The 2025 season runs from August 27 – September 12. To arrange for interviews or photos, contact Elizabeth Dworkin – elizabeth@dworkincompany.com, 914-244-3803.
For immediate release
[Moab, UT] — The Moab Music Festival today announces that violinist Tessa Lark has been named its next Artistic Director. Co-Founding Directors Michael Barrett and Leslie Tomkins will be stepping back from the award-winning Festival (MMF) after 33 years; Lark’s role will combine the co-founders’ artistic responsibilities.
Festival Board of Trustees President Anne Wilson said, “While it is bittersweet to be moving on to the next chapter of artistic leadership, we are grateful to have had our founders’ direction, guidance, and support in choosing their successor. This extraordinary festival is well positioned for the future, with the strong foundation they built, and their long and exemplary tenure. We are delighted to welcome Tessa as the Festival’s next Artistic Director. Her long history as a Festival violinist, coupled with her immense talent and creativity, make her a perfect fit. We are excited to see Tessa’s vision unfold, and work together to usher in a new generation of world-class music in concert with the landscape® experiences, for which the Festival has become famous.”
Since her Festival debut in 2016, Lark has delighted audiences with her technical mastery, stylistic fluidity, and welcoming spirit. She boasts a Grammy- nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for her recording of Sky, the violin concerto Michael Torke wrote for her. She has been engaged by the San Francisco, Seattle, and BBC Symphonies, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. A recipient of Lincoln Center’s most prestigious honor for emerging artists, the Hunt Family Award, she also received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and top prize at the Naumburg International Violin Competition. She serves as a Co-Host/Creative of From the Top, NPR’s famed showcase for young classical musicians, and is Artistic Director of the Musical Masterworks series in Old Lyme, CT.
During Moab’s 2024 season, Lark performed works from her latest album, The Stradgrass Sessions, which pays homage to her love for both Bluegrass and classical music, and her idyllic Kentucky upbringing. The variety of styles presented on the album offers a small window into her fresh take on Festival programming, enhancing what audiences have come to expect from the Festival over the last three decades. As Lark explains, “I’ve already fallen in love many times over with the Moab Music Festival and what makes the community unique: the impactful relationships that Michael Barrett and Leslie Tomkins have forged through their loving leadership, the symbiosis of new classical music with canonical favorites, the complex network of the Native cultures of the region, and the presence of myriad musical styles. I take genuine pleasure in personally connecting with folks from all backgrounds, and am passionate about creating spaces that joyfully embrace both musical and spiritual confluence. What makes the Festival extraordinary is also my ultimate life goal: relishing nature and music, all at once. Sharing that heaven-on-earth with others is a dream come true.”
Under the direction of Tomkins and Barrett, MMF has gained an award-winning national and international reputation, growing from a grassroots organization in a geodesic dome in 1992 to a globally respected institution attracting world-class artists and patrons who want to experience music among southeast Utah’s stunning red rock landscape. The founders were a critical part of selecting the incoming artistic director who will usher in the next generation of leadership as they become Directors Emeriti.
“I am beyond excited to be handing the reins of the Moab Music Festival to Tessa Lark,” shares Music Director Emeritus Michael Barrett. “I’ve known Tessa for nearly 20 years and have watched with admiration as she has fulfilled the promise of her immense talent in such creative and unexpected ways. It brings me great satisfaction that she has agreed to become Artistic Director. She has a finger on the pulse of musical life in America, and I’m certain her instinct and artistry will guide the Festival toward the synthesis of art, nature, and community Leslie and I first imagined 33 years ago.”
As Artistic Director Emerita, Leslie Tomkins commented, “It has been a great honor and privilege to create and lead this organization for over three decades. Tessa came to mind immediately when considering a successor. She is a spectacular artist who brings joy and endless creativity to her playing and shines in musical genres beyond classical. Music in concert with the landscape distinguishes the Moab Music Festival from all others. Tessa has a deep connection to that special alchemy, and I look forward to seeing the Festival thrive and evolve under her imaginative, thoughtful leadership.”
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ABOUT TESSA LARK
Violinist Tessa Lark is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time, consistently praised by critics and audiences for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance. Increasingly in demand in the classical realm, she was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. She is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky.
