As of Tuesday, the 2025 Sundance Film Festival was to the date exactly six months away from its Jan. 23 opening, and Festival Director Eugene Hernandez was happy to announce early-bird priority passes and packages were available for purchase.

But only a few hours later, the bird had flown, the passes and packages all sold out, the festival announced. Those tickets flew out the door way faster than anticipated, in minutes rather than days.

“We are grateful for the overwhelming response to this sale, but understand that many of you were not able to make their desired purchases, and for that, we are truly sorry,” Jyn Van Putten, the festival’s associate director for development, broadcast via email later Tuesday afternoon.

“Our official on-sale date for packages will take place in October, and we can assure that you’ll have access to more packages then. You can expect to receive emails with all the necessary information in September,” Van Putten said. “We appreciate your patience and loyalty, and again apologize for any frustration.”

The early-bird sale was to run from July 23 to July 30 at the festival website, festival.sundance.org/tickets, and the packages and passes included options for screenings that will take place in person from Jan. 23 through Feb. 2, with full days of premieres starting at noon on Thursday, Jan. 23, through Tuesday, Jan. 28; and online screenings that will run from Thursday, Jan. 30, through Sunday, Feb. 2.

Sundance will offer separate packages and passes specifically for Utah and Salt Lake City residents, according to Hernandez, who is also the festival’s head of public programming.

“It will be exciting to have locals in the audience for the premiere experience,” Hernandez said. “There’s always so much energy during the first few days of the festival because you have all the premieres.”

There is a different kind of energy the festival takes on after opening weekend, and these passes and packages can help festival-goers tap into that if they choose.

“To be at the midpoint when the pressures are off of the premieres and filmmakers can settle in and get a chance to meet people and have longer conversations is another type of experience,” Hernandez said. “So, we are inviting people to join the festival whenever it makes sense for them, whether it be in-person, online or both.”

Speaking of the Sundance Film Festival’s online platform, it is scheduled to start Thursday, Jan. 30, according to Hernandez.

“People can watch films at home,” he said. “So getting these passes now at these rates makes sense to take advantage of the possibilities.”

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This article appears in The Park Record’s July Adventure Guide, which can be viewed in full in our e-edition or at swiftcharge.net/special-sections/adventure-guide/.

Park City’s summer season is filled with outdoor activities that take place at three local resorts that prove winter isn’t the only season in which it rules to be in a ski town. On the slopes of Park City’s majestic mountains, Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain Resort and newcomer Woodward Park City, an action-sports and ski resort that opened earlier this year, will give visitors and locals alike enough adventure to last an entire summer.

Here is a peek at what each resort is offering, as well as their efforts to keep guests safe from COVID-19.

Deer Valley Resort

After a ski season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, Deer Valley is back for the summer, offering lift-served mountain biking that is some of the best in the area and spans nearly 70 miles of trails; abundant hiking for those who prefer to stay on two feet instead of two wheels; and scenic chairlift rides with unbeatable views on the Silver Lake Express and the Sterling Express.

As part of its COVID-19 protocols, the resort is limiting the number of guests on the mountain and selling lift tickets online and in person on a first-come, first-served basis. Marked chairlift lines require guests to maintain social distancing recommendations, and there are separate queues for scenic chairlift riders and mountain bikers.

For foodies, the Deer Valley Grocery-Cafe, Royal Street Cafe and the Silver Lake Snack Shack offer limited outdoor dining, with tables limited to parties of six or less and arranged to maintain 6 feet of distance between groups.

For more, visit deervalley.com.

Park City Mountain Resort

Park City Mountain Resort is also open after an abbreviated ski season. The activities this summer include hiking and biking on both the Park City and Canyons Village sides of the mountain, scenic lift rides on the PayDay Express and Crescent Express, golfing at Canyons Village, and grab-and-go dining at Jupiter Java. What sets PCMR apart, though, are its alpine slide and mountain coaster, both of which are perfect for thrill-seekers of all ages.

Safety measures at PCMR this summer include requiring guests to physically distance; man- dating face masks in lines, on the alpine slide and mountain coaster; and reducing lift and gondola capacity.

For more, visit parkcitymountain.com.

Woodward Park City

Woodward Park City, located east of Parleys Summit, is in its first summer after debuting last fall. The resort is a bit different from its more established counterparts, Deer Valley and PCMR, and has a focus on action sports. In addition to lift-served mountain biking and BMX dirt jumps, Woodward is home to an indoor facility with trampolines, a skatepark, amenities for parkour and more. Woodward also offers a slate of camps and lessons for children and teens throughout the summer.

