World Premiere by Joan Tower

Saxophonist Steven Banks is the soloist in Tower’s new concerto, Love Returns (July 10–11)

Celebration of Ravel at 150 and Copland at 125

Ravel’s Boléro and suite from Daphnis et Chloé (July 3 & 6) 
Ravel's Tzigane (July 17 & 18)
Copland’s An Outdoor Overture (July 10 & 11) 
Copland's Appalachian Spring (July 17 & 18)

Music by Living Composers

Michael Abels, Sofia Gubaidulina, Nico Muhly, Joan Tower, Eric Whitacre

Guest Artists and Conductors
*Indicates Debut Performance on CMF Stage

Conductors Ryan Bancroft*, Maurice Cohn, Shira Samuels-Shragg, 
and Chloé van Soeterstède*
Pianists Hélène Grimaud* and Yeol Eum Son*
Violinists Benjamin Beilman* and Anne Akiko Meyers | Cellist Hayoung Choi*
Guitarist Xuefei Yang* | Saxophonist Steven Banks
Soprano Lauren Snouffer | Mezzo-Soprano Abigail Nims
Tenor Issachah Savage | Baritone Benjamin Taylor
St. Martin’s Festival Singers
Brentano String Quartet and Dover Quartet

BOULDER, CO: February 27, 2025 - The Colorado Music Festival (CMF) in Boulder, Colorado, under the leadership of Music Director Peter Oundjian, returns to Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder this summer for 19 concerts between July 3 and August 3.

World-class musicians from around the country arrive in Boulder to perform as the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra under the direction of Peter Oundjian. Joining them are 12 guest artists, two internationally acclaimed string quartets, and four guest conductors who perform throughout the season. The location -- a spectacular setting at the base of Boulder’s dramatic Flatirons -- is just an hour from Denver, giving artists and audiences easy access. 

“It is important to me to make every season feel cohesive, varied, and relevant,” said Music Director Peter Oundjian. “This summer will revisit beloved masterpieces and introduce some new and lesser-known works that will delight our audiences. The extraordinary pianist Hélène Grimaud opens our season with Gershwin, on a program that will also celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Ravel’s birth. We’ll also be marking the 125th anniversary of Aaron Copland’s birth with the breathtaking Appalachian Spring and concluding the Festival with the two greatest ninth symphonies of all time by Beethoven and Mahler.” 

"We are continuing to focus on how our Festival stands apart,” said Executive Director Elizabeth McGuire. “There is a brilliance throughout this season as a result of thoughtful, innovative programming.  We delight in introducing our audience to diverse and contemporary voices right alongside — and in conversation with! — the great masterworks.”

It was truly a privilege to hear the birth of a new work in such an atmosphere of warm collaboration. The capacity festival audience obviously appreciated this too, rising to its feet as one in rapturous applause.
–The Strad

Festival Highlights 2025

Complete, chronological list of concerts follows below. 

• CMF presents the world premiere of a new saxophone concerto by Joan Tower, conducted by Peter Oundjian and featuring Steven Banks as soloist (July 10 and 11). Titled Love Returns, the concerto is a vehicle for Tower’s experience of grief and remembrance after the loss of her husband in 2022. The raw and sentimental new work expands on the theme of Tower’s cello concerto, A New Day, premiered by the Festival in 2021. This program also includes Copland’s An Outdoor Overture and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1.
   
• The Colorado premiere of Amplify, a CMF co-commission by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Abels, is performed alongside Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, conducted by Peter Oundjian (July 31 and August 1). In addition to his concert and opera works, Abels is known as a composer for film and TV, including the scores for Get Out, Us, and Nope.
   
• CMF showcases other 20th- and 21st-century works by living composers, including a new piece co-commissioned by CMF, Eric Whitacre’s THE PACIFIC HAS NO MEMORY, featuring Latin Grammy-winning violinist Anne Akiko Meyers (July 17 and 18); Nico Muhly’s Doublespeak (July 22); and Sofia Gubaidulina’s Fairytale Poem (July 24 and 25).
   
• The Festival celebrates anniversaries of two important, very different composers: the 150th birthday of Maurice Ravel and the 125th birthday of Aaron Copland. Peter Oundjian conducts the festival’s opening concerts, which include Ravel’s Boléro and a suite from his ballet Daphnis et Chloé (July 3 and 6), and a program that includes his Tzigane and Copland’s Appalachian Spring (July 17 and 18). Copland’s An Outdoor Overture is also heard on the July 10 and 11 program.
   
