The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — As we begin the fourth week of Strings, I can’t help but be a little more relaxed than I felt at the beginning of the season. We now have three full weeks of performances in the new Pavilion under our belt, and we have three full weeks of concerts left (plus the two weeks of something different in August — subdudes, Asleep at the Wheel, Avett Brothers and Golden Dragon Acrobats). And, there are more reasons than ever to come to the Pavilion for a great concert.

Buckets and Tap Shoes play two shows Tuesday. They were at Strings last year and were a big hit with young and old. Tickets are available for their family concert at 5:30 p.m. The cost is $10 for adults and $1 for children. The band performs music with funky guitars, thumpin’ bass and a solid back beat, while the dancers perform urban tap and play hard-hitting buckets. This ain’t just for the young ones.

On Wednesday, Strings presents the annual Sponsors Concert, featuring the Formosa Quartet. Come to hear old and new favorites such as Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1, Bernstein’s “Glitter and Be Gay” from Candide, and Percy Grainger’s “Handel on the Strand” for String Quartet and Piano. This is music to soothe the savage beast, I assure you.

If blues is your fancy, plan on coming to the Pavilion on Friday night for the Ruthie Foster Band. Ruthie was nominated as Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year for the 2008 Blues Music Awards, and she is one of the acoustic music world’s brightest new stars.

On Saturday, the music moves to Austria, but the concert stays in Steamboat. “A Night In Vienna” features Schubert’s Introduction and Variations for Flute and Piano, Mozart’s String Quartet “Prussian No. 3” and the Brahms A Major Piano Quartet. Hear for yourself why Vienna was a hotbed of classical music.