Back to List
Peter Oundjian, Music Director of the Colorado Music Festival, Announces a Return to the Concert Hall for 2021 Summer Season
July 1 – August 7 in Boulder, Colorado
Four World Premieres
Aaron Jay Kernis, Hannah Lash, Joel Thompson, and Joan Tower
Music of Today Series
Robert Mann Chamber Music Series
Emerson, St. Lawrence, Danish String Quartets
Artist in Residence Violinist Augustin Hadelich
Guest Artists
Steven Banks, Stewart Goodyear, Ji Su Jung, Olga Kern, Conrad Tao, Alisa Weilerstein, Angelo Xiang Yu and More
Peter Oundjian | Photo: Michael Ensminger
The Colorado Music Festival (CMF) in Boulder, Colorado, under the leadership of Music Director Peter Oundjian, returns to the concert hall this summer for 22 concerts between July 1 and August 7. The diverse offerings reflect Oundjian’s commitment to presenting the work of living composers as well as music by masters of the canon; nearly half of the concerts will feature music created in the twenty-first or late-twentieth centuries. The Festival features 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, along with 17 guest artists, three internationally acclaimed string quartets and three guest conductors.
“In our 2021 season, we wish to commemorate the challenges of the pandemic, while celebrating the return to live, communal music-making. This season’s music offers the healing that our communities are yearning for, the creativity to clear our minds and hearts, and the inspiration to look toward the brighter days ahead,” said Peter Oundjian, music director.
Guidance for safe social distancing practices will be observed closely in the months to come, and will most likely include limiting the number of orchestra members on stage. The event’s venue, Chautauqua Auditorium, will implement a COVID-19 safety plan throughout the 2021 season, including the latest guidelines for spacing between seats, distance between performers and audience members, and mask requirements for all. More information about the safety plan will be available on the Chautauqua website prior to the season opening.
Season Highlights
This season is the first year of CMF’s five-year commitment to commissioning new works and presenting them in Boulder. The season opens on July 1 with the world premiere of “Elegy” by Aaron Jay Kernis, a work commemorating those lost to the COVID-19 pandemic and the first of four world premieres being presented this summer, three of which are CMF commissions. The opening-night program welcomes this season’s artist-in-residence, violinist Augustin Hadelich, for Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64, and concludes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op 92. (The opening concert repeats on July 2.) Hadelich returns on July 28 and 29 for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61.
- Hannah Lash’s Forestallings, the second world premiere of the season, on July 22 is part of the first-ever Music of Today Series, July 20-25, with four concerts dedicated to the work of living composers. Also on the program is Kevin Puts’ Concerto for Marimba and Peter Oundjian’s orchestration for string orchestra of Beethoven’s groundbreaking String Quartet No. 14 (orchestrated, but not created, by a living composer).
- The “Kaleidoscope” concert on July 23 pairs energetic and accessible contemporary music from an eclectic mix of composers with pianist Christopher Taylor, Ji Su Jung on marimba and members of the CMF Orchestra. That evening’s program features:
Nebojsa Zivkovic, Trio per Uno (1995/1990)
Nico Muhly, Big Time for String Quartet and Percussion (2012)
Peter Klatzow, Concert Marimba Etudes (2013)
Derek Bermel, Turning (1995)
Keith Jarrett, The Köln Concert (Part IIC) (1975)
Leigh Howard Stevens, Rhythmic Caprice (1989)
William Bolcom, Piano Quintet No. 2 (2011) - The series concludes on July 25 with a concert dedicated to the music of the great American composer Joan Tower, with the composer in attendance and featuring the third world premiere of the season, Tower’s Cello Concerto, along with her Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 5 (1993), Made in America (2004), and Duets (1994).
- The final world premiere of the festival, on August 5, is a new work by Joel Thompson that shines a light on American writer and activist James Baldwin, weaving selections of Baldwin’s own words into a musical profile on one of the most powerful Black voices of his generation. Thompson is perhaps best known for his 2015 composition Seven Last Words of the Unarmed. Dr. Eddie Glaude will narrate the performance.
Also new this year is the Robert Mann Chamber Music Series, named for the late Robert Mann, who was founding first violin of the Juilliard String Quartet; a friend and mentor to CMF Music Director Peter Oundjian; and a conductor and composer. The Tuesday evening series includes three quartets making their CMF debuts, beginning on July 13 with the group that carries on Mann’s legacy, the Emerson String Quartet, performing Purcell, Walker, Beethoven and Shostakovich. On July 20, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, once guided and coached by Mann himself, performs Haydn and Debussy as well as John Adams’ String Quartet No. 1 (2008). The remarkable Danish String Quartet performs a program on August 3 of music by Purcell and Schubert and a collection of dances. Members of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra perform two evenings of chamber music written for larger ensembles: the string quintets of Mozart and Brahms on July 6, and Beethoven's Septet for Strings and Winds and Quintet for Piano and Winds on July 27.
