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Colorado Music Festival Announces Virtual Summer Concerts June 25 – July 30
Featuring Performances Recorded Especially for the Festival including Takács Quartet's first performance with new violist Richard O'Neill; Beethoven cadenzas with award-winning pianist Jan Lisiecki; Brooklyn Rider performs selections from Healing Modes (released March 2020)
PLUS: Online Youth Musician Seminar, July 20-24
Colorado Music Festival (CMF) presents six virtual concerts on Thursday evenings from June 25 through July 30, featuring unique performances by guest artists from around the world and Colorado Music Festival’s orchestra members.
Under the direction of Peter Oundjian, CMF music director, the virtual concerts bring together world-class musicians to perform exceptional pieces in intimate settings, including the following:
- The opening June 25 performance features hometown favorites, the Takács Quartet. This performance will mark the debut of the Takács Quartet’s newest member, violist Richard O’Neill.
- The July 2 performance will be a celebration of women in music, with performances by guitarist Sharon Isbin and percussionist Jisu Jung.
- On July 9, virtuoso violinist Augustin Hadelich will join Oundjian in his home to perform works by Bach, Ysaÿe and Tarrega.
- On July 16, award-winning pianist Jan Lisiecki will perform cadenzas from the Beethoven piano concerti and join Oundjian in discussion about the pieces.
- On July 23, string quartet Brooklyn Rider will share a performance from their recent recording, Healing Modes. Also included will be a performance of Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 5 by members of the CMF Orchestra brass section.
- The finale, on July 30, will highlight CMF’s own musicians as they play movements from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and include performances by sensational twin sister pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton and Festival Fellows, Ivalas Quartet.
All virtual performances will be accessible on demand via Colorado Music Festival's website,
ColoradoMusicFestival.org, and are presented for free as a sign of gratitude to donors, subscribers, ticket buyers and the community.
"Music is a language that should have no boundaries, know no prejudice and speak to the heart and soul of humanity. In these challenging times, we find it more important than ever to continue our work to seek and share the talents of diverse musicians from across the world,” said Oundjian. “The Colorado Music Festival welcomes female composers, musicians of color, young performers and more to take the virtual stage – accessible for viewing around the world – to share their musical story.”
New this year, the Colorado Music Festival and the Center for Musical Arts (CMA) are partnering on a Festival Fellows program and a Youth Musician Seminar, advancing their collective mission to provide access to the world’s best performance and educational opportunities.
In advance of the 2020 festival season, CMF and CMA launched the Festival Fellows program, which hosts a total of eight aspiring professional musicians to serve as fellows in Boulder during what is now the virtual festival. This program serves to advance the fellows’ experience and knowledge within a broad spectrum of performance and educational opportunities with the goal of inspiring the next generation of diverse musicians. Four of the fellows, the Ivalas Quartet, based out of Boulder, were selected in partnership with the Sphinx Organization. The Sphinx Organization’s goal is to address “the social issue of underrepresentation of people of color in classical music.”
From July 20 through July 24, the Colorado Music Festival will host an online Youth Musician Seminar for serious musicians in high school and older. Oundjian, Harumi Rhodes of the Takács Quartet, Wang Jie, guest composer, and Colorado Music Festival Orchestra musicians will offer sessions throughout the week. Musicians may register for individual sessions or for the full seminar by visiting www.centerformusicalarts.org/youth-musician-seminar.
For more information about CMF, visit
ColoradoMusicFestival.org. For a full media kit, including details about performances and images, visit
http://bit.ly/CMF2020MediaKit
Brooklyn Rider performs Zeher (Poison) by Reena Esmail and other pieces
COLORADO MUSIC FESTIVAL 2020
VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Thursday Evenings, June 25 – July 30
All of the following online concerts are free and open to the public. To access, visit coloradomusicfestival.org.
Thursday, June 25 at 7:30 PM
OPENING NIGHT
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Takács Quartet
Leonard Bernstein: Candide Overture
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Franz Schubert: Quartettsatz in C Minor, D 703
Florence Price: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor
II. Andante cantabile
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 2
II. Allegro molto capriccioso
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3
III. Menuetto (Grazioso)
IV. Allegro molto
Takács Quartet
Thursday, July 2 at 7:30 PM
WOMEN IN MUSIC
Sharon Isbin, guitar
Jisu Jung, percussion
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Enrique Granados: Spanish Dance No. 5, Andaluza
Antonio Lauro: Waltz No. 3 Natalia
Leo Brouwer: El Decameron Negro "Lovers fleeing through the Valley of the Echoes"
Naomi Shemer: Jerusalem of Gold
Agustín Barrios Mangoré: Waltz, Opus 8, No. 4
Sharon Isbin
Howard Stevens: Rhythmic Caprice
Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert (Part IIC)
Jisu Jung
John Philip Sousa: The Washington Post March
John Philip Sousa: The Stars and Stripes Forever
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Thursday, July 9 at 7:30 PM
AUGUSTIN HADELICH, VIOLIN
Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata No. 1
Siciliana
Presto
Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 4
Sarabande
Francisco Tarrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 PM
PIANIST JAN LISIECKI PERFORMS BEETHOVEN
Cadenzas from:
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto in C Major, Op. 15
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto in B-flat Major, Op. 19
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto in C Minor, Op. 37
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto in G Major, Op. 58
Thursday, July 23 at 7:30 PM
BROOKLYN RIDER STRING QUARTET
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Joan Tower: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 5
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Reena Esmail: Zeher (Poison)
Gabriela Lena Frank: Kanto Kechua #2
Kinan Azmeh: "Dabke on Martense Street"
Brooklyn Rider
Thursday, July 30 at 7:30 PM
FESTIVAL FINALE: BEETHOVEN 7
Ivalas Quartet
Christina and Michelle Naughton Piano Duo
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Maurice Ravel: Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Ivalas Quartet
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in D, Op 71 No 2
Adagio-Allegro
Jessie Montgomery: Strum
Ivalas Quartet
Maurice Ravel: The Fairy Garden from Mother Goose Suite
Claude Debussy: En blanc et noir, L. 134
George Walker: Sonata for 2 Pianos (2nd movement)
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Suite No. 2 for two pianos Op. 17
Valse
Conlon Nancarrow: Sonatina (arr. for piano, 4 hands)
Cantata Profana
Michelle and Christina Naughton Piano Duo
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
II. Allegretto
IV. Allegro con brio
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
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 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, 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. In 2009, CMF merged with the Center for Musical Arts (CMA) to provide the community with the highest quality music performance and education. 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 #COMusicFestival.