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May 1, 2018

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CU Presents Update: Eklund Opera will present ‘West Side Story’ Oct. 26–28

By Peter Alexander May 1 at 5:40 p.m.

When first announced as part of the coming 2018–19 CU Presents season, Eklund Opera’s major fall production was listed somewhat mysteriously as Title TBA, music by Leonard Bernstein.

Art by Janalee Robison for CU Presents

In case you haven’t guessed, the title, which can NBA (now be announced), is West Side Story. As noted previously, contractual arrangements did not allow for the title to be revealed until May 1.

Leonard Bernstein

The production will be part of the year-long, globe-spanning celebration of of the 100th anniversary of Bernstein’s birth. Boulder has already seen a sold-out concert performance of West Side Story presented by the Boulder Philharmonic and Central City Opera (April 28).

Later this month the Colorado Symphony will present music by Bernstein paired with one of his favorite composers, Gustav Mahler (May 25–27), and several Bernstein works will be featured as part of this summer’s Colorado Music Festival. It is not difficult to find other Bernstein tributes at summer festivals around the country, including Bravo! Vail and the Aspen Music Festival.

o-WEST-SIDE-STORY-ORIGINAL-BROADWAY-facebook

Scene from the original 1957 production of ‘West Side Story’ with Jerome Robbins’ landmark choreography

When it first appeared in 1957, West Side Story was truly genre-changing for Broadway. A New York-based updating of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the show did not shy away from serious social issues or a tragic ending. Its book, lyrics, music and dance were conceived not as separate pieces but as a unified work of art, which therefore required a cast equally skilled as actors, dancers and singers. Bernstein’s music was unusually complex and difficult for both players and singers, and Jerome Robbins’ choreography set a new standard for singer-dancers.

With the combined team of Bernstein, Robbins and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story is certainly one of the most influential musicals in the history of Broadway. It has also become one of the most loved Broadway shows in history, revived by theaters and opera companies world wide. And be warned: it often sells out.

# # # # #

West Side Story
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Book by Arthur Laurents; lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Based on a concept by Jerome Robbins
7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27
2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28
Macky Auditorium

Subscription tickets 2018–19 CU Presents performances, including West Side Story and other Eklund Opera performances, are available here.

Tickets to individual performances will be available starting Aug. 20.
_______________

Edited 5/1 to replace generic West Side Story poster image with art created for CU Presents by Janalee Robison.

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April 19, 2018

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Quicksilver Baroque brings ‘Strange and Wonderful Music’ to Macky

‘Rock stars’ of the early music scene explore the music of the 17th century

By Peter Alexander April 19 at 4:45 p.m.

How many pieces of chamber music for two violins, trombone, bassoon and lute can you name?

Quicksilver Baroque. Photo by Jan Gates.

None? Meet Quicksilver, a Baroque ensemble specializing in the music of the 17th century: They can not only name them, they play them.

Quicksilver brings that combination, plus pieces that call for viola da gamba, harpsichord, organ and lute to Macky Auditorium on Friday, April 20 for the CU Presents Artists Series. Their program, titled “Strange and Wonderful Music of the 17th Century,” includes pieces by composers you have probably never heard of, including Dario Castello, Antonio Bertali, Massimiliano Neri, Johann Schmeltzer, Matthias Weckmann and Johan Rosenmüller.

# # # # #

“Stile Moderno: Strange and Wonderful Music from the 17^thCentury”
Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble

7:30 p.m. Friday, April 20
Macky Auditorium

Tickets

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April 1, 2018

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CU Presents Artists Series 2018–19 features Venice Baroque, Sarah Chang, Tafelmusik

Dates announced for Takács Quartet, Eklund Opera performances, other events

By Peter Alexander April 1 at 11:40 p.m.

CU Presents has announced its 2018–19 season of music, dance and theater, including significant classical music performances by guest artists and CU organizations.

Venice Baroque Orchestra

The return of the Venice Baroque Orchestra to Macky Auditorium will lead off the schedule of classical guest artists Nov. 2. Violinist Sarah Chang will present a solo recital Nov. 16, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, the Toronto-based historical-performance group, will present “The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House” March 4.

Sarah Chang. Photo by Colin Bell for EMI

There is also good news for those interested in world music. The Silkroad Ensemble, founded 20 years ago by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, will perform in Macky Jan. 31, and the remarkable Japanese drumming ensemble Kodo is scheduled for Feb. 16.

