SANDPOINT - When Dyno Wahl took the reins as executive director of the Festival at Sandpoint in 1998, the arts organization was in the throes of a personality crisis. Its original incarnation as a classical music concert series running in conjunction with a music institute at Schweitzer Mountain Resort didn't pan out, financially, which led to the exit of its world-renowned artistic director, composer Gunther Schuller.

In the period immediately before Wahl's arrival, the Festival exceeded its logistical reach, booking acts such as the Beach Boys within the limited confines of Sandpoint's War Memorial Field, wreaking havoc upon surrounding neighborhoods and alienating public officials in the process.

Wahl's tenure - though not without its chapters of scraping through lean times - has been one of mostly calm forward momentum, interspersed with increased educational outreach programs and a savvy approach to marketing that has kept the organization predominantly in the black.

If the Festival at Sandpoint were a person, what stage of development would it be in today? It's not an infant anymore, maybe not even an adolescent. Where is it?

I think the Festival is in its prime. It has experienced the pains of growing up and stumbling, then finding its feet and then trying to be somebody else as it figures out who it is. And then finally saying, 'You know what? I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin.'

We are fabulous at what we do and comfortable with what we do in our niche of the music world.

For someone who just arrived from Mars, what does the Festival do?

Hey, we don't discriminate. If you're from Mars and you're reading this, please come to the Festival! (laughs)

What we do well, I believe, is to present music in an intimate atmosphere. You can see these artists, certainly, in different venues, but we do it in a very unique way.

How are you different?

For instance, you can bring your own cooler; you can bring your own wine and your own food. But you don't have to. We have 13 different food vendors out there and two full bars. A lot of venues control the concessions - you have to eat their hot dog, their hamburger. Here, you've got some of the finest restaurants, caterers and nonprofits in Sandpoint that have a variety of food.

Also, the fact that you can bring a blanket, throw it out there and have your own little picnic ritual. In many places, you're sitting in rows of folding chairs that are all connected together.

To use a Hawaiian term, the Festival is a more 'hang loose' kind of place.

The concert series has gutted it out during tough times, but it also had one concert that was too successful. When the Beach Boys were booked several years back, the sheer number of people attending created issues. What were the repercussions from that show?

I think it was very nearly the death of the organization. The sound was going directly into the neighborhood - whereas, now, it goes into Lakeview Park, which muffles it a bit. There were no restrictions on the decibels, which now we do have those restrictions on decibels to be sensitive to the fact that we are in a residential neighborhood.

And then, there was the way people were packed into that venue. Imagine attending the biggest Festival show you've ever been to, like Steve Miller Band or Allison Kraus, and there were twice that many people for the Beach Boys. The neighborhood got upset, and the city got upset.

I wasn't there - it was before my time - but it must have been pretty crazy. We had to come back and say, 'Well, who are we? Why do we need to go that big?' And we don't. We can do what we do, be sensitive and fit in.

Has there ever been any talk about a change of venue?

Oh, yeah. I think that was really seriously considered in the late-'90s. In the beginning of my time there - I started in 1998-'99 - there was the question, 'Should we look at a different kind of venue?' Because Memorial Field isn't ideal, in many ways. It doesn't have a raked surface, so you're flat and that makes it harder for people to see.

We've tried to combat that in other ways, like the stage height. When I first came on board, the stage was 28 inches high, if you can believe that. Then we took it up to 48 inches and, last year, we took it to 6 feet, which is where I think it should be.

We did look around. But if you look at someplace like Schweitzer, you've got the drive. If you're looking at another piece of property, how do you handle the parking?

What would be a non-negotiable attribute, as far as the venue?

I think we always want to stay on the water. That's one of the things that is Sandpoint, and one of the things that people who come from outside the area enjoy about Sandpoint, is being close to that lake.

Does the Festival at Sandpoint have enough name recognition to be a draw for talent?

Absolutely. A case in point this year: We got a call from Vince Gill's agent, who said he wanted to play some smaller venues this year that he hadn't played before and that we were on the list. I asked him, 'How did we get on that list?' It turns out that Nashville and that whole music scene is a pretty small world.

People talk. They talk about great experiences at good venues and bad experiences at venues where they weren't happy. I think he probably talked to people who have been here. We've had a lot from that Nashville area, from Sam Bush to Winona, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Allison Kraus.

He heard that we have a nice venue and he was willing to come down a little bit on his fee. We wanted Vince Gill for years, but he's been out of our price range. It feels really good when an artist wants to play your venue and we're starting to get that reputation.

Other than great scenery, what's behind that good reputation?

I think it comes from many things. It's our production staff. It's our technical crew. They are excellent and they take care of everything. We have a hospitality staff that makes it comfortable and fun backstage. And people like to do things outside of the Festival itself. They like to go golfing; they like to go out on the lake. Those kinds of things reverberate, too, when they start hearing that it's a great place to spend an extra day or two on the way to or from somewhere.

Where does the audience come from? Is it a pretty tight region?

I would have thought so. But what really told us we were being successful in broadening our reach was when we had a University of Idaho College of Business study done and their demographic survey showed that 52 percent of our visitors are from out of state.

