Moab Adventures, 4 X 4 trips, slot canyons and more!

We had a great trip to Moab last week and experienced everything from Rock crawling in the awesome four wheel drives, thanks Cliff Hanger Jeep Rentals, to Slot Canyon hikes in Arches National Park, and also a little mountain biking in the
Moab area. I will be adding many more pictures and a few articles to the web site this week!

CELEBRATING 15 YEARS AT THE MOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL

Moab, Utah -- June 11, 2007. Perched atop a redrock ledge overlooking “nature’s perfect concert hall” (The New York Times) or settled in a comfy chair with your feet planted firmly in the red soil of the stunning grotto, you and all the patrons of this much-anticipated Moab Music Festival Grotto Concert are treated to the “....zest, imagination and brilliant technique...” (San Francisco Examiner) of the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet, making its Festival debut.

Guests will be enthralled by Festival Artistic Director and violist Leslie Tomkins, who takes "center sand" in Turina’s smoldering Spanish Andalusian Scene along with Edward Arron cellist, violinists Jennifer Frautschi and Karen Gomyo, and pianist and Festival Music Director and pianist Michael Barrett, cellist Tanya Tomkins and violist LP How. Rounding out the program with power and panache, hornist Eric Ruske is featured in Brahms’s awe-inspiring Horn Trio which is followed by an artists' reception in the grotto, after which guests are whisked back to Moab by jet boat.

Opening night of the 15th season, Friday, August 31, will celebrate Moab’s newly-renovated 100 year old Star Hall—intimate and charming—with a program including two outstanding masterpieces. The seldom-heard Andante and Variations by Robert Schumann features the unusual instrumentation of two cellos (Edward Arron and Tanya Tomkins), French horn (Eric Ruske) and two pianos (Michael Barrett and Eric Zivian). The newly refurbished hall will sparkle with Brahms' towering Sextet for strings in G major with compelling violinists Jennifer Fratuschi and Karen Gomyo, violist LP How, and cellists Tanya Tomkins and Edward Arron. The post-concert reception with the performers will include an exhibition by the Moab Artist Studio Tour and is sponsored by Zion‘s Bank.

The Turtle Island Quartet raises the roof, or tent, at the Red Cliffs Lodge on Saturday, September 1 with its own unique contemporary flair, fusing the classical quartet esthetic with contemporary American musical styles. “With its distinctive brand of tight, impressive bow-ery in motions” (Billboard Magazine) sounds, the group will perform tracks from its upcoming CD of works by John Coltrane and others, showcasing the members' upbeat and jazz-infused originality. The Quartet will be joined by cellists Edward Arron and Tanya Tomkins, and violinists Jennifer Frautschi and LP How.

Another sensational program developed by New York Festival of Song truly puts “music in concert with the landscape” on Sunday night, September 2, when audiences are treated to an evening under the stars at Red Cliffs Lodge. Patrons will hear in song how Dvorák influenced and was influenced by great African American Composers. Sopranos Dina Kuznetsova and Jonita Lattimore along with baritone James Martin will reveal the astounding and musically entrancing interaction between Bohemia and Black America.

Spend Labor Day, Monday, September 3, shaded by old cottonwood trees in Old City Park at a free concert—quickly becoming a Festival favorite, this is the first of three free concerts at this year’s Festival. Bring a picnic and settle in for an afternoon of American songs performed by James Martin and Jonita Lattimore, the sounds of fabulous French horn virtuoso Eric Ruske, and dynamic pianist Eric Zivian in an offering of the poetry of Bach. Festival favorite Artist-in-Residence Christopher Layer will also join the festivities as he leads The Moab Community Dance Band. The afternoon is made possible through the generosity of Rocky Mountain Power.
Tickets are available for all the concerts through the Moab Music Festival's web site www.moabmusicfest.org or by phone (435) 259-7003 or mail at 58 East 300 South, Moab, Utah 84532.