As for safety protocols, guests will be asked to complete verbal medical screening before entry, as well as practice social distancing of 6 feet in most areas and 10 feet in activity zones. Guest are also asked to wear face coverings where practical.

For more, visit woodwardparkcity.com.

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Quinton Holmes is looking forward to curtan call for Park City Community Theater’s debut of “A Music Revue — A Tony Cabaret,” the company’s first show.

The production will run from Thursday, July 27, to Saturday, July 29, at the Prospector Theater and feature a night of songs culled from Tony Award-winning musicals from the 1940s to the present, said Holmes, vice president of the Park City Community Theater.

“We’ll have an emcee who will tell a little bit about the songs and the shows that they came from and how many Tonys the shows have won,” Holmes said. “I think we’re going to perform 21 songs. It’s a nice selection of music.”

The program will feature works from “Cabaret” and “Newsies” to “Les Miserables” and “Rent,” as well as “Hamilton” and this year’s Tony winner, “Dear Evan Hansen,” Holmes said.

“Dear Evan Hansen,” which is about a high-school senior with a social anxiety disorder who lost a classmate to suicide, won a string of Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical and more.

The book was written by Steven Levenson, and the music and lyrics were written by Benn Pasek and Justin Paul, who are known for “A Christmas Story: The Musical,” “Dogfight,” “Edges” and “James and the Giant Peach.”

“We really tried to spread things out over the years to get some variety in the show,” Holmes said. “I love that we selected Tony winners the audience could recognize, like ‘A Chorus Line,’ ‘Wicked’ and things like that.

“Then we also threw in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ and things that some people may not be too familiar with. We wanted to get people thinking about these shows and pique some interest.”

Holmes enjoyed selecting the songs for “A Tony Cabaret.”

“It was cool because unlike a regular musical, there isn’t a story that goes along with the revue,” he said. “So, we chose songs that tell a little bit about the musical. At the same time, these songs are great within themselves and could actually stand out of their [respective] musicals.”

There are 10 singers, including Holmes, who will be in the revue.

The cast includes Katy Geacta, Curtis Graf, Johnny Hebda, Katrina Kmak, Robert Nelson, Haley Thomas, Rebecca Tibbits and Aubrie Walker.

“It’s cool because they are all great singers,” Holmes said. “I don’t think we’ll have any dancing.”

There will be an accompanist, Mary Antinori, who is part of the music department at Park City High School.

“We kind of divided the show so there will be songs that will require an accompanist, and then there were will be songs that will use a background music track,” Holmes explained.

Park City Community Theater held auditions for “A Tony Cabaret” last May.

“We had some great talent who came out to join us, and a lot of the people who came out seemed a little unaware that they are so talented,” Holmes said. “It was fun because some told us that they have never sang in a theater or a group before, and then they opened their mouths to sing and it was like, ‘Wow!’

“These guys are either very humble or really don’t know what they can do. It was great that we found so many awesome people who might not be known in the theater scene, but still wanted to have fun and share their talents while sounding so awesome doing it.”

The group has rehearsed for two hours every Tuesday and Thursday for the past four or five weeks.

“A lot of times they would rehearse on their own and we’d glue things together when we met,” Holmes said. “Once we did that, we would see where we were and then make more preparations.”

Park City Community Theater will present “Music Revue — A Tony Cabaret” at 7:30 p.m. from Thursday, July 27, to Saturday, July 29, at the Prospector Theater, 2200 Sidewinder Drive. The production is sponsored by Este Pizza. Student tickets are $15. Adult tickets are $19. They can be purchased by visiting http://www.parkcitycommunitytheatre.com.

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The posters were put on display in 14 businesses located throughout the county — including the Coalville City Hall, Kamas Town Hall, Miners Hospital in Park City and the Blue Sky Service Station in Wanship — to name a few. (See accompanying list).

The exhibit closed on Friday, July 21, and the arts council wants to celebrate its success, Executive Director Hadley Dynak said.

A closing celebration, which will be free and open to the public, will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25, at the Park City Visitor Information Center, 1794 Olympic Parkway.

“The reason we didn’t have the closing celebration on Friday was because it was the start of Pioneer Day weekend,” Dynak said to The Park Record. “So we thought the celebration would be better attended if we pushed it to next week.”

The party will be an opportunity for the arts council to recognize the people who participated in the exhibit.

They include the artists, photographers, and the business owners who allowed the art to be shown on their properties, Dynak said.

