Spotlight: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

This week the most well-known big band and lead jazz musician, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, will perform on the Strings Stage. Wynton Marsalis, a jazz pioneer, received his first trumpet at the age of six and began performing with a band at the age of 12. He has played everything from classical to funk and picked up nine Grammy awards along the way for both classical and jazz records.

Even from the beginning Marsalis’ soul has been in jazz. In the early years, getting a jazz gig was tough, but eventually Marsalis broke through. He even describes jazz as America’s music, “It’s part of the fabric of our country - the way we speak our language, the way we interact with each other, the tensions and dynamics that make our country what it is, the basic forms and things that we use to comport ourselves - all of that is in jazz.”

Marsalis was the driving force behind bringing jazz a place in New York, co-founding the original jazz program and creating what is now known as Jazz at Lincoln Center. The world’s first institution for jazz, the Frederick P. Rose Hall, also opened due to Marsalis’ influence. He currently serves as Artistic Director for Jazz at Lincoln Center and Music Director for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Check out Marsalis’ recent appearance on CBS News’ 60 Minutes, where he talks about his childhood, his passion for music and his experience with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

On Friday July 1, Steamboat Springs will watch the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performance in the intimate 550 seat Strings Music Pavilion. The band typically plays in much larger venues and there’s no bad seat in the house. With our brand new sound system, you’ll feel like you’re in the front row whether you’re sitting in the back or outside. The concert is completely sold out, but lawn seating has just been announced.

What To Know About Lawn Seating

-Ticket price is $55.

-Tickets go on sale at 9:00 am Friday 9/1 at the Strings Box Office.

-You must purchase tickets in person and the limit is 2 tickets per person.

-Tickets are non-exchangeable and non-refundable, rain or shine.

-Lawn seating is located outside Section A of the Pavilion.

-Seating begins at 7:15 pm. Any articles placed on seats before 7:15 pm will be picked up and removed.

-Our sound system is installed outside, so you will be able to hear the concert well.

-You will have a limited view of the stage.

-The doors to the Pavilion may shut at any time during the concert due to rain or temperature.

-No entry inside the Pavilion.

Ride Steamboat with Strings

Biking through Strings Park

The peddlers are out in packs in Steamboat Springs. This week is bike to work week and today local restaurants provided free breakfast for commuters. June is also officially recognized as Bike to Work Month in Colorado, and Steamboat Springs is celebrating it with the bike commuter challenge. Teams are currently competing for the most miles biked and the most trips taken and have already logged over 10,000 miles.

Two large scale bike tours also came through Steamboat Springs in the past week. Yesterday, 1,500 cyclists were in town on the BicycleTour of Colorado. The weeklong tour covers 460 miles and visits Estes Park, Granby, Steamboat Springs, Glenwood Springs and Frisco. Last week Ride the Rockies brought 2,000 cyclists to town on their 400 plus mile weeklong tour of Crested Butte, Buena Vista, Edwards, Steamboat Springs, Granby and Georgetown.

Featured Garden

To add to the biking frenzy, Strings Music Festival has our own bike friendly event coming up on Saturday, July 16. The Strings Kitchen and Garden Tour visits five delightful kitchens and six stunning high-altitude gardens right here in Steamboat Springs. A Master Gardener at each house will let you in on all the gardening secrets.

Starting at the Strings Music Pavilion, bikers will pedal up to Lake Catamount to visit two homes, then ride to see one home at Fox Estates. From there they will head back down into town and visit two more houses at Priest Creek Ranch. The route then takes a scenic trip along Steamboat Boulevard, stopping to see a kitchen and garden at Mountain View Estates, then continues downtown via Fish Creek Falls Road. The journey concludes with a fantastic garden nestled in downtown Steamboat Springs.

Featured Home

The bike loop is approximately 35 miles on paved and gravel roads. If 35 miles is too long, bike part of the loop and drive the rest. Our van will pick you up when you need assistance.

Tickets are $25 and are on sale now at the box office or online. The Strings Kitchen and Garden Tour is presented by the Guild of Strings Music Festival and all proceeds benefits Strings Music Festival.

