Rochelle Man, Flute | Elizabeth Wheeler, Oboe and English Horn | Tatiana Mann, Piano | Philip, Julian, and Aleksandr Mann, Narrators

Stephanie Berg
Richard Wheeler
The Platypus Story (2019)

Stephanie Berg
Platytudes (2022)

This family concert opens the 14th annual Durango Chamber Music Festival. The concert will be followed by an ice cream social. Students enrolled in the music camps Piano Academy at Fort Lewis College and Durango Chamber Music Academy are encouraged to come and meet other students in the camps (admission to all festival concerts is included in camp registration fees). The public is also invited to this Colorado premiere of two new works by Stephanie Berg.

The Platypus Story was commissioned in 2018 by Rochelle Mann, Elizabeth Wheeler, and Richard Wheeler. It was premiered in Little Rock, Arkansaas, and was originally scheduled for the 2020 Durango Chamber Music festival.  Stephanie Berg, the composer, writes, "The Platypus Story follows the tale of various forest creatures, each belonging to their own bird, fish or mammal group. They each come across an animal that seems to defy categorization, and celebrate their differences as well as what they have in common.  The story's heartfelt message is one of strength in unity, and beauty in diversity."  

  The second work on the program, Platytudes, was commissioned in 2021. The artists will offer the premier performance on June 5, 2022.

Festival passes and tickets to individual concerts are available at DurangoChamberMusic.com, along with artist bios.