“We will also recognize Park City and Summit County staff and council members who were supportive of the project,” she said. “We will also give a high-five to the idea that the community came together to create public art where everyone could access it in their own convenience.”

The artists who submitted their photographs will be able to pick up the posters that were created from their art during the celebration.

“We hope the artists will come and take advantage of that,” Dynak said. “In instances where there are more than one image on a given poster, we will deconstruct those posters so the artists can take their own art home.”

The point of the exhibit was to celebrate local residents’ sense of place.

“It was about our definition of home and our connection to the community and Summit County,” Dynak said. “The other thing about this exhibit was that it used a number of different locations, and that encouraged people to drive through the community and maybe visit places where they haven’t been for a while or where they haven’t ever been to see the art. That, in turn, connected our community through a visual vocabulary and visual viewpoint.”

Dynak said she was pleased with the number of photographs that were submitted and enlarged and formatted by Kimball Art Center Artistic Director Amy MacDonald and her staff.

“We were also pleased with the variety of imagery and the common themes and similarities,” she said.

The similarities included images of the natural landscape in the area.

“We saw many of the vistas and the beautiful perspectives we have with the rural and mountains,” Dynak said. “Animals were another common theme, whether it was horses or the local residents’ love of pets, particularly dogs.”

Portraits of people — children or whole families — were also submitted in abundance.

“These were photos of people who meant something to the artists,” Dynak said.

The differences lied in the perspectives of the photographs.

“There were some contemplative images, which suggested a deeper introspective meaning, as well as some literal, silly, fun and in-the-moment images,” Dynak said.

Julianne Rosen-Carone, visitors services manager for the Park City Chamber Bureau, said holding the celebration at the Visitor Information Center was a logical decision, because it was one of the 14 commercial sites that was part of the exhibit.

“We share the space with Hugo Coffee and created a community meeting place,” Rosen-Carone said. “When Hadley talked to us about ‘A View from My Door,’ Hugo’s owner Claudia McMullin and I immediately wanted to be a part of this, because we thought it was a cool thing to have people in our community share their views of the [county] with locals and visitors about how they see things from their eyes.”

There was no hesitation when Dynak approached Rosen-Carone and McMullin about hosting the closing party.

“We thought it would be a great event to say thanks for letting us participate,” Rosen-Carone said.

“A View from My Door” and the preceding exhibit “Inside-Out Park City,” which featured enlarged black-and-white portraits of Summit County entrepreneurs on display at Newpark, fall under the “Dark Storefronts” concept, a pilot project created in 2016 that the Summit County Public Art Avistory Board wanted to test.

“Dark Storefronts” is a model to bring a temporary public-art exhibit into commercial spaces across the county, and it was supported by the Park City Summit County Arts Council and funded by the RAP Tax grant board as well as the Utah Division of Art and Museums and private donors, Dynak said.

“I think we want to now look at what we have done, and I think the Summit County Public Art Advisory Board is interested in continuing to explore this further,” she said. “All of the photographs are now part of Summit County’s public-art collection. They are so beautiful and we are looking for other ways to share them with the community.

“I think there is going to be an opportunity to project them and display them at the upcoming Summit County Fair.”

The Park City Summit County Public Art Advistory Board will host a closing celebration for the county-wide exhibit, “The View from My Door,” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25, at the Visitor Information Center, 1794 Olympic Parkway at Kimball Junction. The event will honor the 120 photographs that were submitted by Summit County residents that were installed in 14 commercial business and on display starting May 19. For information, visit www.darkstorefronts.org.

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It’s a good think Kris Lager likes to make new music, because he’s in it for the long haul as an independent musician.

“From a personal standpoint I love to create, and I love the constant challenge and quest of making new melodies, music and finding ways to express myself,” Lager said during a phone call to The Park Record from Eureka Springs, Arkansas. “The possibilities are endless from what you know as a musician. There is so much out there. You just have to tap into it.”

The Kris Lager Band will play some of its bandleader’s new and old songs when it finds its way to Park City to open for Andy Frasco and The U.N. at 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 22, at O.P. Rockwell, 268 Main St.

Playing live is another thing Lager loves about his job.

“From a music standpoint, it never gets old, because there are always the elements of the craft of how the band plays together and the chemistry,” he said. “I’m in a band with these great instrumentalists, so I don’t have to tell them what to play. I just show them the songs I have and tell them what key it’s in, and they just jump in.”

Lager’s band features drummer John “Scooby Sha Bo Bo” Fairchild, saxophonist Mike Lefever and bassist Aaron Underwood.