11 Days 'Till Showtime!

Our season kicks off in less than two weeks and we are busy putting together the final touches. We’ve had shipments arriving all week – program books, t-shirts, toys, and other surprises for our concerts. Gary has been hard at work in the Pavilion staining benches and painting fixtures. New flowers arrived, and our grounds crew is making the park beautiful for your evening picnics. The tent is up and Steamboat Meat and Seafood is ready to serve you dinner.

With all the pre-season work going on around here, we’re hoping that you’ll take a moment to stop by to check out the scene and buy some tickets. Don’t forget that the Strings coupon in the local coupon book expires July 1, so come buy your 20% off ticket before it’s too late!

Angela Cheng and Alvin Chow

Our next online ticket deal will start Monday June 13 at 9AM. Get two tickets for the price of one to see Cheng and Chow conquer two pianos simultaneously and fit four hands on one piano. You might mistake the amount of sound for a full size orchestra! The concert is on Wednesday July 13 at 7:00PM. Ticket cost is $40.

New Works Festival This Week

Strings isn’t the only one who’s thought of making music in these mountains. The Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp has hosted performances for 98 years. Today begins the annual New Works Festival, which connects artists from many backgrounds to create original works of art.

Like Strings, Perry Mansfield is an integral part of our artistic community and developing young performers. During the summer, students attend workshops and work personally with professional dancers, directors, musicians, composers, writers, and actors. Famous faces such as Jessica Biel, Dustin Hoffman, and Stephen Schwartz have lingered in this serene mountain valley to perfect their skills and pass on their wisdom.

As residents of a rural western town, we don’t have the opportunity to view performances in their raw stages, as we would if we lived in New York City. The New Works Festival lets us experience a fresh performance in a natural setting, juxtaposing city culture with country living. Many of these snippets will later become fully formed plays and we can witness the transformation of a fleeting idea to a full production. The rehearsals are free and open to the public and take place all week long. The shows are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and are $15 for stage readings and $20 for the dance performance. For a full schedule of events click here.

Buy Now!

 $20 ticket for Dala

Saturday July 9 at 8:00PM, Strings Music Pavilion
Visit our website TODAY ONLY for discounted ticket price, while supplies last. Discounts valid on a limited number of tickets, so be the first to buy!

” [Dala]..make some beautiful harmonies on these hook-laden, lyrically impressive tracks. Transportingly ethereal singers, the Dala gals can work up some powerful emotions, make a religion out of lonely introspection and even crack the occasional Canada joke.”
- L.A. Times

As Canadian folk singers, Dala has won audiences over with their rich harmonies and infectious performances. Be prepared to be completely captivated by the blend of Amanda Walther’s soprano and Sheila Carabine’s alto voices. Check out Girls from the North Country, a live concert weaving original songs and classics, that won Dala the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award for “Vocal Group of the Year.”

Spotlight On You

Looking to play some music tonight? Join host Jay Roemer at The Boathouse Pub for open mic night. Starting at 8:00PM, local performing artists come together in a warm, supportive setting to play for an audience, rather than just their pets. Music, comedy, poetry, anything that can be performed in a microphone, is welcome.

The event is free and open to the public. Anyone under 21 is requested to register before 8:00PM, and any performer over 21 receives free beer. Come support our local up and coming Steamboat musicians or surprise us with your own hidden talents.

Lady Gaga: A New Definition of Musical Worth

Yesterday, newspapers around the country covered Lady Gaga’s record breaking album sale of Born This Way. Of the 1,108,000 album copies sold in the first week, 440,000 sold on Amazon.com for only 99 cents. We’ve known since the creation of Napster that the music industry would face enormous changes and it seems we’ve reached a pinnacle. If Lady Gaga can sell her newest album for only 99 cents, how many others will follow suit to try to break her record?

These days, artists profit most through concert tours, promotions, ad campaigns, etc., not from album sales. Access to free music on websites such as YouTube and Pandora has certainly decreased record sales. It seems that artist goals to increase fan numbers are out of sync with record companies trying to stay alive.

The controversy on what music is worth:

Ish Cuebas, vice president for music merchandising of Trans World Entertainment, says in the New York Times, “I can understand what Amazon did, but I think it devalues music even further. In the customer’s mind it’s worth 99 cents.”

Lady Gaga herself tells the Wall Street Journal that she doesn’t think her own album in digital form is worth more than 99 cents.

Do you think access to low-cost or free albums devalues music? Share your thoughts below.