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May 28, 2015

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Boulder Philharmonic selected for a brand new festival at the Kennedy Center

One of only four orchestras nationwide chosen for the inaugural event

By Peter Alexander

The Boulder Philharmonic is one of only four orchestras from across North America chosen to participate in a new festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The new weeklong SHIFT Festival will take place at the Kennedy Center March 27–April 2, 2017. The other groups participating will be the Atlanta Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, and the Brooklyn-based ensemble The Knights.

The selection was announced today (May 28) by the Kennedy Center and Washington Performing Arts. Michael Butterman, music director of the Boulder Phil, commented: “I am thrilled and honored that we’ve been selected to perform in our nation’s capital alongside some of the finest orchestras in the country.

Michael Butterman

“For several seasons, we’ve been fine-tuning our new mode for programming, called ‘The Spirit of Boulder,’ which reflects our community’s own values, creativity, and sense of place. By connecting people to orchestral music, the Boulder Phil strives to be an essential part of our community’s cultural fabric. We couldn’t be more delighted to share what’s working so well in Boulder with those involved in the first SHIFT Festival.”

The Boulder Phil’s performance at the Kennedy Center will be at 8 p.m. March 28, 2017. Butterman will conduct the program, “Nature and Music,” which was also the theme of the orchestra’s 2013–14 season. The concert will feature one world premiere and three pieces from the 2013–14 season:

Composer Stephen Lias

• A new work by Stephen Lias, commissioned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, performed with photography by Colorado photographer John Fielder. Lias has won several National Park artist-in-residence grants, and the Boulder Phil presented the world premiere of his orchestral work Gates of the Arctic at the opening concert of the 2014–15 season. Other works by Lias celebrating national parks include Denali for string orchestra; Glacier Bay for orchestra; Ghosts of Mesa Verde for two flutes; Kings Canyon for trumpet ensemble; Sequoia for trombone choir; and The Timberline Sonata for trumpet and piano, written following Lias’ 2010 residency in Rocky Mountain National Park.
• Jeff Midkiff’s Mandolin Concerto: From the Blue Ridge, performed by the Boulder Phil in April, 2014. Midkiff will be the soloist for the Kennedy Center performance, as he was in 2014.
• Ghosts of the Grasslands by Steve Heitzeg, performed in Boulder in March, 2014.
• Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, performed with Boulder’s aerial dance troupe Frequent Flyers. Boulder Phil and Frequent Flyers presented Appalachian Spring in Macky Auditorium in November, 2013.

Boulder Phil with Frequent Flyers. Photo by Glenn Ross.

As part of their involvement in the SHIFT Festival, each participating orchestra will engage in a mini-residency, interacting with the surrounding community through educational and outreach activities, symposia, and community events in venues throughout Washington, D.C. Proposed festival activities for the Boulder Phil include nature hikes in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek, led by naturalist Dave Sutherland from Boulder’s Open Space & Mountain Parks, and outdoor performances by Boulder Phil ensembles.

These events draw on the activities of the 2013–14 season, which capitalized on local residents’ love of the outdoors by exploring the many ways that composers have been inspired by nature. Among other activities, the orchestra offered guided musical hikes, with the aim of bringing concert audiences outside, and enticing nature lovers into the concert hall.

“The SHIFT Festival showcases how America’s orchestras have shifted their visions to reflect the music and programming that’s unique to their own communities,” Butterman said. “We couldn’t be more honored to share our vision of the Boulder Phil, The Spirit of Boulder, with other orchestras across the country, doing the same thing.”

SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras is the first significant collaboration between the Kennedy Center and Washington Performing Arts in their shared history. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a $900,000 grant for the collaboration, of which $700,000 will be leveraged as matching funds for new gifts to support the program. Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter and Washington Performing Arts President & CEO Jenny Bilfield made the announcement May 28 in Cleveland at the League of American Orchestras’ annual conference before an audience of nearly 1,000 orchestra administrators, musicians, trustees, and volunteers.

Collectively, the participating orchestras will offer repertoire by nine living composers, two world premieres, and numerous D.C.-area premieres during the festival, inspired by themes of nature, Americana, creation and creativity, and choral influences.

# # # # #

You may read the Boulder Philharmonic’s press release here.

Information on the SHIFT Festival from the Kennedy Center can be seen here.

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April 20, 2015

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Legendary Concertos Wrap Up Boulder Phil Season

Orchestra presents popular works by Dvořák and Bartók

The entire orchestra will be in the solo spotlight when the Boulder Phil performs Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra

By Peter Alexander

The Boulder Philharmonic will conclude its season Saturday (April 24) with “Legendary Virtuosity,” a concert featuring two of the most popular pieces in the orchestra repertoire—coincidentally, both written in the United States.

