Red Rock Rondo

In 1997 Bimstein was awarded Meet The Composer's largest grant, the three-year New Residencies, during which he composed music that celebrates and explores the intimate relationship between the landscapes of the desert southwest and the many cultures that have inhabited the area. Bimstein received a second Continental Harmony grant in 2005 to compose Red Rock Rondo, a song cycle based on the historical and contemporary stories of the communities near Zion National Park.The chamber folk ensemble also offer keynote speeches and workshops. How are community and culture cultivated and preserved? How are stories of community conveyed in oral history and celebrated in song? This theme can go in several directions, including discussions of civility, dialog, democracy on the one hand, and community-based arts on the other. Red Rock Rondo can follow a keynote, panel or breakout session with a performance of their chamber folk Zion Canyon Song Cycle. Their Emmy Award-winning PBS music documentary on this subject can also be screened.