Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   Music Director Peter Oundjian continues his tradition of ending the season with glorious music by Mahler. The composer built his Fourth Symphony around his own song “The Heavenly Life,” which borrows text from a Bavarian folk poem. “The angelic voices gladden our senses,” the poem proclaims, […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   Augustin Hadelich, one of the greatest violinists of all time, returns to perform Tchaikovsky’s unparalleled Violin Concerto. The deeply patriotic Dvořák wished to use his music to recognize the struggle and oppression of his fellow Czechs; he wrote of this urgent Seventh Symphony, “What is in […]

Door time: 7:00 PM Show time: 7:30 PM   Augustin Hadelich, one of the greatest violinists of all time, returns to perform Tchaikovsky’s unparalleled Violin Concerto. The deeply patriotic Dvořák wished to use his music to recognize the struggle and oppression of his fellow Czechs; he wrote of this urgent Seventh Symphony, “What is in […]

Door time: 7:00 PM Show time: 7:30 PM   “Yes, playing string quartets is our job, and yes it is hard work, but we mostly do it for pleasure, like we always did,” says the Danish String Quartet, a highly sought-after ensemble of energetic musicians who met each other at music camp as teenagers. The […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   The Washington Post declares that twin sister pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton “have to be heard to be believed”; the Festival is honored to welcome these audience favorites for an all-Mozart program. Following the charming serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik (“A Little Night Music”), the Naughtons perform […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   Celebrated pianist Awadagin Pratt makes his Festival debut with music old and new, beginning with Bach’s nimble Keyboard Concerto in A major. Pratt then performs a piece he commissioned from lauded composer Jessie Montgomery; her Rounds is inspired by an epic poem by T.S. Eliot and […]

Door time: 7:00 PM Show time: 7:30 PM   Celebrated pianist Awadagin Pratt makes his Festival debut with music old and new, beginning with Bach’s nimble Keyboard Concerto in A major. Pratt then performs a piece he commissioned from lauded composer Jessie Montgomery; her Rounds is inspired by an epic poem by T.S. Eliot and […]

Door time: 7:00 PM Show time: 7:30 PM   The Robert Mann Chamber Music Series continues with a spotlight on the Festival’s own musicians. Haydn’s String Quartets achieved a new range of expression for secular music; his String Quartet C major, Op. 20, No. 2 is a diamond from start to finish. Debussy, a master […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   Be the first to experience a brand new concerto by Gabriela Lena Frank, heralded as one of the most significant women composers in history by the Washington Post. This exciting new work was commissioned by the Festival and will be performed by Boulder’s Grammy-winning Takács Quartet […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   Welcome back, Festival favorite Olga Kern! Fresh off a celebration of Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary, Kern performs his Second Piano Concerto — a success from its inception, this memorable concerto’s themes that have been borrowed by countless films, Sinatra songs, and more. After intermission, Colorado Public Radio’s […]

Door time: 7:00 PM Show time: 7:30 PM   Welcome back, Festival favorite Olga Kern! Fresh off a celebration of Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary, Kern performs his Second Piano Concerto — a success from its inception, this memorable concerto’s themes that have been borrowed by countless films, Sinatra songs, and more. After intermission, Colorado Public Radio’s […]

Door time: 7:00 PM Show time: 7:30 PM   The Robert Mann Chamber Music Series continues by highlighting musicians from the Festival’s own ranks. One of the most beloved works ever written for wind quintet is this music by Carl Nielsen; he composed his Wind Quintet with five friends in mind, and this warmth, as […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   “Look, how brightly the universe shines! Splendour falls on everything around…” Schoenberg’s chromatic and stunningly beautiful Transfigured Night draws inspiration from a poem about a woman harboring a dark secret and the man who loves her enough to forgive her. 2024 marks Schoenberg’s 150th birthday, as […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   Famous for inciting a riot at its 1913 premiere due to its cutting-edge compositional techniques, Stravinsky’s Rite represents “the mystery and great surge of creative power of Spring.” BBC Music Magazine has praised violinist Vadim Gluzman’s performance of Prokofiev’s acerbic Second Violin Concerto as “a thing […]

