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Recent News
Colorado Music Festival: 50 years of music beneath Boulder’s Flatirons – The Strad
Davina Shum reports back from the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, a hidden gem of a festival that celebrated music making with a sense of community, conviviality and commemoration of America in its myriad identities 2026 is a year of milestones. The United States...
Welcoming New Executive Director, Aren Der Hacopian
Colorado Music Festival & Center for Musical Arts Welcomes New Executive Director, Aren Der Hacopian Der Hacopian joins the organization on September 1, 2026, offering a vision of engagement, collaboration and growth After a nationwide search, the Colorado Music...
Set In Nature’s Realm, Fueled By Imagination, Music Festival Thrives – Classical Voice North America
by Thomas May The Colorado Music Festival takes place in a strikingly scenic setting at the foot of Boulder’s Flatirons, about 30 miles northwest of Denver. Its five-week season July 9-Aug. 9 is presented within the Colorado Chautauqua, a National Historic Landmark...
Jeffrey Kahane leads the Brandenburgs with originality at the Colorado Music Festival – Seen & Heard International
by Daniele Sahr To most, the Brandenburg Concertos are very much about the harpsichord: twinkling with its signature tinny sound, transporting the listener to another time. But hear pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane out: there is value to using the pianoforte...
Yuja Wang and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra deliver a stunning Barber Piano Concerto – Seen & Heard International
by Daniele Sahr If you plan to see the world’s premiere pianist, expecting her to conduct an orchestral standard might not be on your evening’s dance card. At the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder – where artists and musicians can rely on opportunities to explore...
The Colorado Music Festival Orchestra: “The Happiest Band in the Land.” – CPR Classical
By Kabin Thomas I love the Colorado Music Festival, its orchestra, Chautauqua Auditorium and what happens when those musicians gather in Boulder to make something beautiful together each summer. I call the CMF Orchestra “the happiest band in the land” because I spent...
When it comes to Colorado’s world-class summer classical scene, place matters – The Denver Post
Colorado’s classical music scene hits its peak in summer when local music presenters hand over the spotlight to the world-class violinists, pianists, cellists and more who come to play at some of the best music fests in the country. Aspen, Vail, Boulder and Central...
Colorado Music Festival hits 50-year milestone with star-studded summer lineup – Denver Post & Daily Camera
The Boulder summer festival celebrates its 50th anniversary season at Chautauqua Auditorium with Himari, Yuja Wang, Canadian Brass, Leonard Slatkin, Mahler, Mozart and new works by contemporary composers. There are two very different ways to experience live music this...
Thank You for the Music – Cover Article in Boulder Lifestyle
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Colorado Music Festival. With Music Director Peter Oundjian serving at the helm for his eighth season, the festival features a variety of talented performers such as pianist Yuja Wang, violinist Njioma Grevious, trumpeter...
Press Mentions
International Arts Manager: 2025 Festival Focus, Five years of harmony and innovation
“Under Peter Oundjian’s visionary leadership, the Colorado Music Festival has flourished, blending tradition with innovation and fostering a vibrant community of musicians and audiences alike…”
New York Times: A Road Trip to Sample America’s Many, Many Music Festivals
“The players mostly hail from regional orchestras […] and they come together each summer to play with terrific commitment and no shortage of virtuosity.”
BBC Music Magazine: Musical Destinations Boulder, United States
“Jeremy Pound admires both the mountains and the plains as he explores the various delights of this year’s Colorado Music Festival.”
The Strad: Postcard from Boulder: Colorado Music Festival
“It was truly a privilege to hear the birth of a new work in such an atmosphere of warm collaboration. The capacity festival audience obviously appreciated this too, rising to its feet as one in rapturous applause.”
Bachtrack: Joan Tower’s new Cello Concerto defies the heavens at the Colorado Music Festival
“Through all the challenges the orchestra held fast, a dream of a partner who were as virtuosic and almost as flexible as Weilerstein herself.
Bachtrack: Lash, Puts – and Beethoven – in “Music of Today” at Colorado Music Festival
On a hot night at Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder, Peter Oundjian and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra played it cool with new music by Hannah Lash and Kevin Puts before taking an illuminating look at Beethoven’s most iconic string quartet.
Classical Voice North America: Summer Fests: Diverse Artists, Beethoven Take Center Stage In West
Kicking off a five-year project of commissioning and presenting new works, the season will feature four world premieres […]
Musical America: A New Era for the Colorado Music Festival
“It was […] well executed by members of the CMF Orchestra, a mostly young-ish troupe that, I’m told, has a 90 percent return rate one season to the next. The potential is obvious, and audiences can be sure Oundjian will capture it in seasons to come.”