, kicks off the festival.

¬… Continuing the tradition of highlighting unique instruments, the ney (Persian flute) will be played by Bassam Saba from Beirut, one of Yo Yo Ma’Äôs Silk Road musicians.

¬… Performances by The Blue Canyon Boys, winner of the 2008 Telluride Bluegrass competition, and The Infamous Stringdusters, considered the new vanguard of acoustic music.

¬… ’ÄúHave a Beer with Beethoven’Äù with Symphony Number 6 ’ÄúPastorale’Äù on tap.

¬… CBMF’Äôs annual fundraising Celebration featuring entertainment by Wylie and The Wild West, best known for his world-famous Yahoo!ˆí yodel.

¬… Rhythm Fusion, a new dance ensemble that brings Boston-based Coast 2 Coast Dance and Las Vega-based Tap Ensemble together in a new collaboration by CBMF and Crested Butte Dance Festival/Dansummer.

¬… Home soirees featuring CBMF musicians in private homes.

¬… Fourth annual Opera Young Artist Program in Paradise, recognized as one of the best training programs for young opera singers in the United States.

¬… Free Divine Family Concert Series on Saturday mornings in July, including ’ÄúJump Up & Dance’Äù with Rhythm Fusion on July 10, ’ÄúA Morning in Persia’Äù by ney musician Bassam Saba of Beirut on July 18, and ’ÄúAChildren’Äôs Opera’Äù on July 25.

A full schedule is posted at www.crestedbuttemusicfestival.com, where tickets can be purchased online. For more information, call 349-0619.

Visitor Information & Personalized Vacation Packages

Crested Butte Mountain Resort is the official lodging partner of the Crested Butte Music Festival. Go to www.skicb.com and click on ’ÄúLodging’Äù and ’ÄúSpecials/Packages.’Äù Packages include discounted lodging, tickets, opportunities to meet the performers and more.

To find out about other events and personalized vacation packages in Gunnison County, call the Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association’Äôs toll-free line, (800) 814-8893, or visit www.GunnisonCrestedButte.com. During summer and fall, air access to the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport is provided by United Airlines.

About Gunnison-Crested Butte, Colorado

Gunnison-Crested Butte is nestled among almost two million acres of pristine wilderness in southwest Colorado. Winter sports enthusiasts know the area for its world-class alpine skiing and snowboarding at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and ice fishing. Gunnison-Crested Butte is also a haven for outdoor summer activities. In the warmer months, visitors can choose from recreational activities such as hiking, climbing, mountain biking, boating, whitewater rafting, kayaking, fly-fishing, camping and horseback riding. Year-round visitors enjoy distinctive restaurants, unique shops and stimulating cultural opportunities, and have a wide range of lodging options ’Äî from rustic inns to guest cabins and bed-and-breakfasts to full-service resort hotels.

Recognized as the ’ÄúOfficial Wildflower Capital of Colorado’Äù by the Colorado Legislature and one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’Äôs ’ÄúDozen Distinctive Destinations’Äù in 2008, Crested Butte is the site of rich mining, ranching and skiing heritage and home to the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. Only three miles up the road is the resort village of Mt. Crested Butte, home to the ski area, an active base area, the area’Äôs conference center, and outstanding hiking and biking trails.

Gunnison, a real western town located 28 miles from Crested Butte, is home to the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport, Gunnison Whitewater Park, Gunnison Valley Observatory, Pioneer Museum and Western State College, a four-year institution offering majors in the liberal arts and sciences and professional fields. Both Crested Butte and Gunnison have thriving historic central business districts packed with shopping and dining opportunities.

In Gunnison County, visitors will find the Curecanti National Recreation Area, where dinosaur fossils were recently discovered; the Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado’Äôs largest body of water and home to the largest Kokanee salmon fishery in the United States; and The Black Canyon of the Gunnison, one of our country’Äôs newest national parks. Gunnison County includes the quaint and historic towns of Pitkin, Gothic, Tin Cup, Marble, Powderhorn, Almont and Crystal, plus the better-known communities of Gunnison, Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte. Gunnison County is part of the West Elk Loop and Silver Thread Scenic & Historic Byways.