“Scooby’s been with me the longest,” Lager said. “It’s been about 13 years now. I needed a drummer. I played in open mics all over Lincoln, Nebraska, and that’s how we met.”

Lefever’s been with Lager going on just a little more than two years.

“I met him in Kansas City [Missouri] where we were playing a venue called Knuckleheads,” Lager said. “During a set break, he said he wanted to sit in with the me.”

Lager asked a mutual friend if Lefever was any good and got the thumbs up.

“I called him up to the stage on the next set and didn’t let him go until the set was over,” Lager said with a laugh. “I told him if he ever wanted to hit the road with me to let me know, and I scooped him up the next tour and he has been with us ever since.”

Underwood hails from Wichita, Kansas.

“I ran across him because he used to tour with Terry Quiett and Kentucky Gentleman,” Lager said. “He threw his hat in the ring after I posted on Facebook that I needed a bassist.”

Although Lager originally wanted someone who lived in Lincoln or somewhere else close to home, Underwood came in for a three-day run and the whole band jibed.

“He really wanted it, so we decided to make it work, and he’s been with us since last October.”

Lager said his bandmates know how to respond and react to his music.

“I know it drives the guys nuts, because every night we play a different show,” he said. “The arrangements change. The dynamic shifts are in different places, and that requires musicians who can think on their toes.

“As the bandleader, I have to get the audience and band engaged in order to create that magic that I’m looking for. I change things up on purpose to make sure we’re fully present in the moment. I also think that’s what makes them love playing in the band.”

The only part of the job Lager doesn’t enjoy is the business.

“That’s where it starts to get frustrating,” he said with a laugh. “That’s where you sometimes start wondering if doing what we’re doing is worth the time and energy.”

Lager knows why the business side of being a musician is such a drag.

“[It] comes from the climate we’re in now with so much entertainment at our fingertips,” he said. “I mean, it seems just a few people make the effort to get out of the house or even have the money to spend to go to shows. It’s an interesting game I’m in.”

The challenges of maneuvering the hustle is rewarded by the live shows and putting out music, such as The Kris Lager Band’s new album, “Rise and Shine,” which was released in November.

“I feel like this album is the best representation of the band,” Lager said. “All the songs have been mainstays in our set for the past couple of years.”

Lager originally had 30 songs he wanted to record, but was able to whittle the list down to 16.

“Cutting down the first dozen wasn’t hard, but the last few were,” he said. “But I think we got the right ones, because we could tell which ones have that mojo.”

In addition to the new album, Lager is also releasing new songs on his website: http://www.krislagerband.com.

“I’ve been working for years on this solo record that I haven’t had the guts to release,” he said with another chuckle. “So, I’ll post new songs on the website that people can download.

“If people feel like they want to donate, they can throw us couple of bucks. If not, they can just get some free songs.”

A majority of the songs were recorded with a portable tape machine.

“I took it to my friends ‘bud and breakfast’ called Aspen Canyon Ranch in Colorado,” Lager said with another giggle. “He let us take over a cabin and I recorded a handful of those tracks. I want to upload three or more tunes before we take off on the next tour.”

Kris Lager Band will open for Andy Frasco and The U.N. at 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 22, at O.P. Rockwell, 268 Main St. Tickets range from $17 to $32 and can be purchased by visiting http://www.oprockwell.com. For information about the Kris Lager Band, visit http://www.krislagerband.com.

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Katie Wegner, library clerk at Summit County Library Kimball Junction Branch, wants to remind everyone that the Read It and Reap Book Club, will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25, and not on Monday, July 24.

“We usually meet every fourth Monday of the month, but we’re changing it because of the (Pioneer Day) holiday,” Wegner said.

The Read It and Reap Book Club started last fall as a way to get local teens interested in reading.

“We originally kicked off by choosing a book that everyone would read and talk about,” Wegner said. “We decided to tweak the idea by deciding on a theme or genre each month, so the teens can choose any book they are interested in that fits.”

This month, the theme is dystopia.

“There are so many young-adult books out there now,” Wegner said. “It’s a popular theme.”

The theme format also gives teens the opportunity to choose books that align with their different reading levels.

“Some kids might feel more comfortable reading middle-grade books, or even adult books, instead of young-adult books,” Wegner said. “Even if someone had read a book about dystopia a few months ago, they are welcome to come and participate in the conversation.

“That’s one of the cool things about the club, because teens can come in and get reading recommendations, and it doesn’t matter if they have read a book or not. I think hearing from your own peers is an easier way to get reading recommendations than to ask an adult.”

The club is open to teens in grades seven through 12, so Wegner wanted to make it fun.

