Boulder Phil to premiere a new work about the solar system Sunday

By Peter  Alexander Nov. 6 at 2:55 p.m.

Gustav Holst’s seven-movement orchestral suite The Planets is one of the best known and most popular pieces in the orchestral repertoire. But did you know there is a new piece about the moons in our solar system to go with it?

That new piece, Moons of the Giants by Colorado composer John Heins, will receive its world premiere from the Boulder Philharmonic on a program that includes Holst’s score at 4 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 10; details below). The performance will be led by guest conductor Scott O’Neil, who is staff orchestrator and conductor for the Colorado Symphony. He replaces the Boulder Phil’s music director Michael Butterman, who will be out for the remainder of 2024 for health reasons.

Heins wrote the piece without a commission, just from his own inspiration, and then hoped to find an orchestra that would play it. Butterman said he liked the score as soon as he took a look at it, and even though he won’t be able to conduct in it Boulder he plans to perform it with the Shreveport Symphony in Louisiana, which he also directs, in January. 

“I’m just sorry that I won’t get to conduct the premiere,” he wrote in an email.

In an online interview, Heins said “I’ve always been really interested in astronomy and space exploration. The Holst (Planets) is one of my favorite pieces, and I’ve thought about writing some type of piece like that. I came up with the idea to write about some of the moons of some of the planets.

“I narrowed it down to the so-called ‘gas-giant’ planets—Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Saturn—and picked one or two moons of each of these planets. . . . I picked six of the moons. Each one has a different character and mood. (The score is) pretty programmatic and moody, just trying to bring across the impression that the moons had on me when I researched them.”

In his written communication, Butterman noted that “Heins’ work will be presented along with video prepared by CU’s Fiske Planetarium.”

The second half of the program, comprising Holst’s Planets, is presented in honor of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Holst wrote The Planets over a three-year span from 1914 to 1917. Each movement describes not the physical nature of the planet but its astrological significance and the mythological character for which it is named. 

The first performance, given in London in 1918, was initially met with hostility from some critics, due to Holst’s imaginative use of color and harmony. Nevertheless, the suite quickly gained popularity with audiences. Today it is one of Holst’s most widely performed pieces, and has been recorded more than 80 times.

The concert will be preceded by a pre-performance talk starting at 3 p.m. featuring SpaceX astronaut Sarah Gillis who is a Boulder native. She studied Suzuki violin and played in the Youth Orchestra in Boulder, went to CU-Boulder, and even babysat for Butterman’s daughter during his first years with the orchestra. 

While on the recent Polaris Dawn mission, Gillis played her violin in orbit and completed a space walk. She will be onstage with conductor Scott O’Neil, and will be joined virtually by Butterman from Shreveport. 

O’Neil recently completed a nine-year tenure as Resident Conductor with the Colorado Symphony in Denver. During his time there he performed with renowned soloists, including Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Pinchas Zukerman and Van Cliburn. O’Neil has also created and developed a series of educational concerts titled “Inside the Score” that combined art, entertainment and enlightenment to engage audiences.

As an arranger/orchestrator, O’Neil has created and orchestrated numerous works for the Colorado Symphony. He continues to guest conduct and to lead his own ensemble, the Rosetta Music Society, in Denver.

Heins’s compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. His works include music for symphonic band and orchestra as well as solo piano works and chamber music. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana and a master’s degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has taught at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana.

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“Moons and Planets”
Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Scott O’Neil, guest conductor

• John Heins: Moons of the Giants (world premiere)
• Gustav Holst: The Planets

4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10
Macky Auditorium

3 p.m.: Pre-performance discussion in the Macky Auditorium with O’Neill and SpaceX astronaut Sarah Gillis

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