Door time: 7:00 PM Show time: 7:30 PM   Famous for inciting a riot at its 1913 premiere due to its cutting-edge compositional techniques, Stravinsky’s Rite represents “the mystery and great surge of creative power of Spring.” BBC Music Magazine has praised violinist Vadim Gluzman’s performance of Prokofiev’s acerbic Second Violin Concerto as “a thing […]

Door time: 7:00 PM Show time: 7:30 PM   The 2024 Robert Mann Chamber Music Series begins with a spotlight on the Festival’s own musicians. Dohnányi’s sextet brings together piano, string trio, clarinet, and horn, an uncommon combination which the composer uses to mischievous effect. Beethoven’s brief “Eyeglasses Duo” is so called for a friendly […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   The 2024 Festival season opens with the much-anticipated return of Alisa Weilerstein, whose music “emerges with sunlit clarity” (The Guardian); here Weilerstein performs one of the most breathtaking works for cello. Later: Mendelssohn could not shake the “festive air” of Italy while composing his Fourth Symphony, […]

Door time: 10:00 AM Show time: 10:30 AM   Do you like Green Eggs and Ham? Musical storytellers Really Inventive Stuff return by popular demand, this time with their fully-staged adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ beloved children’s classic featuring Sam-I-Am. This engaging Family Concert also includes a musical twist on three of Aesop’s most familiar fables: […]

Door time: 6:00 PM Show time: 6:30 PM   The 2024 Festival season opens with the much-anticipated return of Alisa Weilerstein, whose music “emerges with sunlit clarity” (The Guardian); here Weilerstein performs one of the most breathtaking works for cello. Later: Mendelssohn could not shake the “festive air” of Italy while composing his Fourth Symphony, […]

Doors: 5:45 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: Peter Oundjian, conductor Joshua Bell, violin Music Director Peter Oundjian and the Festival are pulling out all the stops for an unforgettable season finale. In the second evening of a two-part preview performance, 2023 Artist-in-Residence Joshua Bell performs selections from Elements, an unparalleled work for violin and orchestra […]

Doors: 6:45 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists: Peter Oundjian, conductor Joshua Bell, violin  In the first evening of a two-part preview performance, 2023 Artist-in-Residence Joshua Bell performs selections from Elements, an unparalleled work for violin and orchestra in five movements, each written by a different acclaimed composer. In this concert, Bell performs the first three […]

Doors: 7:00 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists:  Colorado Music Festival Orchestra Members   The final concert of the 2023 Robert Mann Chamber Music Series highlights the Festival’s own musicians. Though it was composed on the early side of his career, Beethoven’s energetic String Trio in C Minor gives a decisive glimpse into the intensity of […]

Doors: 6:00 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: Hannu Lintu, conductor Lise de la Salle, piano Internationally renowned guest conductor Hannu Lintu joins the Festival for a program beginning with the “concerto for birds and orchestra” Cantus Arcticus by Lintu’s countryman, Finland’s Einojuhani Rautavaara. One of Schumann’s most enduring works is his Piano Concerto, which creates […]

Doors: 6:00 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: Eun Sun Kim, conductor Johannes Moser, cello   Despite the distant threat of rain – “the necessary shadow,” as the composer called it – Brahms’ Second Symphony is a sunny and idyllic work beloved for its rambunctious joy and its balance with that hint of cloud. Eun Sun […]

Doors: 7:00 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists: Eun Sun Kim, conductor Johannes Moser, cello   Despite the distant threat of rain – “the necessary shadow,” as the composer called it – Brahms’ Second Symphony is a sunny and idyllic work beloved for its rambunctious joy and its balance with that hint of cloud. Eun Sun […]

Doors: 7:00 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists:  Members of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra The Robert Mann Chamber Music Series continues by highlighting musicians from the Festival’s own ranks. Britten’s Phantasy Quartet begins with a march and proceeds with lively pastoral charm. Poulenc is a composer known for his aesthetic of irrepressible good humor; he […]