“We don’t want them to feel like they are in their English class,” she said with a laugh.

On the same line, Wenger wanted to create a more informal atmosphere.

“Time commitment is the biggest challenge, because most of the teens have other activities such as jobs and sports that they do,” she said. “We wanted to make the club a little less structured, because I think it’s cool to create an environment where teens can talk freely about the books they are reading or interested in.”

If teens want more ideas about what books to read, the Kimball Junction Branch has a display they can visit, Wegner said.

In addition to a discussion, the Read It and Reap Book Club participates in a craft that complements the monthly theme.

“Our Teen Advisory Board has helped to plan our book club by choosing which genres/themes we do, Wegner said. “We also run our craft and activity ideas by them.”

This month the club will make paracord survival bracelets, which are bracelets made from nylon cords that can be unwoven to help with an assortment of tasks in the wilderness.

“It’s so fun to think about the different crafts to do,” Wegner said. “We try to make them more teen oriented and try to gear them toward both girls and boys.

“Last month our theme was summer, so we made wind chimes. That was a fun one.”

Wegner said it is important for the Summit County Library to offer programs such as the Read It and Reap Book Club.

“I think things like this are exciting,” she said. “With the Read It and Reap Book Club, we can introduce books and genres that teens may not be reading.”

The Read It and Reap Book Club meetings are held at all the Summit County Library Branches, including Kamas and Coalville.

“We all share the same theme and meet at the same time, so teens can go to the library branches that are closet to them,” Wegner said.

A teen Read It and Reap Book Club will be at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25, at all Summit County Libraries: Kimball Junction, Coalville and Kamas branches. Teens in grades seven through 12 are encouraged to read any book with a dystopian theme. The free event will include a discussion about the books, a craft and snacks. For information, visit http://www.thesummitcountylibrary.org.

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Abbie R. Powers paused for a moment to take in a wave of the light blue silk she suspended with some fishing line from the inside ceiling of Gallery MAR’s front window.

She steppped back, tilted her head and moved forward to adjust the billow, as her assistant and fellow artist Denny Patrick Haskew scrutinized the process.

Powers and Haskew worked on the art installation for three and a half hours on Monday morning, and there were still things that needed to be done that were scheduled to be finished in the early afternoon.

“It will take a maximum of five hours to install,” said Powers, a visual and performing artist from Loveland, Colorado. “I haven’t titled it, yet. I probably should have.”

Powers met Gallery MAR owner Maren Mullin through another artist, Joe Norman, who shows at the gallery.

“Joe has a studio in the same facility where I have a studio,” Powers said.

Mullin said she is always looking for innovative artists, and Powers’ work caught her eye.

“With Abbie, we were looking for a new window moment, a new window display,” Mullin said. “We had just worked with an artist [Jonnie Hartman] who does the holiday windows display at the Grand America Hotel. So, when Joe told me to reach out to
Abbie, I looked her up online and thought it would be a great opportunity to have her do an installation.”

Mullin and Powers began a correspondence six months ago.

“We discussed everything from size to height, and how it would look from the outside and the inside, and how it would interact with art inside the gallery,” Mullin said. “We wanted people to see that while it’s a window display, it’s also a work of fine art. I think she stuck the balance.”

Mullin had looked at the different silk installations Powers had done, and they both decided to do a piece that referenced the clouds.

“I think it’s fantastic, because there is such a great sky here in Park City, and everything in the town draws your eyes up,” Powers said.

Mullin asked the artist to create designs for the space.

“Since a lot of what I do requires math, I asked her to send some measurements, so I could come up with a designer piece that would work,” Powers said. “This one turned out to use just under 200 square feet of acid-dyed silk.”

“This is also a triangular work and I’ve never done a triangle before.”

Powers buys the silk in bulk and dyes it herself.

“The silk arrives and it’s snow white, then I use a powder dye that mixes with vinegar and hot water,” she said. “I put the whole bundle of silk in the pot and add color as I pull the silk out over several hours.”

Powers took six hours to dye this bundle of silk. She then took another few hours to wash and hang it.

“The biggest challenge was to fabricate the art off site, and then making it fit once we got here,” Powers said. “There are still some things that aren’t resolved yet. I had to cut the silk to fit it around another artwork. So, I will be doing some fun stitch work.”

When asked what she enjoys most about the installation process, Powers laughed and said, “Climbing the ladder.”

Then after a pause, she said, “I think the most exciting part is when the math works and seeing the piece for the first time. I spend all of this time drawing, designing and checking the math again and again. If I get something wrong, I can’t fix it because I don’t live here, and I don’t have the materials with me.”

