All this week so far, WFAA’s Gary Cogill has been in Colorado covering the Dallas Symphony’s visit to the  Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.  Some 50 orchestras applied, and the DSO is among the three chosen to take part this year, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.  The DSO was there last year as well.

At times, the series, “Music in the Mountains,” may seem like an extended love letter to Vail and the DSO, but kudos to Channel 8 for investing the time and money in the extended coverage.

If you haven’t seen Cogill’s video reports, here they are in order:

First Rehearsal and background on Vail: Violin soloist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg said,  “You just see all this wildlife around, and you feel the breeze, and you see people paragliding, and meanwhile you’re playing this great music,” she said. “It’s just a wonderful atmosphere to make music.”

Opening night rainstorm: “I give them a lot of credit for getting up there and wiping off their instruments and yet putting on such a production,” said Henry Goetz from the lawn.

Vail’s “love affair” with the DSO: “They were spectacular,” said Argie Tang. “I think even the birds loved them, because they were chirping along during the Beethoven piece.”

Conductor Jaap van Zweden on the DSO: “The orchestra sounds different than last year; it has a bigger sound, it’s more convinced with everything they are doing, and they feel extremely strong, and I feel comfortable with them,” he said.

The Vail Daily reports on the local excitement over the backstage TV news coverage:

“It’s really exciting to see Bravo on a national news station, outside of Colorado. I mean it’s Dallas, that’s a pretty major city,” said Patrick Marshall, ticketing and marketing associate for Bravo. “I’m excited to see the rest of the series. There was so much that happened while they were here. Having to follow the whole symphony around while trying to capture the essence of Vail is pretty impressive.”

There’s one more report scheduled — on concertmaster Emmanuel Borok.

Image of the Gerald Ford Amphitheatre: Rockiesguide