Highlights of Lark’s 2024-25 season include returns to the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, and the Rochester Philharmonic, and debut with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In recital, she will debut with San Francisco Symphony and the University of California at Santa Barbara. She reprises Michael Torke’s bluegrass-inspired violin concerto, Sky – written for her – with the Boulder and Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the West Michigan, Williamsburg, Shreveport, and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras. As a chamber musician, she will tour with her string trio project with composer-bassist Edgar Meyer and cellist Joshua Roman.
Lark’s most recent album, The Stradgrass Sessions, features an all-star roster of collaborators and composers. Her debut recording was the Grammy-nominated Sky, which she performed with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Her discography also includes Fantasy on First Hand Records; Invention, the debut album of her violin-bass duo with Michael Thurber; and a live performance of Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires with the Buffalo Philharmonic in honor of Piazzolla’s centenary.
Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School. She plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
ABOUT THE MOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL
Founded in 1992 by New York-based pianist and conductor Michael Barrett, and violist Leslie Tomkins, the Moab Music Festival has delighted audiences and adventurers for 32 seasons. On a rare vacation, Barrett and Tomkins fell in love with the red rocks of Moab and were inspired to introduce the joy of music-making to the magical landscape. “Starting a music festival seemed like the perfect way to make sure we would return again and again,” says Tomkins.
Noted for its distinctive programming, superb performances, and intimate concerts, the award-winning Moab Music Festival celebrates music in concert with the landscape®, and features chamber music in a variety of genres including classical, jazz, Latin, traditional music from around the globe, and works by living composers. Each season’s star-studded roster is a venerable Who’s Who, and has included the likes of George Takei, Paquito D’Rivera, Bela Fleck, Marcus Roberts, Chick Corea, Clarice and Sergio Assad, David Amram, Lukas Foss, Chris Thile, Time for Three, Ned Rorem, Jamie Bernstein, and many more.
The Festival presents approximately 20 concerts over the course of two weeks in late August/early September. Concerts are held in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues around Moab. Grotto Concerts, the Festival’s signature events, take place in a pristine wilderness grotto reached by jet boat some 30 miles down the Colorado River. Destination-worthy venues also include floating concerts along the Colorado at sunset, music hikes to secret wilderness locations, and 3- and 4-day Musical Raft Trips through Cataract and Westwater Canyons, or on the San Juan River.
The Moab Music Festival, from its inception, has been committed to education and cultural enrichment in the Moab area. The Board and leadership of the festival bring their passion for national arts education to the local level, and work to reach all Grand County students annually through assemblies with visiting Festival musicians. An artist-in-residence program also provides educational experiences for music lovers of all ages during the year.
The Moab Music Festival has received the Utah Arts Council’s Governor’s Award in the Arts, First Prize for “Adventurous Programming” from the American Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers (ASCAP), and a Utah Governor’s Mansion Arts Award.
Have a press release or story you’d like to see published on Discover Moab? Email asst. marketing director Alison Harford at aharford@discovermoab.com.
Peruse Moab’s expansive art scene during four ArtWalk events on February 7, April 4, August 1, and November 7 from 5 to 8 p.m. at locations around Moab. These events are a chance to tour through Moab’s downtown, meet local artists, participate in interactive art events, and see fantastic works!
Canyonlands Field Airport Art Gallery at Moab Arts
Each year Moab Arts invites local artists to submit their works for a chance to be featured. A total of 30
spots are available for hanging artworks, with additional pieces to be displayed at Moab City Hall and the
Moab Arts Center. This initiative is part of the City of Moab’s effort to showcase local art throughout
Grand County.
Since 2018, Moab Arts has been featuring a rotating collection of works from Moab-area artists at the
Moab Airport (CNY), transforming the public space into a vibrant gallery for visitors and locals to enjoy. Come see these works in the Moab Arts gallery space before they are displayed at the airport!
Erratics: A Portfolio by Saltgrass Printmakers at the Grand County Public Library, in partnership with the Utah Division of Arts & Museums
The artists in this exhibit conceptualized glacial erratic as a metaphor by exploring their relationship to Utah. How did you come to live in Utah? How has this varied landscape shaped you personally? How has your personal ‘bedrock’ informed your response to place?
Saltgrass Printmakers is non-profit open print shop located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their goal is to support and promote printmaking as a first-class member of the fine-art community by providing education programs open to the public, open community access to professional-grade printmaking facilities and supporting collaborative opportunities for artists and for the public. Saltgrass Printmakers was founded by Erik Brunvand, Sandy Brunvand and Stefanie Dykes.
