Sidebar by Marcia Darnell
Music – April 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Alpine Arias
As Crestone is blessed with operatic singers, those singers are blessed to have a place to perform, Hazlerig Music House.
Sylvia Hazlerig built a structure in 1998, just down the hill from her new home. That building was meant to house her grand piano and harpsichord, because there was no room for them in the A-frame.
She called it “just a music house.”
In 1999 she began inviting musicians to perform in the house. Those informal sessions grew, and she now hosts an occasional series of concerts. “I sponsor classical, folk, and ethnic music,” Hazlerig says. “Acoustic concerts. I don’t like amplified music.”
Hazlerig is a retired music teacher, having been on the faculty of Laredo Community College in Laredo, Texas. She sometimes performs on her piano and harpsichord. “And I play violin and viola in the Overlook Alpine String Ensemble, a Crestone group.”
She added another room to the house in 2000 for a reception after each concert, “so the audience can meet the performers.”
The venue features a performing area with some spotlights, and can seat 50 comfortably, 75 in a pinch. It has seen approximately 120 concerts since 1999. Suggested donations are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students. In most cases, the money goes to the performers.
Summers are especially busy at the music house, with three or four concerts a month. For information about concerts at Hazlerig Music House, call 719-256-4371.
–M.D.