Boulder audiences have long relished the world-renowned Takács Quartet. With new second violinist Harumi Rhodes, they will present two performances each of five programs September through April. The Carpe Diem Quartet, featuring CU assistant prof. and Boulder Philharmonic concertmaster Charles Wetherbee as first violinist, will appear on another pair of concerts on the Takács series in November.

Finally, the Eklund opera program will feature two Macky Auditorium productions—a work celebrating the Leonard Bernstein centennial Oct. 26–28, and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin March 15–17—and Benjamin Britten’s setting of Henry James’s creepy ghost story Turn of the Screw in the Imig Music Building Music Theatre April 25–28.

The full listing of classical music events is below. Season ticket sales begin at 10 a.m. Monday, April 2, and single tickets will be available beginning Aug. 20. A listing of all CU Presents events, including theater and dance, popular attractions, and Holiday performances, can be found at the CU Presents Web page.

Tickets are available here, or by phone at 303-942-8008.

# # # # #

CU Presents Classical Guest Artists 2018–19
Performances in Macky Auditorium

Venice Baroque Orchestra
With Anna Fusek, recorder
7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2

Sarah Chang, violin
7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16

Tafelmusik
“The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House”
7:30 p.m. Monday, March 4

Tafelmusik. Photo by Sian Richards.

Takács Quartet
Sundays sold out by subscription; Mondays have limited availability
All performances in Grusin Music Hall

4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23
7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept 24

4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28
7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29

Sunday, Nov. 25, 4 p.m. (featuring the Carpe Diem String Quartet)
7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26 (featuring the Carpe Diem String Quartet)

4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13
7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 14

4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10,
7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11

4 p.m. Sunday, April 28
7:30 p.m. Monday, April 29

Eklund Opera Program

Title TBA*
Music by Leonard Bernstein
7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27
2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28
Macky Auditorium
*Due to contractual obligations, the title of this production will not be announced until May 1, 2018

Eugene Onegin
By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
7:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16
2 p.m. Sunday, March 17
Macky Auditorium

The Turn of the Screw
By Benjamin Britten
7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25; Friday, April 26; and Saturday, April 27
2 p.m. Sunday, April 28
Music Theatre, Imig Music Building

World Music Events

Silkroad Ensemble
7:30 p.m.. Thursday, Jan. 31
Macky Auditorium

Kodo
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m.
Macky Auditorium

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February 4, 2018

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Macky concert by violinist Josh Bell and pianist Sam Haywood is sold out

Program featuring Mozart, Schubert and Richard Strauss provides food for thought

By Peter Alexander Feb. 4, 12:05 a.m.

Superstars—and there are some in the classical music world—sell out concerts on the basis their names alone.

Josh Bell. Photo by Richard Ascroft.

A year ago, it was Yo-Yo Ma, who sold out a recital in 2000-seat-plus Macky Auditorium long before the performance. This year, Josh Bell has done the same for his upcoming performance with pianist Sam Haywood (7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9). Even though you can no longer get tickets, the program and the event itself are still worth thinking about. I recently spoke with Haywood for his perspective on various aspects of the performance.

Although Bell came to fame as a teen prodigy, Haywood didn’t know him then. Of course he’s aware of Bell’s history, and he see vestiges of that experience in Bell’s playing still. “He manages to keep the freshness and the vitality of that early period (of his life),” he says. “The energy is very much there, and it’s certainly a great pleasure to work with him.”

Sam Haywood

Bell and Haywood work together not as star and accompanist but as chamber music collaborators. For example. they often discuss potential concert programs together. “Because he’s so super busy, it has fit in practically, it has to be something that he has time to work on,” Haywood says.

On the other hand, the Strauss Sonata on the Boulder concert was originally something Haywood wanted to play. “We played the Strauss before, and I think the first time was at my suggestion,” he explains. “I always wanted to play the Strauss (because) there’s not a great deal of solo piano music by him.”

Of course Haywood understands that the audience is likely to think of Josh Bell as the star, especially since the concert is billed that way: “Joshua Bell” in large type (no instrument listing necessary), followed by “with Sam Haywood, piano” in small type. But he resists being stereotyped in a subsidiary role.

