An exhilarating jet boat ride down the Colorado River brings listeners to a pristine wilderness grotto carved from the surrounding red rocks, for an inspiring “once-in-a-lifetime” experience (Fodors). These MMF signature events weave a rich sonic tapestry of music with one of the most stunning natural environments imaginable, combining the beauty of music with the area’s scenic wonders.

Experience timeless masterworks, redesigned specifically for the extraordinary artists of the Moab Music Festival and the natural wonder of the Grotto. Allegri’s haunting vocal work, Miserere, is arranged here for two, distanced instrumental groups, allowing listeners to be surrounded by the myriad acoustical phenomena provided by the ancient canyons. Mendelssohn, who arranged the most widely performed version of Miserere, is featured next, in an impossibly thrilling arrangement of his beloved Piano Trio in d minor for piano, trumpet and trombone. Franz Schubert himself often recycled his own songs for transcendent moments in his later- composed chamber works, and his immortal Death and the Maiden string quartet is no exception. Its second movement borrows from the lied, Der Tod und das Mädchen, performed in this Grotto performance as a song-without-words for viola and piano.