Programs include guitarist Trace Bundy, a live film soundtrack and a family concert

By Peter Alexander Sept. 28 at 2:40 p.m.

The Boulder Symphony, a self-described “community focused orchestra” that began as a community orchestra and has grown into a larger organization that includes a Music Academy for young students, opens its 2023–24 concert season Friday with a concert featuring guitarist Trace Bundy (7:30 p.m. at Boulder Theater; see ticket information below).

The program, under the direction of Devin Patrick Hughes, includes works from Bundy, the Beatles, Leonard Cohen and U2, among others, arranged for the orchestra by John Clay Allen. A member of the faculty at Metropolitan State University in Denver, Allen is also the composer-in-residence with the Boulder Symphony. The world premiere of his Eroica Forgotten is also part of the program for Friday’s concert.

The concert is sponsored by Suerte Tequila, an independent craft Tequila made in Jalisco, Mexico, with offices in Boulder. During the concert, Suerte Tequila will be sold at the Boulder Theater bar.

In October, the orchestra will present live music for the silent film The Covered Wagon and one of their “Curiosity Concerts,” short concerts designed for family attendance. The performance of music for The Covered Wagon (7:30 p.m. Saturday Oct. 14; details below) is presented in conjunction with the Northern Arapaho Eagle Society and in observance of the second week of October as Indigenous Peoples Week.

The Covered Wagon is a 97-minute 1923 silent film that included 500 Arapaho tribal members from the Wind River Reservation in the cast. The original film was premiered in New York City with a soundtrack score by Hugo Riesenfeld. University of Wyoming music prof. Anne Guzzo was commissioned to compile a new soundtrack, “Arapaho Covered Wagon Redux,” that aims to reverse negative Native American stereotypes and retell the story from a tribal perspective. Her compilation was arranged for orchestra and the Northern Arapaho drummers by Allen.

The performance is a combination concert presentation of the film and recording session. 

Later in the month, the Boulder Symphony presents their first “Curiosity Concert” of the season (3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28 in the orchestra’s primary home, Grace Commons Church in Boulder, which is called Grace Commons Concert Hall for performances). Titled “Perfectly Imperfect,” the performance is a program of the classical music education producer Extra Crispy Creatives.

With music ranging from Mozart to Billie Eilish, “Perfectly Imperfect” explores “what makes Earth’s music the best in the galaxy.” The performance with full orchestra and an alien named “Blip” will last approximately 45 minutes.

The fall’s full formal concert by the Boulder Symphony will take place at Grace Commons at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17. Cellist Erin Patterson, a member of the Altius String Quartet, will be soloist in a performance of DANCE for cello and orchestra by Anna Clyne. Other works on the program, conducted by Hughes, will be Finlandia by Sibelius and the Symphony No. 2 of Rachmaninoff.

Clyne’s DANCE is effectively a five-movement concerto for cello, based on a five-line poem by Rumi. Each movement is titled after one line of the poem: 
Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.

Composed in 1906–07, Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony was an important milestone for the composer. The 1897 premiere of his First Symphony had been a failure. Rachmaninoff became depressed after the performance, and doubted his abilities as a composer. For his Second Symphony, he moved to Dresden, Germany, to have time for composing away from Russia, and after completing and extensive and revision of the score, he was able to present the symphony in St. Petersburg in January, 1908.

The performance was a great success, and the symphony won an award for the composer. This event restored Rachmaninoff’s confidence, and the Second Symphony, while subject to considerable later revisions, has remained one of his most popular compositions.

Tickets for performances by the Boulder Symphony are available on the organization’s Web page. 

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Boulder Symphony
Fall Concerts in Boulder

7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29
Boulder Symphony, Devin Patrick Hughes, conductor
With Trace Bundy, guitar

Program includes:

• John Clay Allen: Eroica Forgotten (World premiere)
• Trace Bundy: “Elephant King” (arr. by John Clay Allen)
• Lennon/McCartney: “Dear Prudence” (arr. by John Clay Allen)
• Leonard Cohen: “Hallelujah” (arr. by John Clay Allen)
• The Edge/Bono: “Where the Streets Have no Name” (arr. by John Clay Allen)

Boulder Theater
Concert presented by Suerte Tequila

The Covered Wagon
Live Silent Film soundtrack recording session
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14
Boulder Symphony, Devin Patrick Hughes, conductor, 
With the Northern Arapaho Eagle Society

• Soundtrack compiled by Anne Guzzo; arranged by John Clay Allen

Pine Street Church, 1237 Pine St., Boulder

Fall Curiosity Concert
3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28
Boulder Symphony, Devin Patrick Hughes, conductor
Perfectly Imperfect, production of Extra Crispy Creatives

Program includes original music and arrangements from:

• Sia: “Cheap Thrills”
• Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor
• Rossini: Overture to William Tell
• Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra
• Billie Eilish: “Bad Guy”

Grace Commons Church, 1820 15th St.

7:30 p.m. Friday, No. 17
Boulder Symphony, Devin Patrick Hughes, conductor
With Erin Patterson, cello

• Sibelius: Finlandia
• Anna Clyne: DANCE for cello and orchestra
• Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, op. 27

Grace Commons Church, 1820 15th St.

TICKETS and information for all Boulder Symphony performances on their Web page. 

CORRECTION: When originally posted, one of the paragraphs in this article was accidentally misplaced. Although it did not change the meaning, the error has been corrected and all parts of the story are in the correct order (11:15 p.m. 9/27/23).