Both are concertos that call on the virtuosity of the performers, although only one is written for a soloist with orchestra. Dvořák wrote his Cello Concerto in New York in 1894, near the end of his tenure at the National Conservatory of Music. And almost 50 years later, Bartók, a refugee from a European war and working at a retreat in upstate New York, had the idea of featuring the entire orchestra in his Concerto for Orchestra, completed in 1943.

The concert, at 7:30 p.m. in Macky Auditorium, will open with the atmospheric Enchanted Lake of Russian composer Anatoly Liadov. The Boulder Phil’s music director Michael Butterman will conduct, and cellist Zuill Bailey will be the soloist for Dvořák. Tickets are available from the Boulder Phil.

Zuill Bailey

Dvořák taught at the National Conservatory during parts of three years, 1892–94. In the spring of 1894 he heard a new cello concerto by one of his colleagues at the conservatory, the Irish-American cellist and composer, Victor Herbert. Best known for his operettas, including Naughty Marietta and Babes in Toyland, Herbert was an accomplished cellist who had led the cello section at the premiere of Dvořák’s New World Symphony at Carnegie Hall the year before.

Inspired by Herbert’s concerto, and later touched by the death of his sister-in-law—by legend the one true love of his life—Dvořák wrote a work of broad and deep emotional reach. It has remained one of the most beloved works in the repertoire.

“This is a piece that gets deeper as one gets older,” Bailey says. “It is never a piece that I tire of. In fact, I’m always amazed at the goosebumps that happen before my entrance. This has never failed me.

“This is why the orchestras, and audiences, so adore this concerto. Every single time it’s another journey.”

Butterman speaks of the score’s melodic richness as part of its appeal. “Like much of Dvorak’s music it has an abundance of melodic elements that just keep coming at you, one after another,” he says. “He never seemed to run dry.”

Michael Butterman

Bailey believes Dvořák not only wrote a great concerto for the cello, he changed the very nature of the concerto. “He changed the landscape of how things were done,” he says. “This is a symphony with a cello part—a very heroic cello part.”

Bailey is pleased to be making his first Boulder concerto appearance with Butterman and the Phil. “I am thrilled to be working with maestro Butterman,” he says. “I think he is one of the great collaborators out there. Every time I’ve worked with him it’s been an absolute pleasure, and it’s really terrific that we get to share the Dvořák (Concerto).”

Butterman reciprocates the compliment. “I’m delighted to have Bailey come into Boulder,” he says. “He’s a wonderful artist, a very intense and charismatic performer.”

Composer Béla Bartók

If the name Bartók suggests difficult modern music, you may not know The Concerto for Orchestra. Written in the last years of Bartók’s life, it is a deliberately accessible piece that at times is downright comical. At one point the orchestra breaks into musical laughter at an interruption by a borrowed melody, and the second movement makes great fun of presenting each of the woodwind instrument pairs matched at different intervals.

“A lot of people may see the name Bartók and think about music that is written in some language that they find foreign sounding,” Butterman says. “But this is a piece that continues to be one of the most popular 20th-century works in the orchestral canon—for good reason.

“It was chosen as kind of bookend to our season opener, Scheherazade, a piece that featured our new concertmaster. (The Concerto for Orchestra) doesn’t put the spotlight on any one person, but on the orchestra as a whole, and particularly the wind section. The solo passages allow you to hear the virtuosity of the orchestra, and the different timbres that make up its character. This is a piece that is incredibly engaging rhythmically and melodically.”

Orchestra players typically relish the chance to play The Concerto for Orchestra. “It’s fun to play, but you’ve got to concentrate like mad,” Butterman says. “There’s a lot of little things that can trip you up, rhythmically in particular, but it works out so well.”

Anatoly Liadov

The Enchanted Lake is one of the few works left by a very talented composer who was, Butterman says, “an underperforming worker. This is a composer who famously said, ‘Naw, I don’t think I want to do that Firebird piece—there’s this kid Stravinsky, I’m sure he’ll do it for you.’”

Whether or not he really passed on composing The Firebird, Liadov created a quiet masterpiece in The Enchanted Lake, which remains one of the most performed short orchestral tone poems in the repertoire. “It’s a piece that sets a mood and does it very effectively and very beautifully,” Butterman says. “It’s gorgeous.

“The story was that he went down to this lake and just stood there for half an hour or so, watching the whole expanse of things. Essentially nothing happened, so he went home and wrote a piece about it (where) he’s trying to create an atmosphere of absolute placidity and calm and stillness. I think that is its own profundity and depth, if you’re able to capture that sense of stasis and calm.

“This is a beautiful way to begin a concert, because you’ve just come in from parking and hoofing it up the hill, and maybe you just need a moment to settle in. I think this piece allows you to get those beta brain waves flowing.”

