Peter Oundjian conducting (Photo by Sian Richards – CMF website)
Colorado Music Festival (CMF) presents its six-week summer concert season from June 27 through August 3 at Chautauqua Auditorium (900 Baseline Rd., Boulder, CO), offering 20 diverse performances of orchestral and chamber music by the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and guest artists, alongside educational programming.
The Festival features 96 world-class musicians from around the country who arrive in Boulder to perform as the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra under the direction of Peter Oundjian. Additionally, 18 guest artists perform throughout the season with the orchestra.
While Oundjian led the 2018 Colorado Music Festival as artistic advisor, this is his first year as music director, following a 14-year tenure as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2018.
“Summer programs and festivals have had a profound impact on my career path, my friendships, and my journey through life, and this year will be particularly special,” said Peter Oundjian, Colorado Music Festival music director. “2020 will mark 250 years since Beethoven’s birth. Leading up to that celebration, the 2019 Colorado Music Festival will demonstrate, through various programing, Beethoven’s significant impact on many generations of composers and musicians.”
CMF presents a special concert series that traces Beethoven’s influence from the 19th century to the present day. Programs explore Beethoven’s path to the later Romantics (such as Verdi, Respighi, and Rachmaninoff), his radical premonitions of modernism, his impact on the neoclassicism of Stravinskyand Prokofiev, and his influence on the minimalist textures and techniques of Philip Glass. On Wednesday, July 31 at 6:30 p.m. at The Academy Boulder, Jan Swafford, author, composer and Beethoven scholar, will present a free talk, focused on an in-depth look into the life of Beethoven.
In July, the Festival presents four performances by the CMF Chamber Players on consecutive Tuesdays. The programs include the following.
● July 7 at 3 p.m., Family Concert “Peter and the Wolf” in partnership with Really Inventive Stuff, animateurs and vaudeville-inspired storytellers for orchestras. Tickets are $10.
● July 9: Mozart’s String Trio for Two Violins and Cello, K. 266, Boccherini’s String Trio No. 5, and Dvorák’s String Quintet No. 2
● July 16: Bax’s Quintet for Harp and String Quartet, Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet, and Brahms’s String Sextet No. 1
● July 23: Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 1 and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio
On Thursdays and Fridays (and on Saturday, Aug. 3) throughout the concert season, at 6:30 p.m., CMF presents a pre-concert talk with a local musical expert as part of its “Talks Under the Tent” series (no concert or talk will take place on July 4). Guest speakers range from scholars to journalists. Each talk takes place under the tent adjacent to the north side of the auditorium.
The Chautauqua Auditorium was built in 1898 as the tabernacle for the recently established Colorado Chautauqua, a settlement that arose out of the Chautauqua education movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Located at the base of Boulder’s Flatirons and one of only 25 National Historic Landmarks in the state of Colorado, the Colorado Chautauqua is considered the western representation of the cultural movement that swept the U.S. and is the only site west of the Mississippi that has been in continuous operation since its founding and with its original structures intact and used for their original purposes. The Colorado Chautauqua remains committed to its historic purpose, offering outstanding cultural and educational programs and attracting more than one million visitors each year.
For information about parking and shuttles, please visit https://coloradomusicfestival.org/tips/.
For more information about CMF, or to purchase tickets, visit http://ColoradoMusicFestival.org or call 303-440-7666.
About Colorado Music Festival
Founded in 1976, the Colorado Music Festival (CMF) presents a summer season of classical music concerts performed by professional musicians from around the world at the historic Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder. Emerging talent from Europe, Asia, South America and the U.S. join 96 all-star musicians, who comprise the CMF orchestra, in performances that inspire and engage concertgoers of all ages. Under the music direction of Peter Oundjian, the CMF thrills audiences each season with programming that embraces the most beloved classical music repertoire, while integrating world music and the works of exciting modern composers. For more information about CMF, or to purchase tickets, visit ColoradoMusicFestival.org or call 303-440-7666. Engage with the Festival on Facebook, Instagram (@comusicfestival) and Twitter (@COmusicfestival) using the hashtag #wherewonderlives.