Powers also enjoys seeing the piece come together with the space.

“I like getting the art in the space and letting it breath, so when I tighten it up, it billows,” she said. “The best part of it all is when it’s just right.”

The artist became familiar with art as a child growing up in Nebraska.

“My mother was a painter in the 1970s and 1980s, and she gave up that pursuit when she
had children,” she said. “My father was a farmer for most of my life. He could see something in his head and build it without any plans.

“I think I had the desire, the drive and a little of the talent from both my parents.”

Still, Powers didn’t take any art classes until she went to college.

“I knew I wanted to take a class, and when I did, I was hooked,” she said.

Powers earned a bachelor of science in studio arts form Wayne State College and went on to get a master of fine arts in sculpture from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Her works have been sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and Artplace America.

They have been featured in Sunset Magazine, and have been exhibited nationally at venues such as Wayne State College, Concordia University in Nebraska, The University of Northern Colorado, Dallas Theological Seminary and The University of Colorado Denver.

“I specialize in suspended, billowing silk environments that reflect the natural movement of water across the Earth — oceans and clouds,” Powers said. “I studied sculpture, which led me to installation art. That, in turn, led me to silk.”

Silk is the perfect medium to capture her two inspirations — clouds and water.

“When I was growing up in Nebraska, I spent a lot of time watching the clouds,” Powers said. “Then I moved to the ocean and made a connection between the two of them in color and form. Through my installation art journey, I found silk, which is the perfect material to present the forms and colors that I’m so attracted to.”

The installation at Gallery MAR is available for purchase, Mullin said.

“I feel Abbie’s work is more ephemeral, because she does a lot of performance art,” Mullin said. “I actually see this installation as a more performance piece for us.

“We don’t do a lot of live performances, where artists work in the gallery. So, to have someone come in like her is unique for us.”

After spending time with her head in the silk clouds, Powers stopped and said she enjoyed installing her work at Gallery MAR.

“It’s been a delight to be here and this gallery is fantastic,” she said. “I’m honored to have a piece in the window here among all of these great artists.”

For information about Abbie R. Powers, visit abbierpowers.com. For information about Gallery MAR, visit galleryMAR.com.

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An array of visual artists from Salt Lake, Weber and Summit counties have refurbished used pianos for the Art Pianos for All public art installations over the past five years.

The idea, which was made possible by support from the Summit County Public Art Advisory Board, was to restore old pianos so they could be placed in accessible areas throughout the county and played by the general public.

Although there have been 13 pianos that have been part of the project to date, 10 are still playable and located throughout the county. (See accompanying list).

Art Pianos for All founder and facilitator Mark Maziarz is putting out a call for artist proposals for the 14th piano that will be placed at the Kimball Junction Transit Center.

A copy of the full proposal can be found at facebook.com/artpianosforall, or by visiting maziarz.com/ArtPianosforAllRFP06-17.pdf.

Applications should be mailed to: Art Pianos for All Project Mark Maziarz, P.O. Box 1806, Park City, Utah 84060. Applications can also be emailed to: mark@maziarz.com.
The submission deadline is Friday, July 28.

“The piano is already at the transit if anyone wants to go look at it,” Maziarz said. “The cool thing is that this piano used to be a player piano. It’s the first of its kind that we have ever had.

“While the guts and gears have been taken out, the piano still has a little sliding door that you open to put in the scroll. I think that has some cool and interesting potential for the art. Some artist could come up with a cool idea.”

Maziarz said he is looking for artists who can do a different twist with the piano.

“We’d love to see the piano made into a sculptural piece instead of someone simply painting it,” he said. “This is the first time I’m trying this, and I would like to see something that expands past the plane of the piano, either up or out. For that, we will pay $950, which is a little more money than we have offered in the past.”

Maziarz said the idea came to him after looking at other piano public-art programs.

“While there are other cities around the country that are doing this, I haven’t seen any that have gone sculptural yet,” he said.

Once the proposals are submitted, Maziarz and a small jury will award the contract.

“This will all be done quickly because we’d like to see the piano finished sometime in August,” he said.

Maziarz is looking forward to seeing the different proposals.

“When you see all the different pianos that have been finished and placed throughout [Summit] County, it’s interesting to see how the different artists convey their own perspective with their art,” he said. “For example, the one at Coalvile City Hall was painted by a Coalville artist, and it’s a little more western and homey. So, it will be cool to see how the one at the Summit County Transit Center will turn out.”