• In addition to several chamber concerts featuring CMF musicians, this year’s Robert Mann Chamber Music Series welcomes two iconic string quartets: the Brentano String Quartet, performing works by Schubert, Webern, and Brahms (July 15), and the Dover Quartet, who bring a program of works by Janáček, Robert Schumann, and Tchaikovsky (July 29).

• CMF welcomes a diverse group of musicians this summer, including many CMF audience favorites and artists making their debuts. Pianist Hélène Grimaud makes her long-awaited CMF debut performing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F on opening Night (July 3 and 6). Both soloist Benjamin Beilman and conductor Chloé van Soeterstède make their debuts on an all-Mozart program; Beilman performs Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, “Turkish” (July 13). Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers joins the CMF orchestra for two works: Ravel’s fiery Tzigane, and Eric Whitacre’s THE PACIFIC HAS NO MEMORY, which she co-commissioned with CMF and others (July 17 and 18). Maurice Cohn conducts a program of Respighi, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky, with cellist Hayoung Choi joining as soloist for Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme (July 20). Another double debut takes place later that week, with conductor Ryan Bancroft and pianist Yeol Eum Son, who performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (July 24 and 25). Classical guitarist Xuefei Yang, in her CMF debut, performs Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, (July 27). Four vocal soloists — soprano Lauren Snouffer, mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims, tenor Issachah Savage, and baritone Benjamin Taylor — and the Denver-based St. Martin’s Festival Singers and are featured in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with  join the CMF orchestra conducted by Peter Oundjian for (July 31 and August 1).
   
• On Sunday, July 6 at 10:30 a.m., CMF presents its annual Family Concert, “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Maestro,” conducted by Shira Samuels-Shragg. In this musical adventure, all of the musicians are suspects, and Sherlock Holmes must investigate each of the instrument families to locate the Maestro before the concert can begin. Tickets are $10.

Tickets & Information

CMF offers $10 tickets for youth (ages 18 and under) and students (with current school identification). For more information, visit coloradomusicfestival.org/ticket-info.

For more information about CMF, or to purchase tickets beginning March 4, visit ColoradoMusicFestival.org or call the Chautauqua box office at 303-440-7666.

For a full media kit, including details about performances and events and images, visit coloradomusicfestival.org/mediakit.

Colorado Music Festival concerts take place at Chautauqua Auditorium, which was built in 1898. Located at the base of Boulder’s Flatirons and one of only 25 National Historic Landmarks in the state of Colorado, the Colorado Chautauqua remains committed to its historic purpose.

 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. Guest artists from Europe, Asia, South America and the U.S. join more than 100 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 of more than 20,000 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 the Chautauqua box office at 303-440-7666. 

Colorado Music Festival 2025
Summer Concert Season
Chronological List of Concerts

Thursday, July 3, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 6, 6:30 p.m.
HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD PLAYS GERSHWIN’S PIANO CONCERTO IN F
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Hélène Grimaud, piano
Igor Stravinsky, Feu d'artifice (Fireworks)
George Gershwin, Piano Concerto in F
Maurice Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2
Maurice Ravel, Boléro

“[Hélène] Grimaud doesn’t sound like most pianists,” says The New Yorker, also calling her “a reinventor of phrasings” and “taker of chances;” here she opens the 2025 Festival season with Gershwin’s inventive and quick-paced Concerto in F. Surrounding Gershwin’s jazzy gem are beloved showstoppers: Ravel’s famously unrelenting Boléro, a dreamy suite from the ballet Daphnis et Chloé, and fantastic musical fireworks by Stravinsky.

Sunday, July 6, 10:30 a.m.
ANNUAL FAMILY CONCERT: SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING MAESTRO
Shira Samuels-Shragg, conductor

When the orchestra discovers their Maestro is nowhere to be found, they panic — until the world’s greatest detective agrees to take the case! All the musicians are suspects, which means Sherlock Holmes must investigate each of the instrument families — brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion — to deduce who is behind this mystery. Will Sherlock be able to solve the Case of the Missing Maestro? Bring the whole family to find out!