# # # # #

Legendary Virtuosity: Season Finale
Boulder Philharmonic, Michael Butterman, music director
With Zuill Bailey, cello

The Enchanted Lake by Anatoly Liadov
Cello Concerto in B minor by Antonín Dvořák
Concerto for Orchestra by Béla Bartók

7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25
Macky Auditorium

Related events:

Musical Hike. Enchanted Lakes: Music and Pond Ecology
With naturalist Dave Sutherland
5:30–8 p.m., Tuesday, April 21, Sawhill Ponds

Café Phil open rehearsal
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, The Diary Center

Michael Butterman presents 2015-2016 season.
6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25, Macky Auditorium (free to concert ticket holders)

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March 26, 2015

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Boulder Philharmonic Announces season of collaborations for 2015–16

“Reflections: The Spirit of Boulder” will offer soloists, dance, visiting composers, photography, and a great choral work

Michael Butterman. Photo by Glenn Ross

By Peter Alexander

Next year will be a season of collaborations for the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and music director Michael Butterman.

The 2015–16 season, which has just been announced, will include a broad array of collaborative work, from the usual appearances of renowned visiting soloists to the season finale, a semi-staged performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion presented in conjunction with Central City Opera, the Boulder Bach Festival, and choruses from the CU College of Music.

In between, there will be two visiting composers, a performance enhanced by the photography of John Fielder, two joint performances with Boulder Ballet, and a return of the aerial and stage performers of Cirque de la Symphonie. (Unless otherwise noted, performances mentioned below are at 7:30 p.m. in Macky Auditorium.)

Charles Wetherbee

Billed as “Reflections: The Spirit of Boulder” (see full schedule below), the season gets underway at 7 p.m. Sept. 13—a Sunday evening performance—with a program featuring two soloists. Charles Wetherbee, the orchestra’s concertmaster will perform The Storyteller, a piece based on Japanese folk tales that was written for him by Korine Fujiwara; and Gabriela Montero will perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Gabriela Montero. Photo by Uli Weber.

Montero is sometimes remembered for her participation in President Obama’s first inaugural, when it was notoriously too cold to play live outside and a recorded performance was substituted, but she is also renowned as a virtuoso pianist who performs to acclaim around the globe. But Butterman is looking forward to her visit for another reason.

“The thing that’s so amazing about her, and quite unique, is her ability to improvise—it’s straight out of another era,” he says. “I‘ve heard her do this a number times and it’s just remarkable— everything from what seems like perfectly worked out Bachian counterpoint to ragtime, to impressionistic, Debussy-esque sort of things.

“What’s so amazing about it is that it seems so beautifully worked out, through all these different styles.”

Charles Den;er/ Photo courtesy of Grumpy Monkey Music.

Charles Denler. Photo courtesy of Grumpy Monkey Music.

The November subscription concert (Nov. 14) will offer the world premier of a new work for piano and orchestra by Denver composer/pianist Charles David Denler, who will also play the solo part. Inspired by the nature writing of American author Henry David Thoreau, Denler’s Portraits in Seasons will be presented with projections of images selected by Colorado photographer John Fielder.

“I would describe the music as certainly tuneful, pictorial, a little bit atmospheric,” Butterman says. “I thought this would be really nice with something to look at and to read. It occurred to everybody that Fielder is so well known and is such a fine artist that we approached him with this particular proposition.”

Fielder has said that to illustrate the seasons, he will choose photographs that are more intimate in scale than many of the large-scale mountain landscapes that he is well known for.

Following the traditional Nutcracker performances over Thanksgiving weekend—this year with new scenery—and the return of the popular “Christmas with the Phil” concerts in December, January will see the orchestra sharing the stage with the Boulder Ballet for a subscription concert. Titled “Dance, American Style,” the Jan. 16 performance will feature the full ballet of Rodeo by Aaron Copland.

Filling out the program will be orchestral performances of the New England Triptych by William Schuman, Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and three excerpts from Copland’s Billy the Kid.

Anne Akiko Meyers. Photo by Molina Visuals.

February brings a Friday concert (Feb. 12), with another acclaimed guest soloist, Anne Akiko Meyers playing Mendelssohn’s much loved Violin Concerto in E minor, and the season’s second visiting composer, in the form of an artistic residence by Missy Mazzoli.

Dubbed “the coolest thing to happen to the violin since Stradivari” by the Denver Post, Meyers is one of the leading violin soloists of her generation. Her playing has been featured on practically everything from CBS “Sunday Morning” to “The Good Wife” on television, many CDs, and countless radio broadcasts.

Missy Mazzoli. Photo by Stephen S. Taylor.