For the audience “to approach it as if they’re coming to hear a great star with background piano—they will only get 50% of the music,” he says. “I think that’s a shame, because how you prepare yourself to listen is always important. When we play at Carnegie Hall they have us in equal billing. I think when people see that, they think, ‘Aha! We’re going to see a duo performing!’”

It is useful to know that Haywood does far more than tour with Josh Bell and other solo artists. His career includes solo recitals as well as chamber music, he has founded a music festival in England and composed a children’s opera, among other works. He is fascinated with historical keyboard instruments, and has recorded a CD of music by Chopin on the composer’s Pleyel piano (available through Amazon UK).

Sam Haywood playing Chopin’s Pleyel piano.

YouTube videos of Haywood playing historical instruments can be seen here and here.

“I’m very conscious of not wanting to be pigeon-holed,” he says. “I’m just a musician, a music lover, and I love to play all kinds of different repertoire. I was just playing some Wolf lieder with a wonderful soprano, and it’s all just wonderful music to be able to immerse ourselves in.”

One fascinating aspect of the program that Bell and Haywood are playing in Boulder is the way it illustrates the changing character of music for violin and piano over about a century, including a shift in the relationship between the two players.

When Mozart wrote his Sonata in B-flat major in 1784, music for that pairing of instruments was often described as an “accompanied piano sonata,” with the violin in the secondary role. This reflected the fact that Mozart and other composers of the time were first and foremost keyboard players who might perform with students and amateurs who played violin.

Schubert’s Fantasie in C major was written to be performed privately among friends—in a salon, for something like a house concert. Although the piece definitely has some strong, expressive moments, it was largely intended for intimate music-making between friends who would have been on equal footing as players.

The Strauss Sonata, on the other hand, is much more of a concert piece. By the time it was written in 1888, touring virtuosos were common, and Strauss would have expected it to be performed for a public audience, in a concert hall. This music comes closer to being for soloist with accompaniment, although Haywood points out that the sonata is “a lot to get your teeth into” for the pianist. “It’s very orchestral. The textures, the colors, they’re all very vivid. It works very well in a large hall.”

Josh Bell. Photo by Marc Hom.

Which is the final issue we talked about. With the Mozart and the Schubert, music written for small spaces has been taken into a very large hall. That significantly changes the relationship between the performers and the audience.

“It’s very, very difficult,” Haywood says. “ I think you approach the piece in a slightly different way, because you’ve got to think of the poor people right in the back. They’ve got to hear it as well. You’ve got to really be conscious of projecting and painting in quite bright colors.”

He also noted that he has “learned a lot about playing in large halls through playing with Joshua. When we first started to play (together) I hadn’t played in the 2,000-seater (halls) before, and he has this wonderful way of projecting his sound and his personality, with such intensity that he can hold a large number of people.

“That’s something I’ve learned from him.”

# # # # #

Joshua Bell, violin, and Sam Haywood, piano

Mozart: Violin Sonata No. 32 in B-flat Major, K.454
R. Strauss: Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 18
Schubert: Fantasie in C Major, D.934
Additional works to be announced from the stage

7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9
Macky Auditorium
SOLD OUT

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Peter Alexander

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January 18, 2018

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Busy Altius Quartet returns to CU Jan. 21–22

Three concerts by the Takacs Quartet will feature appearances by CU faculty artists

By Peter Alexander

The Altius Quartet is on the move.

altos Quartet. Photo by Courtney Huffmann.

Formerly quartet-in-residence with CU’s esteemed Takacs Quartet, Altius has found themselves very busy, building their already-blossoming career. Since completing the residency, the group—comprising Andrew Giordano and Joshua Ulrich, violin, Andrew Krimm, viola, and Zachary Reaves, cello—has kept Colorado as their home base while recording two CDs, taking a trip to Beijing to collaborate with composer Bright Sheng, completing a tour of California, and giving other performances in Boulder and elsewhere.

Next they will appear on the Takacs concert series, with performances in CU’s Grusin Music Hall Sunday and Monday, Jan. 21 and 22. The series continues through the spring, with performances by the Takacs Quartet Feb. 4-5, March 11-12 and April 29-30.

