By Carole Howard

       Invitations have been mailed to the Music in the Mountains special classical benefit evening Friday, July 11 at the aquatic center at BootJack Ranch hosted by David and Carol Brown.  If you want to be added to the invitation list, please contact Matt DeVooght, the festival’s intern, at 970-264-1110 or pagosa@musicinthemountains.com.

       This opening event of the 2008 Music in the Mountains season in Pagosa Springs

will feature performances by two world-famous performers -- violinist Philippe Quint and pianist David Korevaar, whose program will include Beethoven and Brahms.  Proceeds from the benefit will help support classical concerts, young people’s musical events and music scholarships in Pagosa Springs.

       In addition to the musical entertainment, the evening will include sumptuous hors d’oeuvres and libations beginning at 6 p.m. --  not to mention an elegant setting and panoramic view of the nearby mountains and valleys at the foot of Wolf Creek Pass.  Dress is cocktail attire.  Attendance is limited to 150 guests.  Cost is $175 per person, $125 of which is tax-deductible as a charitable donation.

       The evening’s two guest artists are well known in classical music circles.  Quint, born in St. Petersburg, Russia and now an American citizen, has built his reputation as a consummate violin soloist with audiences and critics alike.  This Grammy Award nominee has been lauded for his “searingly poetic lyricism, technical assurance and restless energy.”  Korevaar, a Juilliard graduate, currently balances an active performing career as a soloist and chamber musician with teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  He has been praised for his “wonderfully warm, pliant and spontaneous playing.”   Both Quint and Korevaar  have performed to rave reviews at major venues across the United States and around the world, and also recorded several classical music CDs. 

       Quint made worldwide news last week when he left his Stradivarius violin, a 285-year-old instrument worth $4.2 million, in the back seat of a taxi in New York on his way into the city from the airport.  The taxi driver turned the instrument in to his boss, saying he had no idea of its value, but that “we turn in everything we find in our cabs.”  Quint was so impressed with the man’s honesty – and, of course, relieved to have his priceless violin back – that he gave the man a big tip and put on a free half-hour concert for all the taxi drivers at the taxi waiting area at the Newark Liberty International Airport.  He also gave the driver and his family free tickets to his next concert in New York, which will be at Carnegie Hall in September.

       Proceeds from the extraordinary evening at BootJack will help Music in the Mountains continue to provide music scholarships to Archuleta County youth for Conservatory classes with professional musicians, bring musicians into Pagosa Springs schools for hands-on workshops, send our children to a Taste of Music concert in Durango, and present spectacular concerts like the six scheduled under the tent at BootJack Ranch in Pagosa Springs this July and August. 

The funds also will help host the annual free summer Family Festivo concert for “kids of all ages” in Town Park.  This year’s free family concert on Wednesday, July 23 will feature a musical stage presentation based on the Brothers Grimm’s “The Town Musicians of Bremen” plus an instrument expo.

Planning and organizational work on the benefit is being contributed by a local volunteer committee co-chaired by Teresa Huft and Mary Hart which also includes Carol Brown, Mary Jo Coulehan, Carole Howard and Janis Moomaw.  As well, Citizens Bank has made a generous contribution to the benefit, as they have done in past years.

“We are very grateful to the Browns and Citizens Bank for their generous support of this event, which provides a wonderful opening evening for our music festival,” Huft said. “Also, we depend on our benefit to raise needed funds for our concerts and youth activities in Pagosa, as our expenses continue to rise.

“The price of gas means our musician and instrument transportation costs have escalated, and the cost of our concert tent is high as well.  Another example: Rental costs for chairs in the tent are up 50 percent.   Ticket sales cover only about a third of our costs.  The remaining funds are provided by our corporate sponsors and advertisers, individual donors and benefit attendees.   

       “That’s why we are so pleased to have such a spectacular venue and exciting classical program for our benefit this year.  We hope this event will entice past supporters to join us and also bring new people into our Music in the Mountains family.”

        Tickets for this benefit evening plus the six Music in the Mountains concerts under the tent at BootJack Ranch this summer are on sale at the Pagosa Springs Chamber of Commerce.  For the first time ever in Pagosa, a special ticket costing $6 will be available to students 15 and under for the two classical chamber concerts.