Missy Mazzoli may not be well known in Colorado, but she is, Butterman says, “a pretty hot composer in the New York scene in particular.” Her week-long residency will include educational activities and chamber performances, as well as the Boulder Phil’s premiere of a new version of her Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres).

The title refers, Butterman explains, not to planets but “the idea of circularity and cycles.” The title takes the 18th-century term “Sinfonia,” in reference to ideas from Baroque music and ornamentation that the composer used.

“It’s not exactly a neo-Baroque piece, but it certainly has some connections to earlier periods,” Butterman says—which led him to the other pieces on the concert program: Shostakovich’s Haydn-esque Symphony No. 9, Tchaikovsky’s Mozartiana and the classically inspired Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

Boulder Philharmonic with Cirque de la Symphonie. Photo by Glenn Ross.

Cirque de la Symphonie will make its third appearance with the Boulder Philharmonic with two performances, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 2. Building off the famed Cirque du Soleil and other cirque programs, the troop presents aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers and strongmen choreographed to classical music.

“What I like about them is their ability to appeal very, very broadly to an audience, but to do so while allowing us to present just great classical music,” Butterman says. Based on their previous appearances in Boulder, he says that the audience will “know the basic concept of what they’re going to see, but their repertoire will be different enough that it will be fresh and people will enjoy it.”

The success of the previous sold-out performances led the Boulder Phil to expand to two performances in 2016, adding the 2 p.m. matinee the same day as the evening concert.

Macky Auditorium

The season-ending semi-staged performance of the St. Matthew Passion will also have two performances, 7 p.m. Saturday, April 23, in Macky Auditorium, and at a time and place to be determined on Sunday, April 24. Although it was written as a sacred oratorio, in modern times the St. Matthew Passion has sometimes been staged. One recent notable production, directed by Peter Sellars with conductor Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, was imported into the U.S. for performances in New York City last year.

“This piece is positively operatic in its sweep and pacing,” Butterman says. “However, I don’t think its been done (in a staged performance) in Colorado.”

The idea originated with a proposal from Central City Opera for some kind of collaboration with Boulder Phil. After various ideas were discussed, the two groups, along with the Boulder Bach Festival and the CU College of Music, settled on the St. Matthew Passion.

“We’re going to do it at Macky, but we’re going to be able to use the space creatively,” Butterman says. “(Central City Opera General/Artistic Director) Pat Pearce said Central City was looking for was some kind of immersive experience, where the audience feels enveloped in the drama.

“The Bach repertoire is delicate for us, because we are not a chamber orchestra, and there is already an entity in town that has laid claim to that. So if we were ever going to tackle something like this, we had to have a reason that was unique enough and compelling enough, and this potential four-way collaboration would be just that.”

In addition to Butterman and players from the Boulder Philharmonic, the performance will feature choruses from the CU College of Music and the Bach Festival Chorus, specialized instrumentalists from the Bach Festival, and stage direction by Central City Opera. The Macky stage will be modified, similar to what the CU does every year for their Holiday Festival.

In addition to the subscription concerts, the Boulder Philharmonic will offer Discovery Concerts for local elementary students, free “Cafe Phil” open rehearsals at the Dairy Center, and “Nature & Music” guided hikes with the cooperation of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks.

Season subscriptions packages are available here. Check the Boulder Philharmonic Web page for more information.

# # # # #

Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra
2015-2016 Season—Reflections: The Spirit of Boulder

September 13, 2015 (Sunday): Opening Night
Maurice Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
Korine Fujiwara: The Storyteller, with Charles Wetherbee, violin
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2, with Gabriela Montero, piano

CANCELED: October 10, 2015: Gregory Alan Isakov with the Boulder Phil
Gregory Alan Isakov, singer-songwriter, guitar

November 14, 2015: Portraits in Season
Johannes Brahms: Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny), with Boulder Chorale
Charles Denler: Portraits in Season, with Charles Denler, piano; photography by John Fielder
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2

November 27 through November 29, 2015: The Nutcracker with Boulder Ballet

December 20, 2015: Christmas with the Phil, Venue TBD, Boulder
December 21, 2015: Christmas with the Phil, Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek
December 22, 2015: Christmas with the Phil, Lone Tree Arts Center, Lone Tree, with Boulder Bach Festival Chorus

January 16, 2016: Dance, American Style (with Boulder Ballet)
January 17, 2016: Dance, American Style, St. Luke’s, Highlands Ranch (without dancers)
William Schuman: New England Triptych
Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Aaron Copland: “Prairie Night,” “Waltz” and “Celebration Dance” from Billy the Kid
Aaron Copland: Rodeo (complete ballet), with Boulder Ballet

February 12, 2016 (Friday): Spheres of Influence
Missy Mazzoli: Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres), a Music Alive Composer Residency
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9
Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Mozartiana
Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, with Anne Akiko Meyers, violin

April 2, 2016: Cirque de la Symphonie (2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.)

