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Dear Concertgoer,
The Belleayre Conservatory and its Board of Directors heartily welcome you to our 2004 Summer Music Festival and to Belleayre Mountain. The winter season just completed has been another resounding success, and the "Belleayre Beat" will continue with our rousing summer menu of music and the mountain sky. Ask anyone who has sat on our lawn on a breathtaking summer evening when they are treated to two great shows, one in the tent and one in the sky.
I thought I would take this opportunity to explain how this great series evolves. Even though The Belleayre Music Festival has a fine professional staff, we still rely heavily on our unique corps of dedicated volunteers whom you see staffing various operations such as ticketing, ushers, parking, and selling our souvenirs, all an integral part of your quality concert experience. Our Board is an active, involved and diverse group committed to creating and maintaining a high level of musical experience here at our mountain home. There are no slackers, every board member works hard to secure the finances necessary to make the Festival possible.
Ticket sales, even at a sold out performance, cover only 40% of what it costs to produce our line up of world-class stars. The rest is financed by our "angels" who prove their dedication to the enterprise by giving above and beyond to ensure our success. And, of course we have the invaluable support of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and in particular, Belleayre Mountain, led by its Superintendent, Tony Lanza and his skilled and versatile staff who provide us with the infrastructure support, without which we could not function.
It's a wonderful group of committed individuals working as a team to make our festival, ski mountain and community the best it can be. If you are not already a contributor we invite you and or your corporation to join this fine group. All the information you need to be part of The Belleayre Music Festival can be found in this program. We need your contributions, both financial and physical to continue the great work accomplished over the past 13 years. It's fun, rewarding and makes a difference to our rural mountain community and its fledgling economy.
 Again, we thank you for coming tonight and hope to see you again soon. Your presence here is important to us, as we hope you will enjoy the performance. Tell your friends about the Belleayre summers, they are heavenly!
Sincerely yours, Joseph F. Kelly,
Belleayre Conservatory Chairman
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Dear Music Lovers
Last December, I was invited to a Christmas party at the home of a Conservatory Board member and I was introduced to a concertgoer who wanted to give me some constructive criticism about my artistic choices for the Festival. He prefaced his remarks telling me that he often attended concerts and mostly had great experiences. "But," he said, "I attended a show last summer with not one song that I ever heard before." I replied, "Yes," and we looked at each other as if we both didn't get the point.
I got his point. He was saying that hearing a familiar tune would make his evening more enjoyable. But it got me to thinking about what a cultural performing arts series should be about. In my opinion, part of attending an arts event is the thrill of being introduced to new ideas, images and sounds. It's the difference between watching a rerun of an old movie, listening to a well-worn album and the excitement of attending a live performance. But my critic was right in one respect; entertainment should be the primary goal. But even with that criterion, don't we want to see an artist stretch and create something new? In conclusion, perhaps a really great concert should be one that balances both the new and the familiar.
So to honor his wishes, this season is mostly about familiar tunes. Who has had more hits that Blood, Sweat & Tears, Lyle Lovett, and the Neville Brothers? Who does not know the Toreador song from "Carmen"? And who sings the hits of Broadway better than Barbara Cook? Add to this, the gospel and blues based music that the dancers from Ailey II will perform to, the great jazz fusion of Herbie Hancock and the familiar tunes written by Catskill's own Jay Ungar and Molly Mason and you can be sure that every concert will be both an outstanding artistic event and have at least one familiar tune. In addition to honoring the request for the recognizable, I want to especially recommend two artists you may not be familiar with, Latin Grammy winner Michel Camilo will set the piano ablaze and Avantango is the sexiest show this side of Argentina. I guarantee you'll be talking about these two concerts long after the summer.
We hope you will mark your calendars and attend as many of our fabulous musical events as possible. You will never see these  world-class artists in a more intimate and informal setting. The place to be on summer weekends is the Belleayre Music Festival.
Enjoy your summer. See you at the show.
Sincerely, Mel Litoff,
Executive & Artistic Director
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