MUSIC FROM ANGEL FIRE PRESENTS 26th SEASON!

AUGUST 21 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2009

Music from Angel Fire celebrates its 26th Season of presenting exquisite, world class chamber music in the beauty and seclusion of Northern New Mexico's spectacular mountain communities of Angel Fire, Taos, Raton and Las Vegas. Beginning August 21 and continuing through September 6, international artists including pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, violinists Ida and Ani Kavafian, cellist Peter Wiley and Native American flutist Robert Mirabal will perform 15 exciting concerts featuring the great works of the Classical, Romantic, Baroque and Contemporary masters.

The Festival continues its 26-year tradition musical excellence by presenting chamber music in the intimate settings of the Festival's concert venues in Angel Fire, Taos, Raton and Las Vegas. Festival Artistic Director Ida Kavafian will host two special Musical Conversations at the United Church of Angel Fire on August 23 and September 3. Other program highlights will include the favorite 'Salon Concert' where artists strut their stuff in an informal setting with unique repertoire on August 30, followed by the annual Benefit Southwestern Auction, and an all Baroque Concert on September 2 to be presented at the Taos Community Auditorium.

2009 Composer-in-Residence Augusta Read Thomas will join the Festival this Season with a work commissioned by Music from Angel Fire through the Bruce E. Howden, Jr. American Composers Project, which will be premiered in Angel Fire on Sunday, September 6. Ms. Thomas was the Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from May 1997 through June 2006, a residency that culminated in the premiere of Astral Canticle – one of two finalists for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Most striking in her music is its exquisite humanity and poetry of the soul. The notion that music takes over where words cease is hardly more true than in her musical voice.

Continuing its commitment to education, the Festival will once again present the Music from Angel Fire Young Artist Program. In its 11th year, this ever popular educational outreach program will feature performances by wind and string students from the famed Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. These gifted young artists will be a part of the Festival's Music in Our Schools rural residency program and will present over 30 hands-on classroom programs in the public schools of Northern New Mexico.

In addition to brilliant performances of the world's most beautiful music, the Festival will present the ‘Closer Encounters Series' on Friday, August 21 and Wednesday, August 26 at 11:00 AM. Offering a ‘behind the scenes' look, this series will provide a fun opportunity to learn more about music and to interact with artists in an open rehearsal setting.

The 2009 Season is presented in part by the Eugene V. & Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust of Santa Fe, the Albert I. Pierce Foundation of Albuquerque, the Benton Family of Houston, the Anderson Family of Gail/Angel Fire, the Kerr Foundation of Oklahoma City, the Whited Foundation and United Chevrolet and Toyota of Raton, International Bank of Angel Fire and Raton, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation, Valley Market of Angel Fire, the Angel Fire Resort, the Angel Fire, Las Vegas and San Miguel County Lodgers' Tax, New Mexico Arts Division and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Join Music from Angel Fire in celebrating its 26th Season with one great concert after another. Ticket prices range from $20 to $35 with all Family/Youth concerts and the Raton Community Concert complimentary. The music will be dazzling and your experience exhilarating.

WHAT: MUSIC FROM ANGEL FIRE'S 26th SEASON
WHERE: ANGEL FIRE, TAOS, RATON & LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO
WHEN: AUGUST 21 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 6, 2008
TICKETS: $20 TO $35 with all Family/Youth Concerts and Raton Community Concerts Complimentary
INFO: 575-377-3233/toll free 888-377-3300, www.musicfromangelfire.org, Music from Angel Fire, P.O. Box 502, Angel Fire, NM 87710

The 26th Season * August 21 - September 6, 2009
(Programs subject to change)

Friday, August 21, 2009, 7:00 PM
Angel Fire Community Center, Angel Fire

Saturday, August 22, 2009, 7:00 PM
Taos Center for the Arts, Taos

Sunday, August 23, 2009, 7:00 PM
United Church of Angel Fire, Angel Fire
Musical Conversations I

Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 7:00 PM
Shuler Theater, Raton
Complimentary Community Concert

Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 7:00 PM
Angel Fire Community Center, Angel Fire

Friday, August 28, 2009, 7:00 PM
Ilfeld Auditorium, Las Vegas

Saturday, August 29, 2009, 7:00 PM
Taos Center for the Arts, Taos

Sunday, August 30, 2009, 2:00 PM
Angel Fire Community Center, Angel Fire

Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Lodge at Angel Fire Resort
2009 Benefit Auction - Southwestern Art
Following the afternoon concert

Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 1:00 PM
Taos Center for the Arts, Taos
Taos Family/Youth Concert - Complimentary
Lecture, Demonstration, and Concert

Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 7:00 PM
Taos Center for the Arts, Taos

Thursday, September 3, 2009, 10:00 AM
Eagle Nest Elementary Middle School
Turner Family/Youth Concert - Complimentary
Lecture, Demonstration, and Concert

Thursday, September 3, 2009, 7:00 PM
United Church of Angel Fire, Angel Fire
Musical Conversations II

Saturday, September 5, 2009, 7:00 PM
Taos Center for the Arts, Taos

Sunday, September 6, 2009, 2:00 PM
Angel Fire Community Center, Angel Fire

• Melvin Chen
• Anne-Marie McDermott

• Robert Wolinsky

• Theodore Arm
• Melvin Chen
• Ani Kavafian
• Ida Kavafian
• Benny Kim
• Daniel Phillips

• Toby Appel
• Ida Kavafian
• Cynthia Phelps
• Steven Tenenbom

• Ron Thomas
• Peter Wiley

• Laurence Glazener

• Miami String Quartet
• Ivan Chan, Violin
• Cathy Meng Robinson, Violin
• Yu Jin, Viola
• Keith Robinson, Cello

• Tara Helen O'Connor

• Robert Mirabal

• Stephen Taylor

• Bil Jackson

• TBA

• David Jolley

• Augusta Read Thomas

• Students from the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia
• 10 Young Artists TBA