April 23 & 24, 2016: Season Finale
Bach: St. Matthew Passion
Semi-staged production with Central City Opera, Boulder Bach Festival & CU Choruses

NOTE: Edited 22 April to reflect an unexpected change in the season schedule.

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February 10, 2015

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Boulder Phil marks Valentine’s with Legendary Lovers and Red Violin

By Peter Alexander

Valentine’s will be a day for heart-shaped candies; lacy greeting cards; special dinners with your sweetheart; and—thanks to the Boulder Philharmonic—music about a red violin.

Violinist Philippe Quint will join conductor Michael Butterman and the orchestra Saturday evening (7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 in Macky Auditorium) to perform John Corigliano’s Red Violin Concerto. The concert, titled “Legendary Love,” will also feature the Prelude and Liebestod (Love Death) from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy-Overture Romeo and Juliet.

Michael Butterman. Photo by Glenn Ross.

As part of a season of musical “Legends,” a concert on Valentine’s Day suggests obvious possibilities. “Fortunately for us, there is no shortage of good pieces that have dealt with this particular topic—literary couples and so on,” Butterman says. “We thought the date was a mixed blessing (but) we hope that people will choose to make it an evening out and make it part of their Valentine’s plans.”

Philippe Quint. Photo by Lisa Marie Mazzucco.

If you don’t know Corigliano’s Red Violin Concerto, Quint thinks you are in for a treat. “Expect the unexpected,” he says.

“Prepare for an emotional roller coaster. It will really take you from a space of meditation into an absolute emotional frenzy and back, and back again.”

The concerto had its origin in the Academy Award-winning score that Corigliano wrote for the 1998 film The Red Violin. The story of tumultuous and passionate events in the 300-year history of a violin that has literally been varnished with blood, the film featured music played by virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell.

While using music from the film score, the concerto is at least one step removed, since ideas from the film are reworked for a completely different genre. After finishing the film score, Corigliano, whose father was the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, created several concert pieces for violin from the film music. When he pulled the Red Violin music into the concerto, he was thinking of the performances he had heard his father give in Carnegie Hall.

“This is my first (concerto) for my first love, the violin,” he has written. “It is an ‘in the great tradition’ kind of concerto, because I wrote it in an attempt to write the piece my father would love to play.”

Quint concurs. “This work is mostly a throwback into the Romantic period of great violin writing,” he says. “It’s a very substantial work, where Corigliano takes it to the next level by adding these really unbelievable effects. There are going to be some sounds that you never heard.”

Philippe Quint. Photo by Philipp Jekker

He particularly points to the concerto’s final movement, which the composer describes as “a rollicking race” between soloist and orchestra. Quint compares that movement to a famous scene from another film: “You remember those Indiana Jones movies, with the huge rock that’s running, and you’re running away. The last movement is really like that rock, it’s coming at you at this crazy speed and you’re trying to get away from it.”

By coincidence, Quint himself plays a violin that is known for the reddish tint of its varnish—although there is no blood involved. It is a Stradivarius violin from 1708—near the age of the red violin of the film—that is known as “The Ruby Strad.”

“I love to speculate that this is the violin that inspired the film,” Quint says. “But it’s a fictional story, so any such claim is false.” Noting that the violin belongs to the Stradivari Society of Chicago, Quint adds, “I feel very, very fortunate to have an opportunity to play on this violin.”

The two pieces that comprise the second half of the concert program are about legendary lovers—Tristan and Isolde, and Romeo and Juliet. Both works date from the second half of the 19th century, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde from 1859, and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet from 1870 (revised in 1880). But though they both celebrate famous love stories, they are in many ways very different.

Tristan and Isolde. Painting by John William Waterhouse, 1911.

Often described as the beginning of modernism in music, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde is famous for the use of chromatic harmonies to extend a feeling of musical tension across an entire 5-hour opera. Even before it had been premiered, Wagner himself made an arrangement pairing the Prelude—the opera’s opening section, today studied in detail by all music students—and the closing passage, Isolde’s Liebestod (Love death).

“What we have in this piece in particular is, not so much the soaring high moments that one feels in romance, but the longing, the anticipation, the tension, the bittersweet aspects,” Butterman says. “That is wholly the function of Wagner’s ability to create tension and almost never quite give it resolution.”

Romeo and Juliet. Painting by Francesco-Paolo-Hayez.

If Wagner’s score lacks the “soaring high moments that one feels in romance,” as Butterman says, that’s just what Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet offers in its “rhapsodic, passionate melody” representing the lovers.