The 2021 season features a diverse group of guest musicians, including saxophonist Steven Banks; pianist Stewart Goodyear; percussion soloist Ji Su Jung; pianist Olga Kern; pianist Conrad Tao; cellist Alisa Weilerstein; and violinist Angelo Xiang Yu.
On Saturday, July 3 at 11 a.m., CMF will feature its Family Concert, “The Story of Babar,” in partnership with Really Inventive Stuff, animateurs and vaudeville-inspired storytellers for orchestras. This program also includes Toy Symphony, which features noisemakers, kazoos and other toy instruments as part of the orchestra. Tickets are $10. Additionally, the concert will be live streamed for free.
During the 2021 season, the Colorado Music Festival and Center for Musical Arts will launch the Festival Fellows program, hosting a total of eight aspiring professional musicians to serve as Festival Fellows in Boulder, CO. Four of the fellows will be selected by the Sphinx Organization, whose goal is addressing “the social issue of underrepresentation of people of color in classical music.”
In-Person and Streaming Concerts
To complement the live concerts in Chautauqua Auditorium, CMF is offering a remote viewing experience for the 2021 Colorado Music Festival with a selection of the performances available via live streaming. “After moving to a virtual festival in 2020, we look forward to offering safe, socially-distanced concerts, alongside streaming options for seven of this season’s concerts,” said Elizabeth McGuire, CMF executive director. “We want these performances to be available to as many people as possible. We know from friends and patrons that music has helped them through these difficult times and we’re honored to play that role for our community.”
For a full list of live-streaming performances and to purchase tickets beginning April 20, visit https://coloradomusicfestival.org/.
All concerts take place in the historic Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder, built in 1898 as the meeting space for the recently established Colorado Chautauqua, a settlement that arose out of the Chautauqua education movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of only 25 National Historic Landmarks in the state of Colorado, the auditorium is known locally for its electrifying acoustics, providing a unique listening experience in the unsurpassed landscape of Boulder’s Flatirons in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
For more information about CMF, or to purchase tickets beginning April 20, visit ColoradoMusicFestival.org or call 303-440-7666. For a full media kit, including details about performances and events and images, visit https://bit.ly/ColoradoMusicFest2021MediaKit.
Augustin Hadelich | Photo: Suxiao-Yang
COLORADO MUSIC FESTIVAL 2021
Schedule, July 1 – August 7
Concerts marked with an asterisk will also be available via live stream.
Thursday, July 1, 7:30 pm*
Friday, July 2, 6:30 pm
OPENING NIGHT: BEETHOVEN 7 + AUGUSTIN HADELICH
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Augustin Hadelich, Artist-in-Residence, Violin
Aaron Jay Kernis, Elegy (to those we’ve lost) (world premiere)
Felix Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op 92
Saturday, July 3, 11:00 am*
FAMILY CONCERT: THE STORY OF BABAR
Erina Yashima, Conductor
Really Inventive Stuff
The Festival welcomes back vaudeville-inspired musical storytellers Really Inventive Stuff. This imaginative group uses comedy, props, and interaction to refresh beloved musical classics and enchant audiences of all ages. The Story of Babar tells the tale of one little elephant's epic rise from rags to riches, featuring music by Poulenc and a playful re-imagining by Really Inventive Stuff. This family-delighting program begins with the quirky Toy Symphony in C Major by Mozart (formerly attributed to Haydn), which includes noisemakers, kazoos, and other toy instruments as part of the orchestra.
