Bravo! Vail Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant to Support America250/Colorado 150 Patriotic Concert
June 29, 2026Vail, CO (June 29, 2026) — The Bravo! Vail Music Festival (Bravo! Vail) is pleased to announce it is the recipient of an FY 2026 grant award of $26,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. This funding will support Bravo! Vail’s America250/Colorado 150 Patriotic Concert, presented in partnership with the Vail Valley Foundation (VVF), featuring the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on July 4 at 2 p.m. at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support opportunities across the country for Americans to experience and participate in the arts,” said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “As we celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary this year, it is a moment to recognize the important role the arts continue to play in our lives, communities, and heritage.”
The America250/Colorado 150 Patriotic Concert will feature the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik. The program will open with the national anthem and a color guard presentation, followed by a selection of works by iconic American composers and Tyzik’s own arrangements of patriotic songs, spirituals, and marches. A concert highlight will be the annual performance of James Beckel’s Gardens of Stone, featuring a local veteran from the Vail Veterans Program reading excerpts from presidential speeches that pay tribute to fallen service members.
“For more than 30 years, this beloved concert has brought people together to celebrate through music, as part of Vail America Days,” said Bravo! Vail President and CEO Caitlin Murray. “We are grateful to the NEA for supporting this significant concert as we celebrate America250.”
Pavilion seat tickets to the America250/Colorado 150 Patriotic Concert are $35 and go on sale July 1, 2026, at 8 a.m. online and at the Vail Valley Foundation box office. Free lawn seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the performance. For more information, visit the Vail Valley Foundation concert page.
The concert is also presented in partnership with the Vail Valley Foundation. All proceeds from the America250/Colorado 150 Patriotic Concert will benefit the Vail Veterans Program, a nonprofit organization serving wounded warriors and their families.
About Bravo! Vail Music Festival
Consistently cited as one of the top 10 classical music festivals in the country, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival brings world-renowned musicians to picturesque venues throughout the Vail and Eagle River Valleys for six weeks, drawing music lovers from around the world. The only festival in North America to host four of the world’s finest orchestras in a single season, Bravo! Vail celebrates its 40th Anniversary season beginning June 25, 2027, with more than 60 concerts—half of which are presented for free in the community. Beyond its summer programming, Bravo! Vail serves the community by providing year-round, low-cost music education through Music Makers Haciendo Música, a piano, violin, and chamber ensemble instruction program that helps develop new generations of musicians and music lovers.
About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing opportunities for arts participation and practice, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States. To learn more, visit arts.gov.