Red Rock Rondo
Red Rock Rondo is an Emmy Award-winning chamber-folk ensemble consisting of six of Utah’s best-known acoustic musicians: Phillip Bimstein, Kate MacLeod, Hal Cannon, Charlotte Bell, Flavia Cervino-Wood and Harold Carr, performing on piano, guitars, violins, oboe, English horn, concertina, harmonica, bass and vocals. Their music is a well-crafted synergy of folk, jazz and classical, woven into a truly original Americana style.
Red Rock Rondo’s [Zion Canyon Song Cycle] celebrates the history and contemporary life of Zion National Park. The CD hit #10 on the national Folk DJ charts (with the #7 song), and was deemed the “best local album of the year” by the Salt Lake Tribune’s David Burger.
A KUED music special about Red Rock Rondo won two Emmy Awards: for Best Arts Entertainment Program and Best Musical Composition. It also won Best TV Entertainment Show of the Year from NETA (The National Educational Telecommunications Association). Videos from this music special can be viewed
Composer and former Springdale mayor Phillip Bimstein composed Zion Canyon Song Cycle on a grant from the nationwide Continental Harmony commissioning program of the American Composers Forum. His alternative classical works have been performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Abravanel Hall, the Spoleto and Aspen Music Festivals, London’s Royal Opera House—and his punk videos appeared on MTV in the 1980s.
Red Rock Rondo Albums and Music
Blue Haiku
The members of blue haiku are polished and dynamic performers with years of experience in a broad range of musical styles from folk and pop to classical and jazz. blue haiku presents the audience with a lively blend of colorful instruments (oboe, English horn, violin, guitar, upright bass) and expressive vocals, with an onstage display of musical virtuosity.
blue haiku’s CD, Heat Beneath the Sand, was a KRCL “Pick of the Week” and received rave reviews from radio stations all across the country from California (“Unique and distinctive”) to New Jersey (“A fabulous flow to the music and soundscape producing memories of love and longing”), and Pennsylvania (“Beautiful”) to Florida (“intellectually refreshing”). blue haiku has been featured in the Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake Magazine and many other publications.
A sampling of reviews:
“Gorgeously intertwined melodic ornamentation”
“A fascinating acoustic quartet that covers a lot of musical ground . . . fresh and engrossing . . .
well-crafted lyrics”
“Consummate musicianship . . . as accessible as it is unique . . . an exquisite dance of
counterpoint and harmony”
“Bimstein’s pop chops are still as sharp as a skinny tie”