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Grammy-Winning Quartet Brings Chamber Music Mastery Back To The Big Sky

Warning: the combination of unbridled musical delight and breathtaking views at St. Timothy’s Summer Music Festival can be overwhelming.
Warning: the combination of unbridled musical delight and breathtaking views at St. Timothy’s Summer Music Festival can be overwhelming.";

Skip the plane ticket to Vienna and hear world-class string music right here in rural Montana. Take in the exuberant melodies of Beethoven and awe-inspiring views of the rugged Pintler Range this weekend as the Muir String Quartet and Guests headline St. Timothy’s Summer Music Festival at Georgetown Lake on Sunday July 17 at 4:00 p.m.

The quartet, accompanied by the Montana Chamber Music Society, will be sharing their music at St. Timothy’s for the 22nd consecutive year. Despite the fact the group has filled the finest concert halls across the United States, Europe and China — even performing in the White House — the quartet finds itself inevitably drawn back to western Montana. Fans agree they have astronomically increased the odds that the next young Mozart will compose his first symphony with a fly rod in hand.

Here, the Muir Quartet performs for the Reagans in 1983.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LsUWh85prM

The "intimate, acoustically divine venue," St. Timothy’s Memorial Chapter, is only an hour and a half journey from Missoula, and a mere hour’s drive from Butte. Tickets can be found online at sttimothysmusic.org, $20 for adults and $15 for those 18 and younger. Last minute attendees may purchase tickets at the door for $25.

The Muir String Quartet plays three shows this week in Montana.
Credit courtesy
The Muir String Quartet plays three shows this week in Montana.

Earlier in the week the Muir Quartet will perform Thursday July 14 in Bozeman at Reynolds Hall on the MSU campus, as well as Friday July 15 in Big Sky, MT at Rainbow Ranch. More details and a full schedule can be found at the Muir String Quartet's website.

If you are a young Montanan skeptical of classical music, I urge you to take a chance on this performance. The Muir Quartet’s similarities to Beyoncé and Led Zeppelin go beyond the fact that they’re all Grammy winners. Michael Reynolds, the cellist and a founding member of the group says it best: “We get it done. And then we party together.”

This performance is worth a listen all the way through. Peter Zazofsky and Lucia Lins’ expressions of reverence and irrepressible joy as the last notes fade away say it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8FHJPlruOY

Montana Public Radio is proud to be a media partner of St. Timothy’s Summer Music Festival, which has been showcasing Montana’s musical talent for 22 years. The music continues all summer at St. Timothy's. July 24 features jazz singer Jeni Fleming. Four young musicians from across Montana follow on August 7, and the String Orchestra of the Rockies will wrap up the season on August 21.

Michael Marsolek is the program director of Montana Public Radio. He also hosts Tuesday Freeforms and Thursday Morning Classics.
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