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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
Moab has become famous worldwide for its beautiful landscape, with gushing rivers flowing through spectacular red rock canyons. But music lovers appreciate Moab for another reason: the annual Moab Music Festival.
Musicians and music aficionados from around the world visit Moab each September to participate in this spectacular two-week event, which harmonizes the beauty of the landscape with old and new musical masterpieces.
New York musicians Michael Barrett and Leslie Tompkins founded the festival in 1992 with a dream to bring together world-class musical performances with the beauty of the Moab landscape, and to bring musical opportunities to the area. Throughout the years, nearly 150 professional musicians from across the country have performed at the festival.
These acclaimed musicians perform concerts of classical chamber music, traditional music, vocal music and jazz in indoor and outdoor venues ranging from historic Star Hall in Moab to a wilderness grotto 30 miles down the Colorado River. And while these sites provide stunning beauty and acoustical splendor, they do come with challenges. The desert weather changes rapidly — bringing dust, wind and rain with little warning — and the arid desert air can play tricks on various instruments.
Each year, the festival's Education Outreach Program provides a special concert assembly that reaches and teaches every child enrolled in the Grand County School District about music. And each season, the festival highlights the work of a distinguished composer-in-residence, this year honoring Pulitzer Prize winner William Bolcom in his 70th birthday year.
The 2008 Festival will run from August 28 to September 13. For more information about festival events, visit www.moabmusicfest.org. I think you will see — and hear — that the Moab Music Festival offers an unparalleled experience and a glorious treat for all senses.
For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.