RIVER RAFTING TO THE TUNE OF THE MOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL OFFERS RIVER RAFT TRIP WITH CONCERTS

Moab, Utah, March 1, 2007 --- Come, let the Colorado be your “Moon River.” In advance of its upcoming 15th Season (August 30 - September 15), the Moab Music Festival announces the details of its annual Musical River Raft Adventure, a “dream maker” if ever there was one. The June journey down the Colorado River features nightly concerts by six extraordinary musicians, fine food and wine, lively companionship, and even a naturalist to guide guests to petroglyphs and petrified wood. Join a select group for good company, spectacular nature and exquisite music.

“A totally unique experience!" says Leonard Bernstein’s daughter Jamie who has been a repeat guest on the trip. "You’re traveling down the Colorado River with this gorgeous scenery, guided hikes, and good company. And then in the evening, you are regaled with beautifully performed music followed by a splendid meal. What more could anyone want?”
Guests who just want a laid-back experience will have four days and three nights on a flat-water stretch of the Colorado River as it ambles through Canyonlands National Park. Those who are ready to run the largest rapids in America, the famous Cataract Canyon rapids, may opt for an extra day and night and a scenic flight back to Moab, taking off from the shores of Lake Powell. Tag-A-Long Expeditions of Moab provides all equipment and guides and the large J-rig boats that travel down the Colorado.

All patrons gather in Moab for dinner and a concert before they embark the next day for their immersion in music and nature through a wonderland of redrock canyons and cliffs. Along the way they will stop to explore beautiful side canyons, ancient Anasazi ruins and fascinating geological sites. One afternoon includes a “floating concert,” a wonderful program played while gently drifting through the shifting, red-rock panorama; another afternoon provides an opportunity to hike the “Loop Trail” amid ancestral Puebloan rock art.

The flat-water trip concludes at “the Confluence,” the point where the Colorado and Green Rivers meet, in the heart of Canyonlands National Park, where flat-water-only participants will say goodbye and return to Moab via high-speed jet boat, just in time for dinner. Those choosing to crank up the level of adventurousness will go on to run the major rapids of Cataract Canyon, spend an extra night on the River, and return to Moab on a scenic flight which will take them over the river and rapids they just experienced.

The astounding beauty of chamber music performed by some of America’s finest musicians makes the trip truly unforgettable. Six outstanding performers will offer concerts ranging from classical to folk music along the way. Sought-after soloist and chamber musician violinist, Tim Fain, returns to the musical river excursion, as does Metropolitan Opera Company cellist Jeremy Turner. Also joining the adventure will be celebrated guitarist Marc Teicholz. While these classically trained musicians will be offering works by the great masters, they will also join in with traditional musicians Paul Woodiel, three-time New England Fiddle Contest champion whom Leonard Bernstein described as “a first-class performer,” and the Moab Music Festival’s Artist-in-Residence, flute and bagpipe player Christopher Layer, one of the premier traditional musicians in the U.S. and principal pipe soloist and flutist for the Trinity Irish Dance Company.

Pulling together the program is violist and Moab Music Festival Artistic Director Leslie Tomkins. She promises exciting concerts in venues ranging from the grotto the New York Times has called “Nature’s Concert Hall” to hidden canyons and beaches. “The splendors of the Canyonlands landscape bring a new dimension to chamber music.” says Tomkins. “The repertoire was written for intimate spaces like homes, but it turns out that there may be no more intimate concert experience than a handful of people enjoying inspired performances in a private corner of the wilderness.”

The 2007 flat-water expedition takes place from June 17-20. The rapids add-on extends the trip by one day. The itinerary includes rafting, swimming, hiking, or if you prefer, just relaxing. And, every day, there is a wonderful concert. “It is an amazing opportunity for those who simply love beauty,” says Bernstein. “The land, the music, the river all come together in a wonderful relaxed environment of good people and fun.”

Places are still available for the four day/ three night benefit river. Proceeds support the Moab Music Festival’s 15th Season in September 2007. More information is available on the Festival’s website www.moabmusicfest.org or directly from the Moab Music Festival at (435) 259 –7003