Principal Guest Conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni conducts a special Midsummer Night’s Dream. This performance pairs Mendelssohn’s lush score, which includes the instantly recognizable “Wedding March,” with a dramatic reading by actor John de Lancie (American Shakespeare Festival, TV’s Star Trek The Next Generation) to summon Shakespeare’s fairies, royalty, and fools in love. Mendelssohn penned Midsummer’s overture at age 17; Bizet was the same age when he wrote his Symphony in C, a surprisingly mature work, effervescent and full of contrasts. The program opens with a brand new orchestral arrangement of Jessie Montgomery’s vivid Starburst, which is, in her words, “a play on imagery of rapidly changing musical colors.” New! John de Lancie has added a meet and greet session following the concert, free with ticket.
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Learn MoreConductor
Jean-Marie Zeitouni
Guest Artists
Jennifer Bird-Arvidsson, soprano
John de Lancie, actor
Marnie Mosiman, actor
Abigail Nims, mezzo soprano
Program
Jessie Montgomery, Starburst
Georges Bizet, Symphony No. 1 in C Major
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Felix Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61
Read this concert’s program notes >
Learn More
- Actor John de Lancie is most recognized for playing Q in various Star Trek franchises, but he has enjoyed an extensive career on film/television and on stage. Learn more about John’s roles or watch a short interview with Star Trek.com
- Soprano Jennifer Bird also serves as Associate Professor of Voice at CU Boulder. See Jennifer’s extensive performance credentials
- Mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims also serves as CU Boulder faculty. Hear Abigail perform Bach
- “We first hear the Wedding March between Acts 4 and 5 [of A Midsummer Night’s Dream], the latter containing more music than any other act, especially to accompany the wedding feast. There is a brief fanfare for trumpets and timpani, a parody of a funeral march, and a peasant dance that uses Bottom’s braying from the overture as its main thematic material.” Read more of Marin Alsop’s guide to Midsummer at NPR
- “The tone shifted from dark to light when the quartet launched into ‘Strum,’ a hugely enjoyable new work by Sphinx violinist Jessie Montgomery. Turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life, ‘Strum’ sounded like a handful of American folk melodies tossed into a strong wind, cascading and tumbling joyfully around one another. Montgomery […] is an inventive and appealing composer with interesting things ahead of her.” Read more at the Washington Post