Tuesday, July 8, 7:30 p.m.
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES: SCHUBERT, PROKOFIEV & BRAHMS
Colorado Music Festival musicians
Franz Schubert, String Trio in B-flat Major, D. 471
Sergei Prokofiev, Quintet in G Minor, op. 39
Johannes Brahms, Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, op. 60

The 2025 Robert Mann Chamber Music Series opens with a program highlighting the Festival’s own musicians in three chamber works. Schubert left his String Trio in B Flat, D. 471 unfinished, but its single complete movement is a classical jewel full of spontaneity. Prokofiev’s dizzying Quintet in G Minor was originally written as a ballet based on Parisian circus life and features aggressive and ever-changing rhythms. Brahms’ Third Piano Quartet is at times unsettled; the music’s evolving moods reflect the composer’s own heartaches.

Thursday, July 10, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 11, 6:30 p.m.
BRAHMS 1 & JOAN TOWER’S WORLD PREMIERE
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Steven Banks, saxophone
Aaron Copland, An Outdoor Overture
Joan Tower, Love Returns for saxophone and orchestra (world premiere)
Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 1, op. 68

These concerts bring together two Festival favorites: one of today’s most important living composers, Joan Tower, whose concerto A New Day premiered at the Festival to rave reviews; and saxophonist Steven Banks, who stunned CMF audiences in 2021 in Alexander Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto. Now these powerhouse artists unite for the world premiere of Tower’s saxophone concerto, Love Returns, with Peter Oundjian conducting. After intermission, the Festival Orchestra performs Brahms’ brilliant First Symphony, which helped the composer step out of Beethoven’s shadow. 

Sunday, July 13, 6:30 p.m.
AN EVENING OF MOZART
Chloé van Soeterstède, conductor
Benjamin Beilman, violin
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Don Giovanni Overture
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 5 in a Major (Turkish), K.219
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro Overture
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Symphony No. 34 in C Major, K.338

Guest conductor Chloé van Soeterstède leads the Festival through this all-Mozart program, which also includes the composer’s animated Symphony No. 34 as well as overtures to two of his most popular operas, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro. 

Tuesday, July 15, 7:30 p.m.
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES: BRENTANO STRING QUARTET
Franz Schubert, Quartet in A Minor, D. 804 (“Rosamunde”)
Anton Webern, 5 Movements for String Quartet, op. 5
Johannes Brahms, String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, op. 67

By popular demand, the Brentano String Quartet — Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music — returns to the Robert Mann Chamber Music Series. The Times (London) raves, “Balance and intonation reach an almost unearthly level of perfection, yet there's nothing inhuman about these American musicians.” Brentano’s Romantic program includes Webern’s abstract Five Movements for String Quartet, Brahms’ sunny Third String Quartet, and Schubert’s poetic A-Minor Quartet, which borrows a theme from his incidental music to the play Rosamunde. 

Thursday, July 17, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 18, 6:30 p.m.
ANNE AKIKO MEYERS PLAYS RAVEL
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring
Eric Whitacre, THE PACIFIC HAS NO MEMORY (CMF co-commission, Colorado premiere)
Maurice Ravel, Tzigane
Hector Berlioz, Béatrice and Bénédict Overture
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

Eric Whitacre’s THE PACIFIC HAS NO MEMORY is a new work being written in response to the recent wildfires in southern California (and replaces the original work for this program, Murmur). Whitacre was visiting his hometown when the fires took hold and the situation touched him very deeply. Because of his close personal connection to the area, and because he was writing the work for Akiko Meyers who resides in Pacific Palisades, Whitacre was motivated to move away from Murmur and, with the violinist's agreement, is now writing  this new work, to have its world premiere in May Carnegie Hall (with Orpheus) and its Colorado premiere at CMF. Peter Oundjian opens the program with Copland’s idyllic tribute to the American heartland, Appalachian Spring, and concludes with the Fantasy-Overture to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. 

Sunday, July 20, 6:30 p.m.
TCHAIKOVSKY & BEETHOVEN
Maurice Cohn, conductor
Hayoung Choi, cello
Ottorino Respighi, Gli uccelli (The Birds)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Variations on a Rococo Theme, op. 33
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 1 in C Major, op. 21

Known for dominating international cello competitions, Hayoung Choi possesses a talent not to be missed; here Choi performs Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme. Guest conductor Maurice Cohn returns to the Chautauqua stage to lead Beethoven’s First Symphony. The program opens with Respighi’s five playful attempts to transcribe the sounds of doves, cuckoos, nightingales, and more. 

