Major Concert & Celebration, “The Dream Lives,” 10/11/2015

Major Concert & Celebration, “The Dream Lives,” 10/11/2015

The Durango and Telluride Choral Societies present the world premiere of  “Requiem for Eagles” at a performance entitled “The Dream Lives.” The original music was written by former Telluride Choral Society director Dr. David Lingle and adapted and orchestrated by Dalen Stevens. The production takes place Sunday, October 11, 3 p.m. at the Michael D. Palm Theatre. Tickets are $15/$8 at the door.

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In an interview conducted during his tenure as Choral Society director, David Lingle shared his philosophy of life, which I now share with you: 

 “I believe we all should live as part of an extended family, trying to spread as much goodness and graciousness as possible, always without prejudice.”

David’s goodness and grace – and talent  – redounds or echos in this musical tribute to his memory.

Below a commentary by Telluride’s Mayor Stu Fraser.

Commentary: The Dream Lives

In 2003, Dr. David Lingle joined the Telluride Choral Society as director, leading the group for 7+ years. David died in January 2013. His legacy is a history of great music and friends who will never forget him. We all honor his memory with this concert at the Michael D. Palm Theatre.

After David’s passing in Sandwich, MA, we heard there might be some unfinished pieces of music. David’s former wife Jill was able to find the pencil roughs in old files when she returned to Tulsa and forwarded them to us. The notes were not complete, but they had the makings of a beautiful story and piece of music atypical of requiem compositions. A group of us gathered and hatched a plan.

Dalen Stevens, a longtime friend of David’s and one of the earliest members of the Telluride Choral Society, took the lead: “I will take the notes and finish the piece.”

What began as a one-year project grew into almost two years of work. Along the way, our group also met with Linda Mack and Dawn Spaeder of the Durango Choral Society. Those two head up that organization and had collaborated with David and the Telluride Choral Society on major musical productions in both communities. Linda and Dawn enthusiastically agreed to become part of the performance we are calling “The Dream Lives.” We set a date of mid-October, 2015, in Durango and Telluride.

Extensive fundraising led to private donations and grants from local organizations. Rhonda Muckerman, who succeeded David as the Telluride Choral Society’s artistic director, volunteered to work with the singers in Telluride; Linda would work with performers in Durango. The venue for the Durango concert is intimate, with a smaller number of instrumentalists. Father Kevin, who used to be priest at St. Patrick’s in Telluride is the leader of St. Columba’s. He is thrilled to be able to honor David through his work. The Palm would have been David’s choice of venue, so the concert there, a world premiere, will be expanded to include 22 instrumentalists.

Please join us. “The Dream Lives” is truly a two-community project, with two strong alliances having labored intensely to make it all happen.

Those of us who have been rehearsing for over three months are absolutely overjoyed with the music Dalen so beautifully adapted and orchestrated. David’s family is coming to town – Jill, David’s former wife, and their two adult children, John and Haley, traveling from Tulsa to Telluride for the tribute – along with singers whose lives David touched from all over the country.

We have so many people to thank, there would be no time to sing if everyone who deserves mentioning got mentioned. While being part of a world premiere is truly exciting, being able to live out a dream for someone we all loved is even more of a thrill.

“Living the Dream” will also appear on You Tube, so those of you who can’t make it to town can share in our expression of joy.

Personally, Ginny and I would like to thank the core group who worked on this once-in-a -lifetime project: Deb and Dalen Stevens, Rhonda Muckerman, Linda Mack, Dawn Spaeder, Karla Brown, Scott Hagler, and the 94 singers and 22 instrumentalists who have lived the dream with us.

Other wonderful music will round out “The Dream Lives” concert.

Thank you for joining us for this very special evening.

We know David would be proud.

We certainly are.

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