“This summer is tantamount to a new beginning for Music in the Mountains.”

Greg Hustis said that last week about our premiere music festival, which will open its 33rd season Thursday. Hustis is the current artistic director of a program that modestly began in 1987 with 11 musicians, five performances and three venues: Purgatory Village, Fort Lewis College and the 55+ Center (now Durango/La Plata Senior Center).

Hustis
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A decade later, the festival added chamber music, a conservatory and a few in-town venues. In 2006-07, approaching its 20th anniversary, the Festival Orchestra performed many concerts under an elegant tent at Purgatory Resort, but the organization continued chamber concerts at in-town venues.

By 2017, Purgatory Resort had increased summer activities for families, and concert start times had to be shifted from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Many music lovers expressed concern about the change and the night drive down the mountain. That change and last summer’s fires put more constraints on the festival. Because of mudslides, the festival had to cancel one concert, a first for Music in the Mountains.

That short history may explain why Music in the Mountains has partnered with the Community Concert Hall at FLC for all of its classical orchestral concerts this year.

It’s a welcome change for many.

“The festival was hosted at Purgatory Resort for 32 years,” said Executive Director Angie Beach. “While the special magic of that venue will certainly be missed, the organization is incredibly excited about the new direction.”

In addition to first-rate acoustics, ample and easy parking, the Concert Hall has 616 seats, 65 more than the tent.

This year’s collection of 45 concerts in the space of three weeks will begin with world music Thursday in Bayfield’s Performing Arts Center. Featuring Colorado’s own FY5, a band that specializes in, but is not bound by, bluegrass and country music. The next two offerings flow north to the Cascade Event Center for “Chocolate Indulgence” on July 10, with the Australian-American duo Boyd Meets Girl. The next night, travel west to the Cortez Sunflower Theatre for an evening of music by Charlie Chaplin. Yes, that Charlie Chaplin.

The soloist, violinist Philippe Quint, is on tour with his new album, “Chaplin’s Smile.” Quint will perform in an intimate chamber concert with pianist Marta Aznavoorian. Expect to hear arrangements of “Weeping Willows” from Chaplain’s film “City Lights,” and, of course, “Smile” from “Modern Times.”

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The next night, July 12, the festival officially inhabits its new home base, the Concert Hall. Conductor Guillermo Figueroa and the Festival Orchestra will open the first classical concert at 7 p.m. in a program titled “Sweeping Romance.” After Mozart’s Symphony No 36, the orchestra will perform two big works by Tchaikovsky, the Romeo and Juliet Overture and the Russian’s famous violin concerto with Quint as soloist.

In addition to the big pops fundraising benefit out at Sky Ute Event Center on July 27, there are two other pops concerts. One focuses on the movie music of John Williams on July 13 and a jazz concert titled “Ella, Louis & Friends,” is a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong on July 19. Both will be performed in the Concert Hall.

Consult the website for all remaining programs: www. MusicintheMountains.com. You may listen to excerpts or Figueroa himself talking about music. Short biographies and all kinds of information are easily accessible. It’s the best website in town to help you decide what concerts to attend and learn about the music and the performers.

Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.

Programs not to miss

Leenda’s preconcert lectures
The indomitable Linda Mack Berven will once again deliver her colorful and entertaining pre-concert talks one hour before the Festival Orchestra performances. The talks will be given a few steps from the Concert Hall in the first floor Lyceum of the Center of Southwest Studies.
Mack Berven is a former professor of music at FLC and happens to be celebrating her 20th anniversary as director of the Durango Choral Society.
“I don’t use PowerPoint,” she said in an interview. “I use visuals, costumes and props to make what I say about the music and the composer memorable.
“For the opera lecture, I’m going to pass out a handout with my favorite opera terms and explain the terminology. I’ll also focus on how the art of opera began. I have a closet full of ‘diva wear,’ and I intend to go full-bore, operatic glitz for the lecture.”
Mack Berven says she’s looking forward to also revisiting her friends: Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and the like.
“There are always new, wild stories, costumes and props to accompany the great masters.”
Paddington Bear’s First Concert
Bring the kids. The festival’s family concert with picnic supper continues to be a success, and the Community Concert Hall has proven to be a perfect venue.
Starting at 5:30 p.m. and costing only $5 per person, the family event sports picnic fare out in the courtyard followed by a seat-yourself performance of an orchestral work for young people.
Organizers have opted for a new piece each year, so “Paddington Bear’s First Concert” follows last year’s imaginative performance of “Green Eggs and Ham.” Guest conducted by our own Thomas Heuser of the San Juan Symphony, the Paddington story begins in confusion and develops as a colorful introduction to classical music. Children, parents and grandparents are the target audience, and the inimitable Gordon Thomas returns as narrator.
Free tickets for middle schoolers
If you are a middle schooler, seventh or eighth grader, and show up with your report card at the Music in the Mountains office, 515 E. College Drive, you can get a free ticket to any classical chamber or orchestral concert. Because you will need someone to drive you, you may get a second free ticket for your parent, guardian or older sibling. This offer has been in place a long time, said Executive Director Angie Beach, but few people know about it.
“The free tickets-for-middle-schoolers program is sponsored by McDonald’s. It’s a great opportunity to learn about classical music.”
Judith Reynolds