Tuesday, July 22, 7:30 p.m.
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES: MOZART & DVOŘÁK
Colorado Music Festival musicians
Nico Muhly, Doublespeak (2012)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, K.452
Antonín Dvořák, String Quintet No.3 in E-flat Major, op. 97

The Robert Mann Chamber Music Series continues with a spotlight on the Festival’s own musicians, with classics by Mozart Quintet in E-Flat for Piano and Winds and Dvořák’s Third String Quartet, which (lke much of his work) is flavored with melodies and rhythms he heard while visiting America, including various folk tunes and Native American drumming. The program begins with Nico Muhly’s minimalist Doublespeak, which was written as a gift for composer Philip Glass’ birthday and teems with stylistic rhythms and repetitions.   

Thursday, July 24, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 25, 6:30 p.m.
BEETHOVEN’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3
Ryan Bancroft, conductor
Yeol Eum Son, piano
Sofia Gubaidulina, Fairytale Poem (Märchenpoem) (1971)
Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, op. 37
Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 10

Pianist Yeol Eum Son (pron. YOR-um sohn)  brings a “fearlessly fast articulation” (The Times) to Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. Sofia Gubaidulina’s striking Fairytale Poem draws inspiration from a children’s story about creativity, and its music is fittingly full of color. Guest conductor Ryan Bancroft conducts this dynamic program, which also includes Shostakovich’s Tenth, which was written shortly after Joseph Stalin’s death and is rife with terror, passion, and oppression, and one final, hopeful ray of light. 

Sunday, July 27, 6:30 p.m.
YANG PLAYS RODRIGO’S CONCIERTO DE ARANJUEZ
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Xuefei Yang, guitar
Zoltán Kodály, Dances of Galánta
Joaquin Rodrigo, Concierto de Aranjuez
Franz Schubert, Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, D. 485

Classical guitarist Xuefei Yang, known for her “feisty virtuosity, impeccable technique and sensitive musicianship” (New York Times), performs Rodrigo’s florid Concierto de Aranjuez, in which the composer set out to evoke “the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the gushing of fountains” of a royal estate in the Spanish city of Aranjuez. Opening the concert is Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, which adapts sprightly Hungarian folk tunes and makes an exuberant dance partner for Rodrigo’s Concierto. After intermission, Peter Oundjian conducts Schubert light and airy Fifth Symphony. 

Tuesday, July 29, 7:30 p.m.
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES: DOVER QUARTET
Leoš Janáček, Quartet No. 1 (“Kreutzer Sonata”)
Robert Schumann, Quartet No. 1 in A Minor, op. 41
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Quartet No. 1 in D Major, op. 11

The Robert Mann Chamber Music Series is delighted to welcome “one of the greatest quartets of the last 100 years” (BBC Music Magazine), the Dover Quartet, Ensemble-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music for a program of music by Janáček, Schumann and Tchaikovsky.   

Thursday, July 31, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, August 1, 6:30 p.m.
BEETHOVEN’S NINTH + MICHAEL ABELS’S AMPLIFY
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Lauren Snouffer, soprano
Abigail Nims, mezzo-soprano
Issachah Savage, tenor
Benjamin Taylor, baritone
St. Martin’s Festival Singers
Michael Abels, Amplify (CMF co-commission)
Ludwig van Beethoven, Elegischer Gesang (Elegiac Song) in E Major, op. 118
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, op. 125

Peter Oundjian conducts Beethoven’s Ninth, the beloved masterpiece that celebrates brotherhood, forgiveness, and the quest for peace. For the iconic “Ode to Joy,” the Festival welcomes four distinguished singers – soprano Lauren Snouffer,  mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims, tenor Issachah Savage and bass Benjamin Taylor – and the Denver-based St. Martin’s Chamber Choir. Composer Michael Abels’ Amplify, co-commissioned by the Festival, opens the program; on top of his Pulitzer Prize-winning compositions for opera, audiences may recognize Abels’ work from film scores such as Get Out, Us, Chevalier, and more. 

Sunday, August 3, 6:30 p.m.
MAHLER 9
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 9

Music Director Peter Oundjian continues his tradition of closing the Festival season with a massive Mahler symphony. Composer Alban Berg once wrote of Mahler’s Ninth, “The first movement is the greatest Mahler ever composed. It is the expression of a tremendous love for this earth, the longing to live on it peacefully and to enjoy nature to its deepest depths – before death comes.” The myriad colors of life are present in the mighty Ninth, throughout which Mahler grieves, dances, basks in sunlight, and ultimately reflects on the enormity of it all.