Dr. Emily Ondracek-Peterson and Dr. Erik Christian Peterson Announced as Co-Artistic Directors of Crested Butte Music Festival

The Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF) is pleased to announce the appointment of violinist Dr. Emily Ondracek-Peterson and violist Dr. Erik Christian Peterson as co-Artistic Directors of the Festival, effective October 3, 2016. The husband-wife team will work in partnership with the CBMF Executive Director Crista Ryan to broaden concert programming, enhance the audience experience, and increase educational outreach. Their vast artistic experience, connections to the regional Denver area, and commitment to arts education makes the pair a natural fit for the Crested Butte Music Festival as it heads into its 21st season in 2017.

Crista Ryan, Executive Director of the Festival, says, "Emily and Erik will be a strong creative force for the Crested Butte Music Festival and will propel it forward as it continues to become a regional and national summer music destination. Their combined experience will allow the festival to continue fostering and expanding our mission of presenting an artistically diverse music festival. I am most excited to watch their immediate impact on the Gunnison Valley with the desire and passion they have for music education."

Kathy King, President of the CBMF Board of Directors notes that "We are delighted to welcome Emily and Erik to the music festival. Their unique understanding of a modern interpretation of classical music will differentiate our festival, broaden our connection with the contemporary audience, and enhance our educational initiatives."

Dr. Emily Ondracek-Peterson says, "We plan to expand on the festival's educational offerings through the creation of new programs that will provide education to both adults and children, visitors, and locals alike. Erik and I are excited to be joining the fantastic staff, board, and audiences of the Crested Butte Music Festival."

Dr. Erik Christian Peterson says, "Emily and I are thrilled with the opportunity to shape the festival's direction as it continues to develop into a nationally prominent arts destination. In upcoming seasons, the festival will continue to expand its presentation of innovative programs that feature today's leading artists and tomorrow's stars, blending genres and blurring traditional musical boundaries."

The pair revels in the natural beauty of Crested Butte, and Mr. Peterson continues by saying, "The first day Emily visited Crested Butte, she called me and said, 'I want to live here someday!' It's a setting of stunning natural beauty, coupled with unique charm and warmth. I believe it to be the most beautiful town in Colorado and the most picturesque setting for a music festival."

About Emily Ondracek-Peterson:

Praised by The New York Times for her "elegant solo work," and by Strad magazine for her "dazzling passagework," Dr. Emily Ondracek-Peterson's multifaceted pursuits embody the scope, versatility, and ability required for a successful music career in the twenty-first century. As a rising star of violin performance and arts advocacy, Dr. Ondracek-Peterson moves effortlessly through multiple areas of focus: performance, teaching, writing, scholarship, administration, and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Ondracek-Peterson is a native of Chicago and began playing the violin at the age of four. At the age of 16 she gave her solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons Concertos. Dr. Ondracek-Peterson has performed solo and chamber music performances at all of the major venues in New York City including Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, the Guggenheim, MoMA, {le} poisson rouge, the Apollo Theatre, Bargemusic, Merkin Hall, Alvin Ailey Dance Center, Trinity Wall Street, Steinway Hall, and Symphony Space. She has also performed at festivals such as the Aspen, Sarasota, Italy's Festival de Due Mondi, and the Cleveland Orchestra's Blossom Summer Music Festival, where she was presented the Joseph Gingold Award for most outstanding instrumentalist.

As first violinist of the acclaimed Voxare String Quartet, Dr. Ondracek-Peterson has been awarded Chamber Music America's ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. She has also performed and recorded with the Talea Ensemble; the Wordless Orchestra with Johnny Greenwood (Radiohead); Axiom; Classical Jam; the Japanese band, Mono. Taking pride in contemporary-music advocacy, she has worked with composers both young and established, including Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Ned Rorem and David Del Tredici.

Education plays a large role in Dr. Ondracek's professional activities. Currently Dr. Ondracek-Peterson is the director of string studies and full-time professor of violin at the Metropolitan State University of Denver and is on faculty at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Ondracek has held residencies at Dartmouth College, the University of Leeds (UK), University of Virginia, and others. She is a two-time Morse Fellow and was a New York Philharmonic Teaching Artist, bringing creative music instruction to a wide range of K-12 schools including those in Harlem and the Bronx. Also, she has sat on the Educational Board of the Colorado Symphony. Dr. Ondracek is certified as a Suzuki instructor and teaches at Suzuki institutes and workshops throughout the country.

Dr. Ondracek received both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Masao Kawasaki under a Morse Scholarship. At Teachers College, Columbia University, Dr. Ondracek received her doctorate in Music and Music Education; her research into the careers of classically-trained musicians culminated in a 500-page doctoral thesis.

About Erik Christian Peterson:

Violist Erik Christian Peterson explores multiple areas of interest including musicology, technology, aesthetics, and education. He started playing viola at age 10 in his native Chicago and has since performed on the world's leading stages. With Voxare Quartet, Dr. Peterson has performed as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and received Chamber Music America's ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. He has become a leading advocate for contemporary art music, premiering and recording numerous works by living composers. As an orchestral musician, Dr. Peterson has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Milwaukee and New World Symphonies.

As a musicologist and theorist, Dr. Peterson's full lecture schedule includes appearances at Princeton University, the British Library, and New York University, among others. He is currently on the musicology faculty at Metropolitan State University Denver, splitting his time between Denver and New York City. Academic areas of interest include the composer Paul Hindemith, twentieth / twenty-first century music, electro-acoustic interaction, and music aesthetics.

Dr. Peterson works in technology as a recording engineer, producer, and editor. He soon will be launching a new record label featuring cutting edge technology in the music's recording, editing, and distribution. Dr. Peterson employs technology to progress learning in arts education; as a founding member of Noted Endeavors with Eugenia Zukerman and Emily Ondracek-Peterson he creates video content that helps emerging musicians to develop sustainable successful careers in the arts. Additionally, Dr. Peterson works with arts organizations and educational institutions in researching both educational and marketing strategies, for which he then provides video content along with web and graphic design. Outside of the musical and academic realms, Dr. Peterson is a serious photographer whose works have appeared in The New York Times and other leading publications.

Dr. Peterson received his Bachelor's degree from The Juilliard School, and his Master's and Doctoral degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, he studied astronomy at Columbia University. Dr. Peterson plays on a viola made by Franz Kinberg.

About the Crested Butte Music Festival:

Founded in 1996, the Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF) celebrated 20 years of music making this past summer. The 2016 summer season offered an array of performances over eight weeks in classical music, jazz, contemporary music, and opera. Through CBMF's guest artists, residents and visitors of Gunnison County have access to performances and educational opportunities that would typically only be available in a major metropolitan area. CBMF offers educational programming and events for all ages, many of which are free or presented with a voluntary donation.

CBMF introduced the Mt. Crested Butte Mirror Palace this summer, a semi-permanent Spiegeltent that housed all of CBMF's "mainstage" concerts. The Mirror Palace sits on the site of the future Biery-Witt Center, a performing arts complex scheduled for completion in 2018. One of a handful of such structures in the U.S., the Mirror Palace is nestled at the base of Mt Crested Butte and offers stunning views of the mountain from the concert space. Flemish for "mirror tents," Spiegeltents were built around 1900 in Belgium for use as traveling dance halls and town fairs. The numerous spiegels, or mirrors, in the tent allowed for discreet eye contact between visitors and became a legendary symbol of the wild fin-de-siècle nightlife. Originally built in the 1930s by the Klessens family, this tent has traveled around the world and most recently spent ten years in South Africa.

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