Tuesday, July 6, 7:30 pm
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
STRING QUINTETS: MOZART AND BRAHMS
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Viola Quintet in G Minor, K. 516
Johannes Brahms, Viola Quintet in G Major, Op. 111
Thursday, July 8, 7:30 pm*
Friday, July 9, 6:30 pm
BRAHMS 4 WITH PIANIST STEWART GOODYEAR
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
David Danzmayr, Conductor
Stewart Goodyear, Piano
Jessie Montgomery, Strum (2006; revised 2012)
Camille Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22
Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98
Sunday, July 11, 6:30 pm
HAYDN’S LONDON SYMPHONY
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
David Danzmayr, Conductor
Stewart Goodyear, Piano
Angelo Xiang Yu, Violin
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Novelletten for String Orchestra, Op.52 (Movements 3 and 4)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216, “Strassburg”
Franz Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 104 in D Major, “London”
Tuesday, July 13, 7:30 pm
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
EMERSON STRING QUARTET
Henry Purcell, Chacony
George Walker, Lyric for Strings (1946)
Dmitri Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 14 in F-sharp Major, Op. 142
Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132
Thursday, July 15, 7:30 pm*
Friday, July 16, 6:30 pm
OLGA KERN + PROKOFIEV’S CLASSICAL SYMPHONY
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Ludovic Morlot, Conductor
Olga Kern, Piano
Antonín Dvořák, Legends, Op. 59 (Movements 6, 7 and 9)
Sergei Prokofiev, Symphony No. 1, Op. 25, “Classical”
Franz Joseph Haydn, Piano Concerto in D Major, Hob. XVIII:11
Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35
Sunday, July 18 at 6:30 PM
CONRAD TAO PERFORMS MOZART
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Ludovic Morlot, Conductor
Conrad Tao, Piano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Idomeneo Ballet Music, K. 367 (Movements 1 and 2)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550
Tuesday, July 20, 7:30 pm
MUSIC OF TODAY
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
ST. LAWRENCE STRING QUARTET: DEBUSSY, HAYDN, AND JOHN ADAMS
Franz Joseph Haydn, Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4
John Adams, String Quartet No. 1, First Quartet (2008)
Claude Debussy, String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10
Ji Su Jung
Thursday, July 22, 7:30 pm*
MUSIC OF TODAY
HANNAH LASH’S WORLD PREMIERE + BEETHOVEN OP. 131
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Ji Su Jung, Marimba
Hannah Lash, Forestallings (World premiere commission) (2019-2020)
Kevin Puts, Concerto for Marimba
Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131 (orch. Peter Oundjian)
Friday, July 23, 6:30 pm
MUSIC OF TODAY
KALEIDOSCOPE: MUHLY, JARRETT, AND BOLCOM
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Strings and Percussion
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Christopher Taylor, piano
Ji Su Jung, marimba
Nebojsa Zivkovic, Trio per Uno (1995/1990)
Nico Muhly, Big Time for String Quartet and Percussion (2012)
Peter Klatzow, Concert Marimba Etudes (2013)
Derek Bermel, Turning (1995)
Keith Jarrett, The Köln Concert (Part IIC) (1975)
Leigh Howard Stevens, Rhythmic Caprice (1989)
William Bolcom, Piano Quintet No. 2 (2011)
Sunday, July 25, 6:30 pm
MUSIC OF TODAY
JOAN TOWER: MADE IN AMERICA + WORLD PREMIERE
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, Cello
Joan Tower, Composer
Joan Tower, Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 5 (1993)
Joan Tower, Made in America (2004)
Joan Tower, Duets (1994)
Joan Tower, Cello Concerto (World premiere commission) (2021)
Tuesday, July 27, 7:30 pm
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
BEETHOVEN QUINTET AND SEPTET
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members
Ludwig van Beethoven, Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, Op. 16
Ludwig van Beethoven, Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
Thursday, July 29, 7:30 pm*
Friday, July 30, 6:30 pm
HADELICH PLAYS BEETHOVEN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Augustin Hadelich, Artist-in-Residence, Violin
Carl Maria von Weber, Oberon Overture
Zoltán Kodály, Dances of Galánta
Ludwig van Beethoven, Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61
Sunday, August 1, 6:30 pm
COPLAND’S LINCOLN PORTRAIT
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Steven Banks, Saxophone
Chris Christoffersen, Narrator
Aaron Copland, Fanfare for the Common Man
Florence Price, String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor (1935) (Movement 2)
Alexander Glazunov, Saxophone Concerto in E-flat Major, Op. 109
Jacques Ibert, Concertino da Camera
Aaron Copland, Lincoln Portrait
Danish String Quartet
Tuesday, August 3, 7:30 pm
ROBERT MANN CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
DANISH STRING QUARTET
Henry Purcell, Chacony in G Minor for String Quartet (arr. Benjamin Britten)
A curated suite of dances:
--Prelude: Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Prelude
--Allemande: John Adams, Pavane: She's so fine
--Courante: Polska, trad.
--Sarabande: Felix Blumenfeld, Sarabande
--Gavotte: John Adams, Stubble Crochet
--Gigue 1: Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Gigue Française
--Gigue 2: John Adams, Toot Nipple
Franz Schubert, Quartet No.15 in G Major, D. 887
Thursday, August 5, 7:30 pm*
JOEL THOMPSON'S WORLD PREMIERE + BEETHOVEN'S EROICA
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Dr. Eddie Glaude, Narrator
Joel Thompson, Composer
Joel Thompson, World premiere commission (2021)
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55, “Eroica”
Saturday, August 7, 7:30 pm
FESTIVAL FINALE: BEETHOVEN 5
Colorado Music Festival Orchestra
Peter Oundjian, Conductor
Giovanni Gabrieli, Canzon septimi toni à 8 (No. 2) arr. R.P. Block
Anton Dvořák: Serenade for Wind Instruments in D Minor, Op. 44
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
For more information about CMF or to purchase tickets, visit 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 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 303-440-7666.