A major work on the Jan. 21-22 program is taken from Altius’s recent CD of music by Shostakovich, the personal and darkly expressive String Quartet No. 8. Written in a time of despair for the composer, it is dedicated “to the victims of fascism and war,” but it is above all a reflection of Shostakovich’s own bleak thoughts at the time.

Other works on the program are Haydn’s well known “Emperor” String Quartet in C major, which includes a set of variations on “God Save Emperor Francis,” the anthem the composer wrote for Austrian Emperor Francis III; Through Fog, written for the Altius Quartet by JP Merz; and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E minor, op. 44 no. 2.

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Boulder’s holiday musical banquet serves ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful,’ ‘Fire and Ice’

By Peter Alexander

Dianne Reeves will be at Macky Auditorium Dec. 16. Photo courtesy of CU Presents

The musical banquet that is the holiday season this year brings us “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” “Holiday Memories,” “Fire and Ice,” and Diane Reeves.

Read more about Centennial State Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker, and holiday concerts by Ars Nova Singers (“Fire and Ice”), Diane Reeves at Macky Auditorium (“Christmastime is Here”), Boulder Chorale (“All Things Bright and Beautiful”), The Longmont Symphony (Candlelight Concert), and a special performance for dementia patients and caregivers by the Boulder Symphony (“Holiday Memories”) in Boulder Weekly.

montage

Fire and Ice: Christmas with Ars Nova
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Heart of Longmont United Methodist Church, 350 11^th Ave., Longmont
4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10, Sgt. Paul Community of Faith, Denver
7:30 p.m. Thursday & Friday, Dec. 14 & 15, St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1419 Pine St., Boulder
Tickets

Centennial State Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker
Centennial State Ballet
7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15
2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16
1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17
Tickets

Diane Reeves: Christmastime is Here
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16
Macky Auditorium
Tickets, or call 303-492-8008

All Things Bright and Beautiful
Boulder Chorale, Vicki Burrichter, artistic director, with Chamber Singers, Children’s Chorale, and Sheryl Renee, guest artist vocalist
4 p.m. Saturday & Sunday, Dec. 16 & 17, First United Methodist Church, 1421 Spruce St, Boulder.
Tickets

Candlelight Concert
Longmont Symphony Orchestra, Elliot Moore, conductor
4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, Westview Presbyterian Church, 1500 Hoover St, Longmont
Tickets

Holiday Memories
A Dementia-Friendly Concert
Boulder Symphony, Devin Patrick Hughes, artistic director
3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20
First Presbyterian Church, 1820 15^th St., Boulder
Free; reserve tickets

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November 2, 2017

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Cliburn Competition Gold Medalist comes to Boulder Nov. 3

Yekwon Sunwoo has weighty sonatas by Schubert and Rachmaninoff in his luggage

By Peter Alexander

Pianist Yekwon Sunwoo always travels with his music.

Yekown Sonwoo. Photo credit: Jeremy Enlow/Cliburn

“Even if I know the piece well,” he says. While on tour, he adds, “I try to go back to the score and look closely, hoping that I’m not forgetting anything.”

The Gold Medal Winner of the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Sunwoo comes to Boulder on Friday, Nov. 3 for a solo recital in Macky Auditorium. His luggage will include two weighty sonatas — the Sonata in C minor D958 of Schubert, and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor — as well as two pieces that are easier to carry around, if not to play — Percy Grainger’s rare “Ramble on the Last Love-duet” and Ravel’s La Valse.

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Josh Bell, Quicksilver Baroque on the 2017–18 CU Presents Series

By Peter Alexander

Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble

CU Presents, the performing arts series on the University of Colorado, Boulder campus, has announced several noteworthy classical music events as part of the 2017–18 season.

Josh Bell. Photo by Lisa Marie Mazzocco.

Among these are a solo recital by award-winning violinist Joshua Bell Feb. 9, 2018, and a concert by the historically informed Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble April 20, 2018. The yet-to-be-selected winner of the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition will perform a solo recital Nov. 3, 2017. This year’s competition will be held in Ft. Worth, Tex., May 25–June 10.

Other Artist Series events in Macky Auditorium will include the Martha Graham Dance Company, Oct. 5, 2017; jazz and R&B vocalist Dianne Reeves Dec. 16, 2017; and Béla Fleck and Brooklyn Rider Jan. 20, 2018.