The post Art Pianos for All seeks artists for transit center project appeared first on Park Record.

Although rock singer and songwriter Christopher Hawley hails from Venice, California, he plays in Park City so much that he could easily pass as a part-time resident.

In fact, Hawley did toss around the idea to move to the Wasatch Back 11 years ago.

“It was October and I was thinking about the beginning of the ski season and the people I connected with up to then,” Hawley told The Park Record. “While I didn’t make the move, it was tempting.”

These days, the guitarist comes to the Beehive state at least three times a year.

“I try to come twice in the winter and come back in the summer as well,” he said.

This week will mark his summer appearance. Hawley will fly into to Salt Lake on Thursday with his band the Rollers and play at Gracies that night.

On Friday, Christopher Hawley Rollers will perform at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, July 21, at the Shed, at Promontory, 8578 Ranch Club Drive. And then the band will head to the Mystic Hot Springs Music Festival on Sunday.

The concerts will feature some vintage Hawley tunes, as well as some new ones culled from his album “Stories” that was released three weeks ago.

The album was co-written and co-produced by Hawley’s long-time friend Randy Wooten.

“We met 14 or 15 years ago,” Hawley said. “I was helping a friend move, and she had heard about someone who was giving away some furniture to clear out a garage space.”

Wooten was the guy giving away the furniture, and Hawley and he started up a conversation about music.

“A few weeks later, we ran into each other in Tucson, where we played a show on the same night in the same venue,” Hawley said. “When we got back to Venice, we kept in touch and that garage space he cleared out eventually became a studio, where I recorded three of my albums.”

The two started writing songs a few years into their friendship.

“One day I came in and said I have this idea for a song and it’s called ‘Tecate on an Hot Day,’ and Randy immediately said, ‘I know how that song is going to go,’“ Hawley said with a laugh. “In about 20 minutes we finished the song, and, since then, we have written 40 or 50 additional songs. A few of them have appeared on some of my past albums.”

The new album, “Stories,” emerged from an idea Wooten had three years ago.

“One day, he said, ‘Let’s make an album of the songs we have worked on together,’“ Hawley said. “Then he said, ‘I’ll produce it.’“

Hawley liked the idea, especially since Wooten would be the producer.

“It’s a blessing to have, especially in this case, Randy as a producer, because it took some weight off of my shoulders, so I could just focus on making music,” he said. “Randy was the one who was dealing with the restraints of the studio. It was nice to put my parts down and leave the rest to his sensibilities.”

Wooten beefed up the compositions by adding piano, background vocals and even a French horn to one of the songs.

“It was great, because I would go back to the studio to hear the tracks and they would be full of surprises,” Hawley said. “He had stuff that I would have never thought of.”

Deciding on the track list was simple.

“We went through the song list and I checked some of ones that I was currently playing that had been getting some good response,” Hawley said. “There were a couple of songs that we didn’t select, such as one called ‘Rolling Through Carolina.’ It’s a fun track, but we decided to leave it off the album and save it for later.”

Hawley said the songs on “Stories” feel more personal and introspective than the songs on his other albums.

“The lyrics are also more philosophical, especially on the title track and on the song called ‘Josephine,’” he said. “The songs are more moody than what I’ve written in the past. And that is definitely the result of collaborating with Randy.

“I also think it’s because my songwriting has evolved. I always like music that has a good vibe and is uplifting. That’s what I lean toward. I think the introspective side is coming out more.”

Writing with Wooten is an inspiring experience for Hawley.

“It’s different every time, but usually I would bring in a concept or a snippet and he will take it and run,” Hawley said. “Many times we’d be in the room with our guitars and I’d be trying to keep up with the lyrics that he would prolifically keep creating.
I enjoy working with someone who has a lot of great ideas that come out all the time.”

“Stories” is available on iTunes, Amazon.com and Spotify.

“I think it’s everywhere that digital music is distributed,” Hawley said. “I will have some copies with me at the concerts.”

Christopher Hawley Rollers will perform at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, July 21, at the Shed at Promontory, 8578 Ranch Club Drive. The band will also perform on Thursday, July 20, at Gracies in Salt Lake City and on Sunday, July 23, at Mystic Hot Springs Music Festival in Monroe. For information about Christopher Hawley, visit http://www.christopherhawley.net.

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Marshall Charloff regards the late Grammy Award-winning Prince as a musical genius.

“There are so many layers and dimensions to his music,” Charloff said during an interview with The Park Record. “I studied jazz, and when I was dissecting the songs, I saw so much jazz theory in his songs. But somehow he was able to sneak in elaborate dynamics, even though the masses would hear just a funk or pop groove.”