“The tension that Tchaikovsky creates is not so much with this use of chromatic harmony,” Butterman says, “but with his ability to bring in elements of the conflict between the families with the introduction of brass and percussion.

“You have this soaring theme and all of a sudden (brass and percussion interruptions) and then it goes back to the soaring theme. It’s not a piece where you can follow the story in a linear fashion from beginning to end. I think it is more just ideas from the drama that have gotten mixed together in a 20-minute piece.”

In addition to the Valentine’s Day performance, there will be other events leading up to the concert. From 7:30 to 10 p.m. Wednesday evening (Feb. 11), the Dairy Center in Boulder will present Café Phil—a free open rehearsal of the orchestra with Butterman. This is very much a working rehearsal, and will be without the soloist, but will be a revealing glimpse into the inner workings of the orchestra. Wine, beer, coffee, juice, snacks and pastries are available for purchase until 9:30 p.m.

There is also the opportunity to see the film of The Red Violin, which will be screened at the Dairy Center’s Boedecker Theater. Showings will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, Feb. 11 and 13, and at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12.

# # # # #

Michael Butterman and the Boulder Philharmonic in Macky Auditorium

“Legendary Love”
Boulder Philharmonic, Michael Butterman, conductor Philippe Quint, violin
John Corigliano: Red Violin Concerto
Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14
Macky Auditorium
Information and tickets

Café Phil open rehearsal
Boulder Philharmonic and Michael Butterman, conductor
7:30–10 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11
Dairy Center for the Arts Free

Screenings of The Red Violin
4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11
7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12
4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13
The Dairy Center for the Arts
Information and tickets

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Peter Alexander

Posted on

January 18, 2015

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With the Boulder Phil, Conrad Tao conquers audience, Beethoven, and Elliott Carter

By Peter Alexander

Conrad Tao. Photo: Ruimin Wang

Conrad Tao conquered the audience last night, playing with the Boulder Philharmonic in Macky Auditorium.

The concert under music director Michael Butterman featured the highly talented young pianist as the soloist in Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, which he seemed to navigate in comfort. Impressively, the multi-talented Tao also played piano in the orchestra for Darius Milhaud’s La création du monde and composed one of the pieces on the program.

The concert took its theme, “Creative Legends,” from Tao’s composition. Titled Pángu, it was inspired by a Chinese legend of creation, in which the god Pángu wakes up in an egg and creates the world we live in out of his own body.

Speaking before the performance, Tao said that he used a “cinematic palette” in composing the score. If so, it is cinematic in the best sense, using the orchestra to create a sense of color and motion. While not literally pictorial, the score suggests that something is happening throughout: the music is highly directive and leads to a powerful conclusion.

Tao also commented that when he finished, he realized that the style was “Bernstein adjacent.” This seems to imply an idiom that is symphonic yet inflected, as Bernstein’s music so often was, by American pop and jazz styles. It is a highly effective score that was realized with great energy by Butterman and the Boulder Phil.

Taking a cue from the subject of Pángu, Butterman filled out the first half of the concert with other works derived from stories about creation. Beethoven’s Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus was given an energetic, clean and transparent reading. It was followed by the music depicting “Chaos,” the very opening movement of Haydn’s oratorio The Creation. A rare visitor to the concert hall, this was a pleasure for any Haydn fans—such as myself— in the audience.

The least effective part of the program was Milhaud’s Création du monde. The performance was delicately balanced and carefully played, but lacked the raw energy that would better reveal the score’s origin in Milhaud’s visits to Harlem jazz clubs in the 1920s. It was nonetheless a welcome addition to the program, giving a glimpse into the impact of African-American music on France and French musicians in the early years of the 20th century. It is a colorful, original, and fun piece.

Michael Butterman

The real meat of the program came after intermission, with the Beethoven Concerto. Here the Philharmonic proved to be a good Beethoven orchestra, with a smooth, homogenous string sound and effective punch in the winds and the timpani. Butterman provided an attentive and supportive accompaniment to the solo part.

Tao played with a rambunctious energy appropriate to his 20 years, most notably in the spirited finale, but his interpretation was not without more modulated moments. He made good use of the modern piano’s wide range of dynamics, from the majestic chords and flourishes of the opening movement, to the delicate passages of the slow movement. His ability to project even the softest sounds into Macky’s large space was a valuable interpretive tool.

Conrad Tao. Photo: Vanessa Briceno.

For an encore, Tao leaped centuries, styles, and all over the keyboard to play Elliott Carter’s Caténaires, a stunning and frenetic tour de force that ought to be impossible to memorize—and is nearly impossible to play. Once again Tao seemed to toss it off without breaking a sweat. I’m not sure everyone appreciated a non-tonal encore that was written in 2006, but I thought it was the perfect closer—a virtuosic “palette cleanser,” as Tao said, and also something completely unexpected. What more could you want from an encore?