This season also features five concert pairs by the Takács Quartet and a performance by CU Boulder’s current graduate quartet-in-residence, the Altius Quartet. The Eklund Opera Program’s season features productions of Franz Lehár’s Merry Widow Oct. 27–29, the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd March 16–18, and Handel’s Ariodante April 26–29.

The full CU Presents season is listed below. More information is available on the CU Presents Web page. Season ticket sales begin Monday, April 3 at 10 a.m., and single tickets will be available beginning Monday, Aug. 14. Tickets will be available here, or over the phone at 303-492-8008.

# # # # #

CU PRESENTS 2017–18 SEASON

Artist Series at Macky Auditorium

Martha Graham Dance Company
Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017

The Triplets of Belleville
Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017

Dianne Reeves

Van Cliburn Gold Medal Winner
Friday, Nov. 3, 2017

Dianne Reeves
Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
Holiday Concert

Béla Fleck and Brooklyn Rider
Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018

Joshua Bell
Friday, Feb. 9, 2018

Ailey II
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018

Lila Downs
Saturday, March 3, 2018

RUBBERBANDance
Saturday, March 24, 2018

Holiday Festival in Macky Auditorium

Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble
Friday, April 20, 2018
Stile Moderno: 17th Century Italy

Holiday Festival
Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, 4 p.m.
Macky Auditorium

Eklund Opera Program

The Merry Widow
By Franz Lehár
(Sung in German with English surtitles)
Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017, 2 p.m.
Macky Auditorium

Sweeney Todd
By Stephen Sondheim
Friday, March 16, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 17, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 18, 2018, 2 p.m.
Macky Auditorium

Ariodante
By George Frideric Handel
Thursday, April 26, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 27, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 28, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 29, 2018, 2 p.m.
Music Theatre, Imig Music Building

Takács Quartet

Takacs Quartet

Chamber Series (sold out by subscription)
Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, 4 p.m. (Altius Quartet)
Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018, 4 p.m.
Sunday, March 11, 2018, 4 p.m.
Sunday, April 29, 2018, 4 p.m.
Grusin Music Hall

Encore Series (limited availability)
Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 30, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, 7:30 p.m. (Altius Quartet)
Sunday, Feb. 5, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 12, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, April 30, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Grusin Music Hal

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February 16, 2017

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A star-studded week at CU

By Peter Alexander

It will be a week of superstars in Boulder.

First will be famed Wagnerian soprano Deborah Voigt, presenting her one-woman show Voigt Lessons at Macky Auditorium on Saturday. Then the University of Colorado Boulder’s own superstars, the Takács String Quartet, begin a spring series of concerts in Grusin Hall with some of the stars from the CU Boulder music faculty Sunday and Monday. And next Wednesday, Feb. 22, Yo-Yo Ma presents a concert in Macky that, alas for latecomers, has been sold out for months.

Deborah Voigt. Photo by Heidi Gutman.

Voigt’s one-woman show was written for her by Terrence McNally, the Tony-, Obie- and Emmy-award winning playwright, screenwriter and librettist for musicals and operas. A brutally honest retelling of her struggles during her career, the show is, Voigt says, “very much a story about a Midwest girl who turns out to be an international opera diva.”

The script includes songs that are especially meaningful to Voigt — most of them not operatic or art songs. “When people come to the theater, they’re not given a list of songs,” she says. “I want them to be surprised.”

She does reveal that she opens with a Carpenters song, “because I was a huge Karen Carpenter fan, and that’s the music I listened to. There is an art song and a definite nod to opera, of course.”

Voigt Lessons is based in part on Voigt’s 2015 book, Call Me Debbie: True Confessions of a Down-To-Earth Diva. Both the book and the show are remarkably frank about Voigt’s problems with weight, with addictions, and with relationships. “I just wanted to be honest about everything that had happened,” she says.

She’s pretty sure everyone will enjoy the show. “It’s going to be an entertaining evening,” she says. “There are some laughs, maybe a couple of funny expletives, there’s some drama. It’s a very intimate show.”

The Takács Quartet opens its spring series of six concerts performing with percussionist Douglas Walter and clarinetist Daniel Silver, both CU faculty members, Sunday and Monday Feb. 19 and 20. The concert will open with Beethoven’s String Quartet in G major, op. 18 no. 2. Walter will play Michael Colgrass’ Variations for Four Drums and Viola with Takács member Geraldine Walther, and Silver will join the full quartet for Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet in B minor, op. 115.