I think that is because of the venue itself. Those people could see those artists someplace else. But, would you prefer to be sitting with all your friends and a glass of wine at Memorial Field on Lake Pend Oreille with the osprey and the sunset reflecting on Gold Hill, or would you rather be in a casino?

People are starting to realize that the experience is important. And that's what we're good at. That's what we market, is who we are and where we are.

The 'who we are' aspect has evolved since you took the helm. You stepped into a schism between the classical music purists and the folks who wanted more pop, rock, country and blues shows. How did you avoid the landmines on that road?

It's funny - the biggest champion of the Festival's eclectic nature started out to be Gunther Schuller. Even though he is classical, he recognized the need to have these other genres of music. When he became the artistic director, he wanted to bring in the jazz; he wanted to bring in the country and other types of music, which a lot of people may not realize.

When he left, it wasn't because he was saying, "Hey, I want only classical music.' It was because his dream of having a music institute wasn't financially viable at the time. And that was too bad, because we still have students who call us about that and it's been gone a long time.

Can you foresee a time when there is no classical music in the lineup?

The Festival will never be without a classical music element. Concentrating it into the Grand Finale - as well as the Family Concert - has made that concert one of the most popular and well attended. I think that has helped the appreciation of classical and symphonic music.

As you book bigger names, do the 'rider' clauses on the contracts get goofier?

Well, yeah. I think, as people get more popular, they get more bold about asking for things that they want - and being more eccentric in what they want. On the contract for one of our acts this year it said: 'One case of unpretentious beer.' (laughs) Hey, we've got PBR!

When we had Los Lobos, the contract said: 'No Mexican Food!' I guess sometimes people just assume that, because you're Hispanic, you would enjoy some salsa and chips.

Sometimes we can't satisfy those demands. One time I got a call from our hospitality people and they said, 'They want a bottle of Dom Perignon.' I said, 'You tell them we're in Sandpoint, Idaho, now and we'll get them some Mumm.'

Does it get weird sometimes when you get a glimpse of an artist's off-stage persona?

We all have our perceptions of these people and sometimes those are so challenged at the Festival. Sometimes, you think there's somebody who's not going to be nice and they're the nicest person in the world. And then there are those who you think are going to be a certain way and they're not.

One that kind of blew me away was Judy Collins. She is a fantastic artist and a very, very nice person. I was expecting her to be this sort of natural, no frills hippie gal because of the music that I grew up hearing. But there was no hotel that we had in Sandpoint that was OK for her - she stayed at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. It had to be Five Star.

Another funny one was Jerry Jeff Walker. He seems like he would be this down-to-earth kind of guy, but when I was introduced to him, he shoved a box at me and said, 'Mail this to me and make sure it gets to my next gig' and then just walked off without another word. I was kind of like, 'Nice to meet you, too.' (laughs)

This year's lineup runs the gamut from very familiar artists to up-and-comers. Is there a risk in booking well-known names and newer acts in the same season?

What I love about our Festival fans is that they have enough trust in us to say, 'If you booked this band, we know it's got to be good.' I'm grateful and hopeful that people will continue to put that trust in us. One of the great things about the season pass is that people buy that and they trust that the shows will be good and they always find that their favorite concert was one they didn't think would be.

Often known as the 'sleeper.' Is there a sleeper concert every year?

There always is. This year, I think it's going to be Lake Street Dive. They're going to be a band that we're not going to be able to afford a few years from now. They're hot right now - their tickets are getting scalped for $450 in San Francisco. We're a rural area and we don't have our ear to the urban scene, so sometimes it takes a while for people to become well-known up here.

That's why I think it's important for us to bring old favorites, but also be cutting-edge. It's my passion to turn people on to music I know they'll enjoy that they may never have heard of before.

Tell me about the one that got away. Who would you have loved to book that never worked out?

If I could book one person, it would be Van Morrison. On our 25th season, we had a little extra money, so I called his agent and the price was more than our entire operating budget! I was a little deflated about that. He's one I don't think we'll get.

One that we could have gotten, but didn't, was Norah Jones. She had given me her CD and I thought, 'Wow!' And she was only about $7,500, so I thought, 'OK, we're going to get this artist for next year.' By November, her fee was $50,000 and by the next spring, it was over $200,000. She just exploded.

You're very active in a regional arts community that includes several metropolitan areas - how is the Festival at Sandpoint viewed in those circles?

It's interesting to me, because we're seen as one of the crown jewels in the region. Sandpoint holds its own and is seen as one of the shining stars.

Articles that talk about Sandpoint being the 'best this' and the 'most desirable that' always seem to mention the Festival prominently. Do you see the concert series and the arts in general as being that big a part of this community?

I really do. It was one of the things that attracted me to come here. When people are looking for a place to move, they look at the recreational and cultural opportunities. They're looking for an evolved arts community and the Festival is the single largest arts happening in the city and in this region.

We work closely with the Pend Oreille Arts Council and the Panida Theater, as well as all the visual artists and musicians living here. I think the arts community is important - and we're a part of that.