Best place to fiddle around 2000 | Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp at YMCA Camp Shady Brook in Deckers | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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The Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, which debuted last year and was a rousing success, is back this year with added vigor, not to mention an all-star faculty headed up by Scottish fiddle whiz Iain Fraser. But this year's weeklong fête in the mountains will be far more than a bunch of fiddlers fiddling around; expanded to include numerous other instruments, such as harp, piano, mandolin and guitar, the camp is mostly about making good music, and there's plenty of time for that. The music's nonstop, from the time you get up for classes to the time you go to bed, worn out by an evening of jamming and dancing. When the music stops, it's to make room for hiking or fishing or some old-fashioned campfire storytelling. This is non-violins at its best.

Last fall, the Colorado Performing Arts Hall of Fame, a Denver Center for the Performing Arts affiliate formed to honor Coloradans of repute in the arts, announced a list of six inaugural inductees that read a little like a who's who of American popular culture: Included were theater maven Helen Bonfils, playwright Mary Chase, swashbuckling hero Douglas Fairbanks, brilliant acting team Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine and the King of Swing, Glenn Miller, all bright lights who passed over the American horizon. Gratuitous back-patting at the expense of great folks who for the most part became famous somewhere else? Maybe. But you just can't keep a proud parent from applauding its own. Bravo.
Last fall, the Colorado Performing Arts Hall of Fame, a Denver Center for the Performing Arts affiliate formed to honor Coloradans of repute in the arts, announced a list of six inaugural inductees that read a little like a who's who of American popular culture: Included were theater maven Helen Bonfils, playwright Mary Chase, swashbuckling hero Douglas Fairbanks, brilliant acting team Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontaine and the King of Swing, Glenn Miller, all bright lights who passed over the American horizon. Gratuitous back-patting at the expense of great folks who for the most part became famous somewhere else? Maybe. But you just can't keep a proud parent from applauding its own. Bravo.
What if a city decided to upgrade its arts and culture venues and no one remembered to come? The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District devised a great way to entice the public into trying out places by offering the kind of package deal one simply can't refuse: Hot Tickets, which include a discounted ticket to a selected event at one of SCFD's myriad beneficiaries along with an added deal -- a special reception, meal, free drink or other perk -- each month. Upcoming Hot Ticket events this summer include a Central City performance of Candide, a night of virtuoso string music with 3 Jammin' Gents at Boulder's Chautauqua Auditorium, A Night Under the Stars at the Colorado Music Festival (also at Chautauqua) and an outdoor concert by the Amazing Rhythm Aces at the Arvada Center. Isn't it time you had a night out, on the town?

What if a city decided to upgrade its arts and culture venues and no one remembered to come? The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District devised a great way to entice the public into trying out places by offering the kind of package deal one simply can't refuse: Hot Tickets, which include a discounted ticket to a selected event at one of SCFD's myriad beneficiaries along with an added deal -- a special reception, meal, free drink or other perk -- each month. Upcoming Hot Ticket events this summer include a Central City performance of Candide, a night of virtuoso string music with 3 Jammin' Gents at Boulder's Chautauqua Auditorium, A Night Under the Stars at the Colorado Music Festival (also at Chautauqua) and an outdoor concert by the Amazing Rhythm Aces at the Arvada Center. Isn't it time you had a night out, on the town?

The project of music-school director Sue Schnitzer, a mother, musician and music educator who's led hundreds of toddlers through the ropes of finding their rhythms early, Wheeeeeeeeee: Songs & Stories for Kids by Front Range Artists has a little bit of everything, including some of the bigger names in the local kids'-music industry. Contributions from such talents as Lois LaFond, Bonnie Phipps and Liz Blackburn & Sean Masterson intermingle with lesser-known cuts, but every centimeter of the CD is a gem, from Cindy Wilkinson's whimsical "Jumping Beans" to Blackburn and Masterson's "Ya Gotta Have a Mustache." It's guaranteed to get kids -- and maybe you, too -- up and dancing.
The project of music-school director Sue Schnitzer, a mother, musician and music educator who's led hundreds of toddlers through the ropes of finding their rhythms early, Wheeeeeeeeee: Songs & Stories for Kids by Front Range Artists has a little bit of everything, including some of the bigger names in the local kids'-music industry. Contributions from such talents as Lois LaFond, Bonnie Phipps and Liz Blackburn & Sean Masterson intermingle with lesser-known cuts, but every centimeter of the CD is a gem, from Cindy Wilkinson's whimsical "Jumping Beans" to Blackburn and Masterson's "Ya Gotta Have a Mustache." It's guaranteed to get kids -- and maybe you, too -- up and dancing.
The Adirondack chairs in the children's wing of the Denver Public Library, designed by Michael Graves and constructed of sturdy curly maple, are ample enough for two small readers or one adult plus one in-lap guest. Surrounded by a cozy world of books -- not to mention views of Civic Center Park and that horse-on-a-big-chair whatzit -- this is the perfect place for childish or grown-up contemplation.

The Adirondack chairs in the children's wing of the Denver Public Library, designed by Michael Graves and constructed of sturdy curly maple, are ample enough for two small readers or one adult plus one in-lap guest. Surrounded by a cozy world of books -- not to mention views of Civic Center Park and that horse-on-a-big-chair whatzit -- this is the perfect place for childish or grown-up contemplation.

At places like UCAR in Boulder, there's nothing mindless or even casual about talking about the weather. UCAR researchers are dead serious, in fact, when it comes to the climatological vagaries of living in the world, and they've put together a dandy, prize-winning, kid-tested weather Web site for young 'uns. Log on to Web Weather for Kids and follow the dancing raindrop -- it'll lead you to all kinds of information and related experiments on weather phenomena. It's a great way to engage a young mind on, well, a rainy day.

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