Rugged. Open. Primal. The natural landscape of
southeastern Utah sets the stage for the Moab Music
Festival, and Aaron Jay Kernis — this year’s
composer-in-residence.
With outdoor concert venues of canyons, valleys and
river banks, Moab is the perfect fit for the Grawemeyer
and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer. "I have a lot to
communicate to audiences, and that passion, that desire
to bring beauty back to music is important to me."
Music director Michael Barrett notes, "We are honored
and frankly thrilled to have Aaron come to Moab. He has
a wonderfully fertile musical imagination and has given
us works that literally explode with musical color and
expression." Kernis kicks off the 2 September opening
night concert as he conducts his NOCTURNE. On the 4th,
the theme is "Wolfgang and Aaron," and features
Kernis’s MOZART EN ROUTE, selections from SONGS OF
INNOCENTS and THE FOUR SEASONS OF FUTURIST CUISINE.
