Colorado’s Telluride Chamber Music Festival on pause, as it works toward year-round approach

“This week typically kicks off the Telluride Chamber Music Festival, which has been presenting classical music to audiences annually for nearly 50 years,” writes Justin Cried in Tuesday’s (7/28) Telluride Daily Planet (CO). “But the lingering COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden passing of cofounder Robin Sutherland in late 2020 caused organizers to cancel the 2021 iteration and focus on the direction of the festival moving forward. ‘We are using this time to rebuild and reframe the festival and have some exciting plans … Claire Beard will be taking over from Warner Paige as the new managing director of the festival,’ … a recent news release stated. The chamber also announced a free memorial concert for Sutherland, the beloved pianist and former San Francisco Symphony member, Sept. 12…. The chamber board plans to meet by the end of August…. Beard, who is a classically trained flute player, has been a fan of the festival since she moved to town from her native London, where she played professionally for 10 years…. ‘We’re going to move toward more of a series throughout the year instead of one weekend in August, so there’s more classical music throughout the year, which will be wonderful,’ she said.”