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2006
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Red Rock Rondo Red Rock Rondo by Phillip Bimstein will premiere in the Morgan Theatre at Utah State University, June 15, 2006, at 7:30 pm. Springdale, Utah, the gateway to Zion National Park, is a community subject to many stresses. Mormon settlers' descendents and modern ranchers meet rock climbers and backpackers, while million-dollar houses are built next to old pioneer homes. Like the magnificent sandstone cliffs that tower above, the social geology of this unique community is layered with contrasting strains and strata, embedded with colorful histories while also reflecting the increasingly bustling contemporary life. Springdale is well-known to Utahns because of its proximity to Zion National Park. In a sense, millions of people consider Springdale a kind of second home because of their love for the spectacular geology, flora, and fauna of the region, as well as the pioneer history of the town itself. Red Rock Rondo will express the history and culture of this western rural community, and explore its intimate relationship to the natural landscape of Zion National Park. Composer Phillip Bimstein will create a cycle of songs and musical portraits which draw upon the stories, voices and sounds of Zion Canyon. Inspired by the geology and the culture that characterizes this community, the work will be many-layered, abutting the old and the new stylistically and topically, crosscutting between the stories and lives of a diverse people, embracing fault lines and natural bridges alike. The work will pay homage to the local history and, through its focus on issues of importance to Springdale, help listeners reflect on how they are creating the history of the future. The entire project will facilitate local dialogue with an enriched language of shared experience. The song cycle will employ the talents of both classical and folk musicians. Scheduled for participation in the performance are Utah folk musicians Kate MacLeod and Hal Cannon, oboist Charlotte Bell, bassist Harold Carr, violinist Flavia Cervino-Wood, and Phillip Bimstein. Red
Rock Rondo was commissioned by the Mountain West Center for Regional
Studies through a grant from the Continental Harmony Project of
the American Composers Forum and the National Endowment for the
Arts.
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Hal
Cannon