Charloff has a keen insight to what he’s talking about. He’s the founder of the Purple Xperience, a Prince tribute band that performs throughout the United States and Canada.

Charloff will perform the music of Prince with the Utah Symphony at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 20, at Deer Valley. The concert is part of the summer’s Deer Valley Music Festival.

The set list will include most of Prince’s No. 1 hits, as well as a few deeper cuts for the more devoted fans.

“The conductor Bren Havens was one of the guys who selected the songs for the show,” Charloff said. “I was able to choose the order of the songs, and I think he did a marvelous
job with the song selection.”

Over the years, Charloff has adapted to performing with a symphony.

“In the beginning, I was accustomed to playing freely with the Purple Xperience where the arrangements are not set,” he said. “Like any live setting, the band is always focused on the leader, and if he wanted to go an extra eight bars on the guitar solo or come down on the one [beat], they needed to follow him.

“With a symphony, there are notes on a piece of paper and that’s what they’re playing. If I decide that I’m really into this guitar solo and want to keep going, the symphony isn’t coming with me. It took me a minute to adjust to a set arrangement, because it was nothing that I had ever done with the Purple Xperience.”

Charloff, who is also a solo artist in his own right, wasn’t always a Prince tribute artist. He was also a producer and arranger.

He was, however, influenced by Prince in many ways, including hailing from the same hometown.

“The first path that set me on the trajectory of doing what I do was being from Minneapolis,” Charloff said. “I was part of the fiber of the Minneapolis sound “

Charloff met Prince after being signed to Pepe Willie’s company when he was 18.

“Pepe was the Godfather of Minneapolis Sound and he discovered Prince,” Charloff said. “I played keyboards on an album called ‘94 East’ and Prince was on the album.”

Through a progression of events, Charloff found himself playing with Prince’s band, which included bassist Andre Cymone, drummer Bobby Z and keyboardist Matt “Dr. Fink.”

“We did a homecoming show one year and that was the first time that I played live with any of those guys,” Charloff said. “After that, we were invited to do the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame benefit concert.”

When the dust settled, Charloff and Fink decided to put another band together and do Prince tribute shows.

“That’s how we started,” Charloff said. “We did one show a month, because we didn’t do the small bars and clubs. As the popularity grew, we found ourselves playing up to six or seven shows a month tops.”

That changed when Prince, born Prince Rogers Nelson, passed away on April 21, 2016.

“The landscape shifted because we were a tribute before, but the word tribute took on a new meaning for us,” Charloff said. “People came to see us for different reasons. Some are still coming because they are healing. They began coming to make friends and bond with others who love the music.

“To be a facilitator for that has been powerful. It’s an honor. It’s a privilege and a blessing.”

When Charloff performs, fans can see the Prince inside of him, but he didn’t sit down and study to become a Prince impersonator.

“There is no question that on some subconscious level that — after watching so many hours and multitudes of footage and listening to countless hours of music as any fan would — it all got into me,” he said. “As you develop as a musician, you will be influenced by who you listen to and see.”

As far as Charloff’s vocals go, it’s just how he sings.

“Do I turn on the affect when I do a Purple Xperience Show or a Prince Tribute? Yes, but not much,” he said. “If you heard me do my own original Marshall Charloff songs, the voice isn’t that much different. That’s cool because I don’t have to put too much affect on my voice. If I did and tried to fake it, it won’t be well received because the fans know.”

Charloff takes the same approach with the instruments he plays.

“I’m not trying to be Prince,” he said. “Whatever I’m playing — guitar, bass, drums, keyboards — is just how I approach the instruments. I would be a fool to try to touch Prince on guitar.”

While Charloff has many favorite Prince songs, he quickly says the “Ballad of Dorothy Parker” is at the top.

“That one jumped out at me a long, long time ago,” he said.

Charloff said being part of the Purple Xperience and a Prince tribute artist has been a blessing.

“As a musician, I get to express my soul through music,” he said. “Then to have an audience that comes in masses to hear you perform Prince music is also a blessing, because as an original artist, I wasn’t in a position to fill stadiums and theaters. So, selfishly, I get to express myself through the vehicle that is Prince, but still express myself musically.”

The Utah Symphony’s Deer Valley Music Festival will feature Marshall Charloff, who will perform “The Music of Prince,” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 20, at Deer Valley Resort. Adult tickets range from $39 to $96. Youth Tickets are $15. For information and tickets, visit http://www.deervalleymusicfestival.org.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-RtMuW_ToM

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