The Moab Music Festival Celebrates 30 Years
– By James McFadden –
Buckle up for the Moab Music Festival’s spectacular 30th anniversary season, which runs from August 22 to September 16, and pays tribute to three decades of its unique artists and audience “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences and all the performers and collaborators who have helped shape and propel it through the years.
On September 3, Sunrise on Turtle Island: Contemporary Native American Voices puts this season’s theme on full display at beautiful Red Cliffs Lodge. The performance showcases the work of the new generation of Native American composers with three world premieres of new works. Taking the stage with MMF artists are composers Dawn Avery, who the Washington Post says, brings “an evocative tapestry of history and sound” to her work, soloist and award-winning composer Laura Ortman, and vocalist and songwriter Martha Redbone, whose music The Huffington Post called “an organic, gorgeous feast for ears and minds.”
With this program, the Festival hopes to honor the land it occupies every day. Also on that program is the ground-breaking ensemble The New York Times calls “reliably surprising, and reliably impressive,” the JACK Quartet, which is also featured on the first of the Music Hikes on September 3. This hike also features Bang on a Can All-Stars bassist Robert Black, who curates a program of living composers inspired by nature, with a world premiere by John Luther Adams, expressly written for the outdoor space where it will be performed.
These Festival-favorite events bring adventurers to a “secret” wilderness location where trekkers are the audience for unparalleled music in majestic spots with red rock walls and sandstone floors. Other events include raft trips, ranch concerts, and events in charming and historic Star Hall in town. September 5 at 2 pm, Labor Day, brings another Moab Music Festival tradition – the free Rocky Mountain Power Community Concert, this year, it’s a 30th Birthday Celebration!
The Festival welcomes the entire community to pull up a blanket, soak up the sunshine, and join in on the fun. The program offers its signature musical thrills, nature’s brilliance, and cake, and features an all-star program with performances by baritone Justin Austin, fresh from a run at New York City’s Lincoln Center, Native American World Hoop Dancing champ Joseph Secody, and the wind virtuosity of New York Philharmonic clarinetist Anthony McGill and Seattle Symphony flutist Demarre McGill.
New this year is the “Floating Concert” on Saturday, August 27 at 5:30 PM. Patrons will board an open-air river boat and travel several miles upriver to a breathtaking performance spot surrounded by towering red rock canyon walls.
Boaters will hear a program of the music of Schubert, who wrote dozens of songs about rivers and the promise of fresh fish, life-giving water, recreation, and beautiful respite from everyday drudgery. The concert also includes his beloved “Trout” Quintet and puts audiences on the Colorado River, the perfect setting to reflect on the promise of survival and romance that harkens back to the 19th-century admiration of the life-giving waterways. It’s a reverence Festival shares in the drought-stricken Southwest. Another new spot for audiences is a secluded streamside meadow, which will host the next unforgettable evening of music in concert with the landscape® on Sunday, August 28 at 5:30 pm. Patrons will enjoy the music of Mozart and Dvořák, and will enjoy refreshments and light hors d’oeuvres.
TICKETS are available through the Moab Music Festival office or website at moabmusicfest.org
