Chamber Music Festival Aug. 9

woman standing with violin
Holly Mulcahy is the violinist and musical director for the Wyoming Festival. (Holly Mulcahy Photo)

A new chamber music festival inspired by the wild and natural setting of Grand Teton National Park will take place in August.

“Wyoming Festival: Sparkling New Chamber Music Celebrating the Eclipse and Grand Teton National Park” is scheduled Thursday, Aug. 10, at 7 p.m. at the University of Wyoming-National Park Service (UW-NPS) Research Station at AMK Ranch, located north of Leeks Marina in Grand Teton. A reception follows. The suggested donation for those attending is $20 each.

A preview concert is Wednesday, Aug. 9, from 2-3 p.m. at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Moose. Admission is free.

The Wyoming Festival is devoted to the creation of brand-new concert music. Chamber artists-in-residence -- world-renowned musicians, all of whom also play in the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra -- are led by violinist Holly Mulcahy and include Mary Corbett, violin; Anna Kruger, viola; Amy Leung, cello; and Richard Barber, bass.

close up of man's face
Forrest Pierce is the Wyoming Festival’s composer-in-residence. (Forrest Pierce Photo)

Through a juried process, six music composition fellows from across the nation have been invited to participate, as well as Composer-in-Residence Forrest Pierce (www.forrestpierce.com) and festival director and composer Anne M. Guzzo (www.anneguzzo.com), a UW professor.

Mulcahy (www.hollymulcahy.com), violinist and musical director for the Wyoming Festival, currently serves as concertmaster of the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, and began developing her leadership skills at the renowned Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with former Baltimore Symphony concertmaster Herbert Greenberg. In recent seasons, she has served as guest concertmaster for the Columbus Symphony and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and a one-year appointment as interim concertmaster for Orchestra Iowa.

Mulcahy maintains a busy schedule, serving as traveling concertmaster for the Emmy Award-winning George Daugherty’s Bugs Bunny at the Symphony program and performing with the Grammy Award-winning Nashville Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony. She spends her summers at the celebrated Grand Teton Music Festival where, in addition to performing in the violin section and as assistant principal second, she volunteers as an active chamber musician.

woman standing outside
Anne Guzzo is the Wyoming Festival’s director and composer. (Anne Guzzo Photo)

Pierce and Guzzo are deeply engaged in working with sounds and processes of nature to create music that helps expand listeners’ understanding and appreciation of the natural world. 

Pierce, composer and poet, lives in Lawrence, Kan., and teaches at the University of Kansas. He has written about 200 compositions that include vocal, chamber and choral music. Winner of the Barlow Prize, the Ortus and Avalon international competitions, as well as the international choral competitions of the Boston Chamber Singers and Boston Choral Ensemble, Pierce was educated at Indiana University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Puget Sound. 

Guzzo’s research interests include the cartoon music of Carl W. Stalling, scientific collaborations and musical absurdism. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California-Davis and was the 2015-16 composer-in-residence for the Colorado Chamber Orchestra.

For more information about the Wyoming Festival, contact Guzzo at guzzo@uwyo.edu or (307) 399-5056; UW-NPS Research Center Director Michael Dillon at michael.dillon@uwyo.edu; or Mulcahy at violinmulcahy@comcast.net or (708) 990-3939.

 

 

Contact Us

Institutional Communications
Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-2929
Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu


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