The season kicks off with a journey for lovers of music, nature, and outdoor adventure: a custom 3-day/2-night Westwater Canyon Musical Raft Trip through the Colorado River's Ruby-Horsethief and Westwater Canyons, beginning on Monday, August 31 at 7am. Living up to the Festival's reputation as “an adventurer's paradise" (Smithsonian magazine), voyagers will spend part of the time drifting leisurely at the river's pace, followed by a day which includes exciting whitewater rapids like Little Hummer, Funnel Falls, Last Chance, and the famous Skull Rapid formed as the Colorado River flows through a narrow black granite gorge. Patrons will enjoy daily concerts by two Festival superstars– cellist Jay Campbell and violinist Francisco Fullana – in extraordinary settings, as well as swimming, walks, and dining experiences. After bringing their inner rhythms in tune with the river, participants return to Moab on the last evening, Wednesday, September 2. Outfitted by Sheri Griffith River Expeditions.

An exhilarating 45-minute jet boat ride down the Colorado River will bring listeners to "nature's own concert hall" (The New York Times) – a pristine, acoustically-perfect wilderness grotto carved from the surrounding red rocks. Imagine this grotto as a sonic marriage between the Sistine Chapel and Carnegie Hall, set within one of the most stunning natural settings to be found anywhere. The first of three signature Grotto Concerts, on Thursday, September 3, features acclaimed pianist-composer Michael Brown performing Beethoven’s Fifth symphony in a brilliant, devilishly-difficult transcription for solo piano, as arranged by the towering pianist Franz Liszt. This rarely heard tour-de-force will be paired with some of Mozart’s sublime music for two pianists playing together at one instrument. At the next grotto performance, on Wednesday, September 9, Brown returns to dazzle the audience with Beethoven’s monumental “Hammerklavier” Sonata, long considered unplayable, along with works by Robert Schumann for piano, four-hands. The final grotto adventure on Monday, September 14, the Festival finale, is Music of Faith and Belief, devoted to music by Johann Sebastian Bach. One of Bach’s magnum opuses, The Well-Tempered Clavier, was a lifelong touchstone for Beethoven from the time he learned the work by memory by age 12! Paying homage to Beethoven’s admiration for his older German compatriot, this program intersperses several of Bach’s sacred chorales with American spirituals for what is likely to be a transcendent experience.

RED CLIFFS LODGE

And to kick back after two of the hikes or let loose (or a little of both!), drop into Red Cliffs Lodge for a pair of toe-tapping, finger-snapping evenings of sheer delight. On Saturday, September 5 at 7pm, Master Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser teams up with his longtime duo partner Natalie Haas and her sister Brittany for cutting-edge fiddle and cello explorations. Enchanting audiences for over 20 years, the combination of Alasdair’s Scottish heritage, Brittany’s American old-time roots and dance energy, along with Natalie’s percussive cello playing bring audiences to a state of pure joy and abandon. And after the hike on Sunday, September 6 at 7pm head back to RCL to bask in a Chopin Polonaise, Beethoven Serenade, and Martinů Madrigals alongside exciting new works by Derek Bermel and Sky Macklay. There will be plenty of electricity to go around at the Festival’s free annual Labor Day extravaganza on Monday, September 7 at 7pm, this year at Red Cliffs Lodge. The entire family is welcome to catch the (heat) wave when MMF celebrates the Moab Community’s resilience with a free concert with performances of the music of Beethoven, Stravinsky, the American Songbook, and Scottish folk music.

Picture being at a Private Ranch on the banks of the Colorado River, with great food, good company, and an eclectic mix of jazz, classical, and original music from two of the most versatile and electrifying young musicians of their generation. On Tuesday, September 8 at 5:30pm Time for Three’s Charles Yang, who “plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star” (The Boston Globe), joins the new host of NPR’s popular From the Top, pianist Peter Dugan, and his “feats of alarming dexterity" (San Francisco Chronicle) for a sizzling, virtuosic romp, setting off musical fireworks that are likely to rival the pyrotechnics that close out the evening, which is a benefit for the Festival.

Week I artists: violinist Francisco Fullana; violist Cynthia Phelps; cellists Jay Campbell, Nicholas Canellakis, Ronald Thomas; pianists Michael Barrett, Michael Brown; Justin Austin, baritone.

Week 2 artists: violinists Francisco Fullana, Kristin Lee, Christopher Otto, Austin Wulliman, Charles Yang; violist John Pickford Richards; cellists Jay Campbell, Nicholas Canellakis; pianists Michael Barrett, Michael Brown, Peter Dugan (& electric keyboard), Justin Austin, baritone.

JACK Quartet: Christopher Otto & Austin Wulliman, violins; John Pickford Richards, viola; Jay Campbell, cello

For more information about the Festival or to purchase tickets for the 28th annual Moab Music Festival go to the website, or telephone the Box Office at (435) 259-7003. You may also visit the Festival Office at 58 East 300 South, Moab, UT 84532.