Participating artists: Gary Barton. Erik Brunvand, Haylee Canonico, Rob Chipman, Aloe Corry, Robert DeGroff, Jim Despain, Justin Diggle, Stefanie Dykes, Michael Gaffney, Trishelle Jeffery, Abraham Kimball, Wayne Kimball, Adam Larsen, Holland Larsen, Amanda Lee, Abraham McCowan, Deborah McDermott, Manie, Powers-Torrey, Kathy Puzey, James Rees, Andrew Rice, K. Stevenson, Mary Toscano.
Utah Arts & Museums’ Traveling Exhibit Program is a statewide outreach program that provides schools, museums, libraries, and community galleries with the opportunity to bring curated exhibitions to their community. This program is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
U92: Moab’s Uranium Legacy by the Moab Museum, on display at the Grand County Public Library
History meets interactive art at the kickoff to this year’s ArtWalk series!
Join staff from the Moab Museum and Moab Arts at the Grand County Public Library to contribute to a paint-a-square mural project inspired by a historic photo from the Moab Museum collection. While you’re there, learn more about the upcoming Museum exhibition, “U92: Moab’s Uranium Legacy,” opening February 15!
Nick Eason at Gallery Moab
Nick Eason’s finely carved wood sculptures will be featured in February in “For the Love of Birds,” a group show by members of Gallery Moab that includes work in various mediums, all inspired by our avian friends.
Julia Buckwalter at Moonflower Community Cooperative
Artist Julia Buckwalter grew up under the Wasatch Mountains in Northern Utah, falling in love with the red rock of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks early on and vowing to live in Moab as an adult so that she could paint the landscape.
Before she settled in Moab, Julia studied Painting at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and also Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania. She also visited and worked two seasons at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico during college, finding constant inspiration in Georgia O’Keeffe’s responses to her own “homeland”.
When not working from her home studio, Julia is often working as a Buyer at Back of Beyond Books, curating the Adult book department. She’ll often pack a book on long hikes, runs or bike rides to read by the river or under a shady tree, emotional inspiration and visual recognition to carry into the studio later. Landscapes and skies are the focus of her passion, and she has been painting our desert backyard now for the past 13 years, spending one year awarded as Artist in the Park with the Canyonlands Natural History Association.
We don’t know about you, but “Holly Jolly Christmas” has been stuck in our heads since November (Dolly Parton’s version) – and yet we’re still scrambling to find gifts for our friends and family. Whether you’re a Moab local, a regular visitor to our little valley, or if we’re still just a line on your travel bucket list, Moab has gifts abound for you and your loved ones.
For the (wannabe) Moabite: Art created by the Community Artist in the Parks
Each year, the Southeast Utah Group of National Parks chooses a
“community artist in the parks”: a local artist who creates art in the parks during the months of April through October (the Southeast Utah group encompasses Arches and Canyonlands national parks, and also the Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national monuments). The program has hosted
16 artists since 2009.
Work created by many of the artists – the two most recent being Annie Dalton and
Jess Hough – is sold locally in Moab Made, the Moab Information Center, and at the Arches National Park visitors center.
For the history buff: Museum memberships
The
Moab Museum, first incorporated in 1958 as the “Southeastern Utah Society of Arts and Science,” boasts an impressive collection. Its permanent exhibition expertly leads visitors of the museum through the long history of the area, from stories of the first peoples in the area through to Moab’s modern history as an outdoor recreation hub. A temporary exhibit will be installed in February that will dive into the area’s uranium mining boom and bust. Members of the museum don’t pay the entrance fee to visit the museum or attend its numerous and expansive in-person programs. Individual memberships are $40 and can be gifted by emailing Diego Velasquez, the museum’s membership and marketing coordinator, at diego@moabmuseum.org.
Moab Giants offers a glimpse into the much further past. Visitors will explore the dinosaur history of the area through exhibits including an outdoor dinosaur trail (with over 100 life-size replicas of dinosaurs), 5D prehistoric aquarium, and 3D theater. Memberships can be purchased at individual or family levels on the Moab Giants website.