Having conquered Beethoven, Elliott Carter, and the audience, Tao seemed completely unruffled as he stepped into the lobby to sign CDs and chat with his fans. Whether you were in Macky last night, heard the concert through Colorado Public Radio’s live broadcast, or are just reading this review, remember the name Conrad Tao: his impressive talent will take him far.

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Peter Alexander

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October 29, 2014

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Boulder Phil extends Butterman’s contract

Five years added to music director’s contract with the orchestra

By Peter Alexander

Michael Butterman. Photo by Glenn Ross.

The Boulder Philharmonic Board of Directors has announced that Michael Butterman, who began his tenure as music director with the orchestra in the 2006-07 season, has agreed to extend his contract for another five years, taking him through the 2018-19 season.

This is good news for Boulder music audiences, in part because stability is a good for an orchestra, and maestro tenure is a sure sign of stability within the organization. It is also good because Butterman has been a solid leader of the Philharmonic. Attendance has risen steadily during his tenure with the orchestra, making it one of Boulder’s most successful musical organizations. His programming has been adventurous, with intriguing new works offered every year, and the combination of new and old has been an ideal fit for Boulder’s eclectic audiences.

“I’ve so enjoyed getting to know the wonderful people in the Boulder community and working with the many talented musicians, artists and composers who make Boulder their home,” Butterman said. “Thanks to the community’s support and engagement, our programming reflects Boulder’s creative and entrepreneurial spirit. I look forward to the future, as the Phil builds on this foundation and continues to embrace the ‘spirit of Boulder.'”

Kyle Heckman, chair of the Boulder Phil Board of Directors, said “We are thrilled that (Butterman) has extended his contract with us. He has done an amazing job in raising the bar for musical excellence, and he has engaged in our community, while also developing a terrific educational program with the Boulder Valley School District.”

You may read the Boulder Philharmonic’s full news release announcing the contract extension here.

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Peter Alexander

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October 24, 2014

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Grant Awarded to Boulder Philharmonic, and other news of interest in Boulder

Both Boulder Phil and conductor Michael Butterman are making news

By Peter Alexander

It’s kind of like a dating site, but with much better music.

Missy Mazzoli. Photo by Stephen S. Taylor

The Boulder Philharmonic announced this week that they have been paired with composer Missy Mazzoli for a “Music Alive: New Partnerships” grant from the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA.

In a news release dated Oct. 22, the orchestra explained that the grant of $7,500 is for a one-week residency sometime during 2014 to 2016. The Boulder Philharmonic was one of 12 organizations in their category—orchestras with operating budgets of $7 million or less—to receive a grant and be paired with a composer through this program.

“Music Alive: New Partnerships” matches composers and orchestras who have not previously worked together. Each residency will take place some time during 2014 to 2016, and will culminate in the performance of an orchestral work from the composer’s catalog.

“We are thrilled to be able to welcome a composer of Missy’s caliber and creativity for a residency in our city,” Kevin Shuck, executive director of the Boulder Philharmonic, said.

Mazzoli commented, “I am so thrilled to be working with the Boulder Phil. There are so many possibilities and I have already enjoyed our conversations and sharing of ideas. This will be my first time in Colorado and I’m very happy that it’s under these circumstances.”

You may read the entire news release here.

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Michael Butterman

In the meantime, Boulder Phil Music Director Michael Butterman has gotten attention in Pennsylvania for his role in getting the newly founded Pennsylvania Philharmonic off the ground.

Operating with an educational mandate, the new orchestra will perform in schools and communities that can‘t support their own professional orchestra. Hired as the music director, Butterman noted how quickly the orchestra got from the planning stage, about 10 months ago, to its first performance, which is taking place Saturday (Oct. 25) in Pottstown, Penn.

In an article by Philadelphia Inquirer classical music critic David Patrick Stearns, Butterman was further quoted as saying “Building an orchestra from the ground up with community engagement being the driving force . . . is very appealing, but also a bit of a blank slate. We have to experiment and try things out.”

Simone Dinnerstein. Photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco.

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, who has appeared with Butterman and the Boulder Phil, will be the soloist for the first concert, playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. “I have such admiration for someone with the chutzpah to start an orchestra,” she said.

The rest of the program will include Dinnerstein playing Ravel’s Concerto in G, the Four Dances from Rodeo by Aaron Copland and the Fanfare Ritmico by Jennifer Higdon. That program, titled “Fascinatin’ Rhythms,” will be performed a total of four times over the next two weeks.

You may read Stearns’ article here.

