“(Re)Sounding! 2020 Reimagined” opens Oct. 11 with Bach and Mozart

By Peter Alexander Sept. 29 at 12:45 p.m.

Elliot Moore is more than ready to get back to work.

The conductor of the Longmont Symphony designed the orchestra’s fall season to celebrate playing together again after COVID forced the suspension of the last season in April. “It’s been a very long pause for us,” he says. “It’s been a very long pause for every single orchestra across the country, across the world really, and we wanted to have a celebration that our sounds continue.”

In that spirit, the LSO is calling the fall half-season “(Re)Sounding: 2020 Reimagined.” There will be two concerts featuring a small orchestra—cut down to observe safe distancing—and two programs featuring guest artists.

The orchestra was on the brink of canceling the rest of 2020, but “I kept thinking about how we could do (a fall season),” Moore says. “There’s so many constraints now, so the idea that I had was to have bookends that are the orchestra—but it has to be obviously a very small orchestra. That already is a large constraint.

“And in the middle of our fall season, I wanted to showcase soloists that would enhance the season, and who even though they’re in their homes and not in Longmont, would still be a draw for our audience. To that end I picked an incredible violinist named Caroline Campbell, who is the go-to violinist for many artists including Barbara Streisand and Andrea Bocelli. She has had videos on YouTube with 34 million views.”

For the other guest artist, Moore selected pianist Nathan Lee, who won the Young Concert Artists International Audition at 15. Still in his teens, he is a musical ambassador to younger audiences. “He is just a beautifully thoughtful, poetic musician and pianist,” Moore says. “I thought not only would he be a draw for our patrons, but also that may be a way to get him virtually in the schools to talk with students.”

Following each solo performance, there will be a live Q&A session with the guest artist, speaking from their home, with Moore serving as moderator from Longmont.

Both LSO performances will be recorded in the Longmont Museum in advance of the online broadcast. The orchestra will play music by Bach on Mozart on Sunday, Oct. 11, including Bach’s Concerto for two violins, featuring the LSO’s new concertmaster and associate concertmaster, Benjamin Ehrmantraut and Kina Ono. The opposite bookend, Sunday, Dec. 13, will be a holiday program with music from Handel’s Messiah with four solo singers performing solo pieces, and joining together for the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

“I think that it’s imperative that we give [the audience] not only a good sound quality, but also a good visual quality,” Moore says. Having worked on streamed performances by the Detroit Symphony, he is working with the cameramen in planning the streams. “We’re talking about different shots, different camera angles and even more than that,” he says. 

“I’m also speaking with someone who’s going to be our host, so we can have a curated experience. These are all new things for us, but I have full confidence in the staff of the Longmont Symphony, and with our collaborators from Longmont Public Media, who are working so beautifully with us to bring all of this to life.”

Both individual concert and fall season virtual tickets are available from the LSO Web page. Each virtual ticket allows the holder to view the performance at their convenience, starting at the listed performance times. Each performance will be available for a period of time after the premiere.

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(Re)Sounding: 2020 Reimagined
Longmont Symphony
(Streamed performances; admission through the LSO Web page)

Bach “Double” and Mozart “Salzburg symphonies”
Longmont Symphony, Elliot Moore, conductor
With Benjamin Ehrmantraut and Kina Ono, violins

J.S. Bach: Concerto for two violins and orchestra, BWV1043
Mozart: Divertimento in D major, K136
Divertimento in B-flat major, K137
Divertimento in F major, K138

4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11

“Los Angeles to Longmont”
Caroline Campbell, violin
Program tba
4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25

“Seattle to Longmont”
Nathan Lee, piano
Program tba
4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25

Handel’s Messiah, Solo Sections
Longmont Symphony, Elliot Moore, conductor
With four vocal soloists to be named later

Handel: Messiah solo pieces
“Hallelujah” Chorus

4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13