Doors: 6:00 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: François López-Ferrer, conductor Grace Park, violin   This concert was created with Mozart fans in mind! Guest conductor François López-Ferrer begins with the delightful overture to Mozart’s tongue-in-cheek opera Impresario, followed by his ornate and impressive Third Violin Concerto, performed here by the “fresh, different and exhilarating” (San […]

Doors: 6:00 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: Michael Christie, conductor and Music Director Emeritus Michelle Cann, piano   “Fate, that fatal force” is the driving theme of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, with one of the most brilliant and virtuosic finales in all of music; Music Director Emeritus Michael Christie returns to conduct this mighty symphony. 2022 Sphinx […]

Doors: 7:00 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists: Michael Christie, conductor and Music Director Emeritus Michelle Cann, piano “Fate, that fatal force” is the driving theme of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, with one of the most brilliant and virtuosic finales in all of music; Music Director Emeritus Michael Christie returns to conduct this mighty symphony. 2022 Sphinx Medal […]

Doors: 7:00 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists: Brentano String Quartet The 2023 Robert Mann Chamber Series continues with the “wonderful, selfless music-making” (The Times, London) of the Brentano String Quartet, Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music. The program opens with Mozart’s intriguing “Hoffmeister” String Quartet, a chamber gem of character and complexity. Two touching […]

Doors: 6:00 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: Peter Oundjian, conductor Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano  Eric Owens, narrator Adolphus Hailstork, composer   “Our national strength matters,” said President John F. Kennedy, “but the spirit which informs and controls our strength matters just as much.” This line and others appear in the libretto of the world premiere symphony, JFK: […]

Doors: 7:00 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists: Peter Oundjian, conductor Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano Timothy McAllister, saxophone John Corigliano, composer The Festival is honored to welcome none other than Pulitzer Prize-winning John Corigliano as 2023 composer-in-residence. Conducted by Music Director Peter Oundjian, this retrospective program examines three stages of Corigliano’s vast career, beginning with his pastoral […]

Doors: 7:00 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists: The 2023 Robert Mann Chamber Series opens with the esteemed JACK Quartet. Hailed by The New York Times as “our leading new-music foursome,” the JACK Quartet maintains an unwavering commitment to giving voice to underheard composers. In the quartet’s New York Stories program, “Two masters of New York's […]

Doors: 6:00 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: Peter Oundjian, conductor Nicolai Lugansky, piano In our second program celebrating the music Rachmaninoff wrote while living in America, the Orchestra performs his final composition: Symphonic Dances, a three-movement suite featuring a frantic dance, a restless waltz, and a final flourish of triumph. Lauded Rachmaninoff interpreter Nicolai Lugansky […]

Doors: 6:00 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: Peter Oundjian, conductor Nicolai Lugansky, piano   Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is famous for being one of the most fiendishly difficult pieces ever composed for the instrument. Pianist Nicolai Lugansky, one of the preeminent Rachmaninoff interpreters of our time, performs here as part of his global tour celebrating […]

Doors: 7:00 PM Concert: 7:30 PM Artists: Peter Oundjian, conductor Nicolai Lugansky, piano   Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto is famous for being one of the most fiendishly difficult pieces ever composed for the instrument. Pianist Nicolai Lugansky, one of the preeminent Rachmaninoff interpreters of our time, performs here as part of his global tour celebrating […]

Doors: 10:00 AM Concert: 10:30 AM Artists: Kalena Bovell, conductor Jennifer Bird-Arvidsson, soprano Janae Burris, narrator What do you get when you mix a boy, a duck, a cat, a wolf — and an orchestra? You get Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev’s beloved symphonic fairytale that uses the playful story of a wolf on the […]

Doors: 6:00 PM Concert: 6:30 PM Artists: Peter Oundjian, conductor Joshua Bell, violin In his first appearances as 2023 artist-in-residence, the one and only Joshua Bell performs Bruch’s Violin Concerto. The great 19th century violinist Joseph Joachim, to whom the composer dedicated this masterpiece, considered this concerto to be “the richest, most seductive” of all […]