For the adventure-seeker: Guided experiences or white water rafting trips to check off their bucket list
![An arrow points to an image of a group of people white water rafting in Moab](https://www.discovermoab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/3-01.png")
There’s no lack of outdoor experiences in Moab, and all are better to do with a guide: guides can show you the ropes (literally, if you’re going on a rock climbing or canyoneering trip), and also provide a wealth of knowledge of the area. Many guides are certified by Science Moab and the Moab Museum so they can provide fascinating and accurate information to visitors. A few popular experiences include rafting Cataract Canyon (the otherwise inaccessible canyon that the Colorado River flows through on its way to Lake Powell), taking intro mountain biking and climbing courses in the many beginner-friendly areas around town, horseback riding along the Colorado River, and off-roading the nationally recognized Hell’s Revenge trail in the Sandflats Recreation Area.
Explore a list of guides and outfitters
here.
For the foodie: Restaurant gift cards
There’s something for everyone when it comes to Moab’s restaurant scene. Offerings include numerous Thai restaurants (ask any local their favorite and you’ll get a different answer), burger joints (from diners like Milts to family sit-down spots like The Spoke), breakfast and lunch cafes (Mas Cafe offers pastries and stellar coffee), fusion spots (have you tried the banh mi at 98 Center?), even sushi (Sabaku Sushi will have you praising raw fish in the middle of the desert). You can find a list of Moab restaurants
here.
For the reader: Books from Moab’s independent bookstore
The desert provides endless inspiration for writers and artists in our area. Luckily for us, Moab’s local independent bookstore, Back of Beyond Books, curated a list of
desert southwest literature. We recommend classics like Terry Tempest William’s “Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert,” and “Tracing Time: Seasons of Rock Art on the Colorado Plateau” by Craig Childs. You really can’t go wrong with this list!
The bookstore is also known for its
rare books collection: if you really want to stun a reader in your life, gift them a signed, first edition copy of Edward Abbey’s “The Monkey Wrench Gang” or a second edition of “On Desert Trails” by Everett Ruess. Books are available to purchase online!
For the fashion-forward: Locally-designed apparel
Numerous Moab boutiques carry locally-designed clothing and accessories.
Moab Made, a retail shop that feels like a gallery, carries only goods created by local artisans – it’s easy to find a gift for any of your artistic friends from its collection of pottery, art prints, and accessories.
Desert Wild, a clothing store, last year created a locally-designed, micro-grid fleece clothing line. Designs include a hooded long-sleeve dress, skirt, and zip-up hoodie, each featuring large pockets – perfect for any outdoor adventurer. The shop also carries trendy apparel and accessories.
For the traveler: A Moab trip itinerary!
What’s better than a fully-planned trip? Whisk your loved ones away on a vacation full of wonder to Moab, Utah – you can use pieces of this gift guide to craft a perfect week. Experience the outdoors, local art, and history from the world’s most beautiful basecamp. Visit
Discover Moab for ideas on
where to stay and
what to do during your visit!
Charlotte Quigley, 2025 Community Artist in the Parks [Courtesy of the National Park Service]
The National Park Service Southeast Utah Group is pleased to announce the selection of Charlotte Quigley as the 2025 Community Artist in the Parks (CAIP).
Quigley has a deep well of experience with both art and national parks. A life-long watercolorist, she also works in pastels and, more recently, oil paints. She has a master’s degree in art history and experience as a youth arts teacher, arts council director, and member of the Gallery Moab cooperative. After living at several national parks in New Mexico, Quigley moved to Moab 18 years ago. “I feel so fortunate to be in such a beautiful place, where there are so many amazing subjects so close at hand.”
About her upcoming tenure as Community Artist in the Parks, Quigley says, “I’m excited to have this opportunity to paint in the parks and encourage others in their creative endeavors. This is a chance to really focus on our beautiful landscape and share its unique characteristics with others.”
Created in 2009, the CAIP program highlights the connection between a local artist and the surrounding landscapes, particularly
Arches and
Canyonlands national parks and Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national monuments. Participating artists must reside in Grand, San Juan, or Montezuma counties.
As the Community Artist for 2025, Charlotte Quigley will create original work within the parks for a minimum of 24 hours per month, April through October, and share her inspiration and creative process with visitors. Her work will be sold in Canyonlands Natural History Association stores during her tenure.
For more information about the program and a schedule of the community artist’s park activities, visit go.nps.gov/CAIP.