Takacs Quartet. Photo by Keith Saunders.

That pattern of that program — guests from the CU faculty and one Beethoven quartet — will continue in the other concerts this spring. “We are so grateful to have so many talented artists and wonderful people to collaborate with on the music faculty,” Ed Dusinberre, the quartet’s first violinist, says. “This year we decided we would, more than usual, make them a feature of our programming.”

The collaboration with CU faculty is important to the quartet, because it gives them opportunities to perform music that otherwise is difficult for them to put together. “We decided to feature pieces here (in Boulder) that we wouldn’t so easily be able to do on the road,” Dusinberre says.

“When we’re on the road, there’s not a lot of time to rehearse. Those (pieces with CU music faculty) are the sorts of pieces that we wouldn’t typically get together on the road.”

The Beethoven quartets on the concerts form a small sample of the full cycle of the composer’s 16 quartets that the Takacs are playing at Wigmore Hall in London and various places in the U.S. As associate artists of the Wigmore, they were invited to perform the full cycle during the current season.

9780226374369 The Beethoven performances also tie in to Dusinberre’s recently published book, Beethoven for a Later Age: Living with the String Quartets, a highly readable personal recollection of Dusinberre’s experiences with the quartets that also provides remarkable insights into the lives of professional quartet players.

The upcoming concerts March 19 and 20 will feature Beethoven’s final String Quartet in F major, op. 135, and Haydn’s String Quartet in F major, op. 77 no. 2. Walther and guests Abigail Nims, alto, and Margaret McDonald, piano, will perform Two Songs for Alto, Viola and Piano by Brahms.

And on April 30 and May 1 the quartet will play Beethoven’s String Quartet in B-flat major, op. 18 no. 6. Soprano Jennifer Bird will perform Chausson’s Chanson perpétuelle with the full quartet and Alexandra Nguyen will perform Clara Schumann’s Three Romances, op. 21, with Dusinberre. That program and the spring concert series will conclude with Schubert’s much-loved “Trout” Quintet, with David Korevaar, piano, and Paul Erhard, double bass.

It will be ukuleles and a witch for the holidays

By Peter Alexander

Ah, the holiday season. That wonderful time for your favorite carols, colored lights, egg nog and — ukuleles?

Sure enough, it’s all part of the eclectic mix of holiday music on the Boulder classical scene, featuring not only the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, but also Elphaba from the Broadway hit Wicked, alongside other events that have become part of the annual December concert schedule. The perennial best-sellers — the Nutcrackers and the CU Holiday Festival — are already behind us, but there is still plenty of music to look forward to.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will be at Macky Auditorium Thursday (7:30 p.m. Dec. 8) as part of the CU Presents series. Known for their iconoclastic, not to say wacky, programming, the group promises to perform their usual combination of rock and pop covers, including music from Joni Mitchell and Pharrell Williams, some jazz and country songs, and classic Christmas carols.

Dee Roscioli

The Wicked Witch of the West sneaks into the Christmas schedule with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, who are presenting A Wicked Good Christmas Saturday in Macky (7:30 p.m. Dec. 10). Scott O’Neil will conduct the performance, which will feature vocalist Dee Roscioli, who played the role of Elphaba in the Broadway and national touring productions of Wicked, and the Fairview High School Festival Choir.

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Sharps & Flatirons

Classical Music in Boulder & Environs—A blog by Peter Alexander

Tag Archives: CU Presents

CU Presents Update: Eklund Opera will present ‘West Side Story’ Oct. 26–28

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Quicksilver Baroque brings ‘Strange and Wonderful Music’ to Macky

# # # # #

CU Presents Artists Series 2018–19 features Venice Baroque, Sarah Chang, Tafelmusik

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Macky concert by violinist Josh Bell and pianist Sam Haywood is sold out

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Busy Altius Quartet returns to CU Jan. 21–22

Boulder’s holiday musical banquet serves ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful,’ ‘Fire and Ice’

Cliburn Competition Gold Medalist comes to Boulder Nov. 3

Josh Bell, Quicksilver Baroque on the 2017–18 CU Presents Series

A star-studded week at CU

It will be ukuleles and a witch for the holidays

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