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Peter Alexander

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September 14, 2014

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Performance Reviews

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Boulder Phil’s Season of ‘Legends’ Opens Strongly

By Peter Alexander

From the Arctic tundra to the Arabian sea, the Boulder Philharmonic opened their 2014-15 season in Macky Auditorium with a strong performance of a strong program.

Michael Butterman, Music Director of the Boulder Philharmonic

Music Director Michael Butterman led the orchestra in the world premiere of Gates of the Arctic by Stephen Lias; the Second Piano Concerto of Camille Saint-Saëns with soloist Gabriela Martinez; and Scheherazade by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which gave the orchestra the opportunity to introduce new concertmaster Charles Wetherbee.

Speaking before the performance, Butterman explained that this is the orchestra’s season of “Legends,” featuring pieces that tell stories drawn from a variety of myths and legends. I have frequently enjoyed Butterman’s programming, and this concert, combining a provocative and intriguing new piece, a highly interesting soloist playing repertoire beyond the usual warhorses, and a virtuoso orchestra showpiece, hit all the right notes for a season opener.

Gates of the Arctic is an unabashedly programmatic piece that describes Lias’ 2012 residency in Gates of the Arctic National Park. He backpacked with a ranger within the park—which is entirely wilderness, without a visitor’s center or even a single road within its boundaries—for 10 days, following a caribou migration. In performance, the music was closely coordinated with photos of the park, some taken by Lias.

Stephen Lias in Gates of the Arctic National Park

Stephen Lias backpacking in Gates of the Arctic National Park

In addition to being visually spectacular, the photos left no doubt what was being portrayed in the music, from the long hours of trekking with a heavy backpack, to sightings of caribou, bears and wolves, and finally a placid lake that mirrored the spectacular mountains in the park. Gates of the Arctic is thoroughly entertaining, especially with the photographic accompaniment. But it is also a well crafted and skillfully designed piece that features strong contrasts and great musical drama, woven into an effective orchestral score.

Some of my more curmudgeonly composer friends might ask, “but is it great music?” In answer I would say, Bach, Mozart and Verdi didn’t sit down to write “great music.” They sat down to write music for their audiences, much of it purely for entertainment. Time will tell us if Lias’ music survives our generation, but it is music that clearly reached the Boulder audience, who gave it a standing ovation.

Gabriela Martinez

The Saint-Saëns concerto is a piece that comes much more alive in performance than in any recording. Martinez, a Venezuelan who has performed with the famed Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra and is now being championed by superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel, was especially convincing in the free, fantasy-like opening movement. I especially liked her dynamic control, and the sense of spontaneity and freedom that she conveyed. Her sparkling runs and bounding arpeggios showed full technical command in the remaining movements, but the piano sound seemed underpowered at times—perhaps a victim of Macky’s inhospitable acoustics?

Charles Wetherbee

Another piece of program music, Scheherazade is always an audience pleaser—as it was for Butterman and the Boulder Phil. Wetherbee played the extensive violin solos with a sweetness and purity of tone that was exemplary. The solos in the cello and the wind sections were all well played, although coordination between players in the back of Macky’s deep stage and those in front was at times a little rocky.

Tricky acoustics aside, Butterman led a carefully modulated performance. The Boulder Phil strings cannot provide the sound that we hear on recordings by the Philadelphia and other orchestras with 60-plus players in the string sections and more hospitable acoustics, but the orchestra made effective work of all the big moments in the score, once again compelling the audience to their feet. It was, in the end, a satisfying performance of a much-loved piece.

Like Sinbad’s ship, the Boulder Philharmonic is well launched on a season that will feature many “Legends” and other stories in music. Let’s hope that the storm at sea where “The Ship Goes to Pieces on a Rock” remains confined to Rimsky-Korsakov’s evocative score.

# # # # #

Author’s Note: I do not plan on reviewing every concert that I preview here, or every one that is worthy of such coverage. But as the beginning of a new season by one of Boulder’s older musical institutions, and with a world premiere, this concert perhaps earned a little more attention—especially since I and the audience enjoyed it so much.

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This post has been edited to correct grammar and typos.

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Sharps & Flatirons

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

Tag Archives: Michael Butterman

Boulder Philharmonic selected for a brand new festival at the Kennedy Center

Legendary Concertos Wrap Up Boulder Phil Season

Boulder Philharmonic Announces season of collaborations for 2015–16

Boulder Phil marks Valentine’s with Legendary Lovers and Red Violin

With the Boulder Phil, Conrad Tao conquers audience, Beethoven, and Elliott Carter

Boulder Phil extends Butterman’s contract

Grant Awarded to Boulder Philharmonic, and other news of interest in Boulder

Boulder Phil’s Season of ‘Legends’ Opens Strongly

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