Upcoming Events

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 Kabin Thomas narrates the outlandish tale of Peer Gynt, a hopeless yarn-spinner who lies and sneaks his way through many misadventures and ultimately learns his lesson. Audiences will immediately recognize Grieg’s music, including the unforgettable “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and “Morning Mood.” Guest conductor Gemma New leads this crowd-pleasing program, which opens with Vivian Fung’s inspirational Prayer.

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 Kabin Thomas narrates the outlandish tale of Peer Gynt, a hopeless yarn-spinner who lies and sneaks his way through many misadventures and ultimately learns his lesson. Audiences will immediately recognize Grieg’s music, including the unforgettable “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and “Morning Mood.” Guest conductor Gemma New leads this crowd-pleasing program, which opens with Vivian Fung’s inspirational Prayer.

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 the opposing forces that appear in nature — “action and reaction, dark and light, stagnant and swift.” In Eastern folklore, the princess Scheherazade told the cruel Sultan 1,001 stories in order to save her own life; Rimsky-Korsakov borrows Scheherazade’s tales of royalty, festivals, sea voyages, and more in his richly orchestrated fantasy.

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 the opposing forces that appear in nature — “action and reaction, dark and light, stagnant and swift.” In Eastern folklore, the princess Scheherazade told the cruel Sultan 1,001 stories in order to save her own life; Rimsky-Korsakov borrows Scheherazade’s tales of royalty, festivals, sea voyages, and more in his richly orchestrated fantasy.

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 my mind is Love, God, and my Fatherland." Kevin Puts’ Two Mountain Scenes, composed “with the impressive backdrop of the Rocky Mountains in mind” and beginning with “the sonic illusion of a single trumpet reverberating across the valley,” opens this wondrous program.

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 my mind is Love, God, and my Fatherland." Kevin Puts’ Two Mountain Scenes, composed “with the impressive backdrop of the Rocky Mountains in mind” and beginning with “the sonic illusion of a single trumpet reverberating across the valley,” opens this wondrous program.

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, “so that everything awakens for joy.” Mahler’s sunniest symphony invokes bells, harp, and woodwinds; in keeping with the lightness of the work, Mahler insisted the soprano perform “with childlike, cheerful expression;” soprano Karina Gauvin joins the Festival in this role. This final concert of the season includes Ravel’s colorful twist on the Shéhérazade tales — again featuring Gauvin’s “glowing, flexible tone” (Opera News) — and the overture to Strauss’ most famous and farcical operetta, Die Fledermaus.