Holiday Children's Concerts: Moguls to Mozart

Strings Music Festival has presented a holiday children’s concert since 1991. The first concert was held at the Sheraton in Steamboat Springs and was called “Moguls to Mozart.” In 1994, Katherine Collier, our music director at the time, developed an educational story about Mozart. The performance was called “Mozart’s Magical Life in Music” and was later adapted for the internet, where teachers around the country used it as a classroom tool. You can find the complete presentation by clicking here.

Top Female Artists of 2011

For hit music, 2011 was the year of girl power. In the Billboard year end charts, seven of the Top 10 albums were from female artists and female artists took the majority of Grammy nominees in the categories record of the year, album of the year, and best solo pop performance, among others. From MTV to Billboard to Grammy nominees to our own office, here’s the consensus on the best ladies of 2011.

Adele

The most listened to song this year is “Rolling in the Deep” from 21. The song’s fierce lyrics give women all the power while the man is left burning in despair. “Someone Like You” also tells girls that once they’ve said goodbye to one man it’s time to move on and find another.

- Seven Grammy nominations, including record of the year, album of the year, and song of the year
- #1 on Billboard’s Top 10 Songs
- #1 on Billboard’s Top 10 Albums
- #1 on MTV’s Best Songs

My Favorite Memory of Strings is Ken Greene

Ken Greene

“Ken Greene - Always lucid information about music and composers, clearly spoken and concise.”

“Ken Greene’s commentary, which always added an extra dimension.”

“The knowledge and presentations by Ken Greene…always inspiring!”

“Ken Greene makes every piece so much more meaningful with his commentary. I love his sense of humor and funny anecdotes about composers. It cracks me up to think of Mozart throwing pages of manuscripts out the window before the ink was even dry. I think what Mozart could have done with a computer. Thanks Ken for making the composers into real people.”


Ken Greene has been the Strings Music Festival commentator since 1988. His witty notes and historical facts presented before classical pieces let the audience’s imagination roam while listening to the music. Thank you, Ken for your many years at Strings.

The Nutcracker - A Holiday Favorite

Last week I explored the newest holiday hits, but one classical work has been on the top of the holiday hit list since its premiere on December 18, 1892: The Nutcracker, composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The Story

The Nutcracker tells the story of Clara, a young girl, who is given a nutcracker as a Christmas gift from her godfather. Enamored by the figurine, she falls asleep under the Christmas tree with him in her arms. She then enters into a fantasy land with toys larger than life and embarks on a journey full of battles, snow, and sweets. The most famous rendition of the story is The Nutcracker and the King of Mice written by E.T.A. Hoffman.

Strings Music Festival has History in Miami, Florida

The Miami String Quartet

Would you like to go to Florida for a Strings Music Festival concert? Well, in the early 90’s you could have!

1990: Strings had its first concert in Miami, Florida on a cruise ship. At the time, many people from Florida were visiting Steamboat Springs. Newcomers were invited to attend the concert to get interested in Steamboat and Strings.

1991: Strings presented its second Miami concert: The Miami String Quartet performed at the Howard Hughes Plantation in Coral Gables. At this time the Guild also had two branches: one in Steamboat Springs chaired by Gloria Smith and one in Miami chaired by Susan Fields.

We eventually moved all operations back to Steamboat, but The Miami String Quartet has remained one of the regular favorites, returning for concerts in 2000 and 2007.

Holiday Hits

Most people admit there’s nothing like a little Christmas music to get into the holiday mood. Whether it’s the Christmas Classics by Bing Crosby, Mannheim Steamroller’s many arrangements, or traditional Christmas songs by your favorite orchestra, everyone has a guilty pleasure. And each year there’s more music to choose from. Pop artists love releasing holiday albums, and some of this year’s include Michael Bublé’s Christmas, Lady Gaga’s A Very Gaga Holiday, and don’t forget the Cast of Glee’s Christmas Album, Volume 2.

Perhaps the most popular Christmas album this year is Justin Bieber’s Under the Mistletoe. It has already reached #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 and remains in the #3 spot this week. While some of my friends expressed concern that I had listened to the album on Spotify, I admit that I caught a little Bieber Fever. For the most part Bieber’s musical collaborations and mix of new songs with classics hit the holiday spot. But his slow tempos and relaxed jazzy sound brought me back to an older holiday album.

Leonard Slatkin Conducts at Strings - 1992

Conductor Leonard Slatkin with the Strings Music Festival Orchestra

"My favorite memory of Strings is Slatkin conducting our first orchestra."

Leonard Slatkin, Stings Music Festival

In the beginning, Strings Music Festival only presented a few chamber music concerts each summer. It wasn’t until 1992 that we held our first orchestra concert. Leonard Slatkin, conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, was the first Strings guest conductor. CBS Sunday morning came to Strings to film a segment and we made national news that September. This year marked the transition of Strings from a small community organization to a nationally known music festival.

Many Opportunities for Young Musicians in Steamboat Springs

Simon Boyar with students at the Strings Music Pavilion

Even though Steamboat Springs isn’t the center of an arts and culture hub, our young music students have the same opportunities as students from a big city.

In the early part of November, the best music students of the region gathered together in Aspen as part of the Northwest Honor Band. This year, 13 Steamboat Springs High School students were represented as part of the 100-piece hand-picked band. High school band director Jim Knapp says the students he nominated “are all very committed and dedicated, and it showed in how they achieved: they all ranked very high in their sections.”

The Northwest Honor Band lets the best music students perform together, expanding their repertoire to more challenging music than they typically play at school. “It’s inspiring to see all these different music students come together and put something together like that,” said Honor Band student Samantha Trahan.

Windy Nights at Strings

The Strings Tent in 2007

In case you missed it, we had 75 mph winds with gusts up to 123 mph in Steamboat Springs yesterday. Extreme weather is not uncommon up here in Northwest Colorado and some of our patron's most unforgettable Strings memories involve the wind.

"The wind blowing through the old tent and everyone wondering if the tent was going.”
"Sheet music blowing on the Gallery deck."
"Holding the music stands on windy nights at Storm Meadows.” -Ted G
“Clothespins holding the music."
"On the deck at Storm Meadows and the wind blowing the music stands.”

It was always exciting with concerts outside dealing with music blowing away and tent sides flapping. Fortunately the new Pavilion decreases influences from the weather and we sustained no major damage in this most recent storm.