Music in Buena Vista

We enjoyed two musical performances this week, right here in town. The first one was the weekly "concert in the park" that the town holds every Thursday in the summer. This was the first time for us, and honestly we did not expect too much. We were pleasantly surprised. The group was the Mountain Minstrels and they played Celtic and Irish music. The group consisted of a violinist/fiddler, a flutist who also played piccolo, a drummer on some kind of traditional Celtic drum, and two guitars. There was also a young gal who did clog dancing to a few of the tunes, and a vocalist. The Minstrels were talented musicians from Buena Vista, Leadville and Salida. The lead guitarist also makes guitars professionally. The town does not pay the groups who come to play at these weekly concerts -- a bucket is passed through the audience midway through the concert so they at least get gas money. We really enjoyed the music, as did the rest of the audience of about 100 people.

Our other musical experience last night (Saturday) was one of a summer series that was started by the Aspen Music Festival 30 years ago and is going strong. Most of the performances are in Aspen or Salida -- this is the only one this year in Buena Vista, so we were anxious to go. The performers were the Sybarite Chamber Players -- a string quintet who looked to be in their mid to late 20's. They are professional musicians based in NYC. All of them also have solo careers and have their Masters Degree in music; the gal who played viola is working on her doctorate. Several of them play with the New World Symphony as well as other venues. They organized into a non-profit and got a grant so they could bring their music to small towns.

I'm going to quote from the program:
"Devoted to educating and expanding the repertoire for string quintet, the Sybarite Chamber Players break down conventional musical boundaries to boldly step forward into a new genre of chamber music. Juxtaposing the likes of Stravinsky with Radiohead or Dvorak with Led Zeppelin, the Sybarite Chamber Players are considered one of the most versatile ensembles of is kind, nimbly programming the most fresh and daunting combinations of music styles."

First they played 'conventional' classical music -- Quintet in G Op. 77 by Antonin Dvorak. They were very very good. After the intermission, they got into their nonconformist roles, let their hair down (the girls literally), and played music from Radiohead that has been arranged especially for them. (Radiohead is an English alternative rock band from the early 1990's.) It was fun to hear, and to watch them obviously get such a kick out of performing. At one point one violinist played her 1885 violin with chopsticks, and the bassist beat his instrument with what looked like a big soup ladle!

They certainly were not what most people probably expected from a classical music event, but they were very good and stimulating, and got a standing ovation from the crowd.

The concert was held at a local church. Some of the older folks wore 'church clothes' but most people were very casual. It was fun to have this experience and not even have to get all dressed up, or travel out of our little mountain town.

When we were driving into our RV park, we saw a deer with antlers right beside the park office. He was busy nibbling grass and merely looked up when our headlights hit him. He was not at all frightened and calmly went back to his grazing. Must have also been a deer that ate all the flowers off my potted plant a few days ago. The dogs think that deer droppings are tasty (ugh). So we have culture and nature here in Buenie!

Quote for the day:
"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience." Victoria Holt