JUNE 29-AUGUST 9, 2013
MICHAEL CHRISTIE, MUSIC DIRECTOR
season sponsor:
GRACE & GORDON GAMM
russian masters mini-festival sponsors:
BARBARA & CHRIS CHRISTOFFERSEN
Summer program features a week of “Russian Masters;” world renowned pianist Olga Kern’s Festival debut; a continuation of the groundbreaking “Rediscovered Masters” project, including a showcase of celebrated Jewish film music composers; Wizard of Oz with Symphony; chamber music at eTown Hall; an all-new “Music Mash-up” series featuring the return of the acclaimed ensemble Time for Three; and more!
Click here to view and print the 2013 concert season calendar.
Festival concerts at Chautauqua Auditorium on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings begin at 7:30 p.m. Chamber Music concerts at eTown Hall will be performed at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., the Young People’s Concerts on Saturday, June 29 will be performed at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
2013 Season concerts include:
• CMF Music Director Michael Christie will kick off the 37th concert season with the CMF Chamber Orchestra featuring the extraordinarily talented pianist Behzod Abduraimov, an artist establishing an impressive reputation for electrifying audiences with his captivating performances. The opening night will feature Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” and The Sounds of Movies: Masters of the Film Score, a showcase of celebrated Jewish film music composers. (June 30)
• The Chamber Music Series at eTown Hall will feature CMF Chamber Players on Tuesdays July 2, July 16 and July 30.
• The popular family night at the Festival returns with “Oz with Orchestra.” One of the most beloved films of all time, The Wizard of Oz, can now be seen and heard in a magical new production. The brilliantly restored images are accompanied by the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra playing entirely new transcriptions of Harold Arlen’s brilliant lost scores. Hearing Judy Garland’s original 1939 studio recordings, backed by lush, live orchestration, will transport children and adults alike. With this version of The Wizard of Oz on the big screen, concertgoers will be treated to the Oscar-winning film as it has never been seen before. (July 5)
• All-new “Music Mash-Up” series. Three concerts that are designed to transform the symphonic experience by bridging the gap between classical and popular music. This three-concert series features performances of popular classical and contemporary works in a casual, intermission-free concert that is preceded by a happy-hour with complimentary food and drinks. (July 7,
August 2, and August 6)
• Winner of the 2011 Latin Grammy Award in the “best classical album” category, the Brazilian Guitar Quartet returns to the Festival to kick-off the world music series. The Quartet has established itself as one of world’s leading guitar ensembles and has been praised by the Washington Post for its “seductive beauty” and “virtuosic gusto.” The group’s unique combination of regular six-string and extended-range eight-string guitars allows for the exploration of an original and unusual repertoire. (July 9)
• The Festival’s exploration of “Rediscovered Masters” continues with the U.S. premiere of Mieczysław Weinberg’s Symphony No. 3. Music Director Michael Christie and the Colorado Music Festival are dedicated to performances celebrating Jewish composers and their music with programs that emphasize music composed before, during, and immediately after World War II. The music of many Jewish composers was suppressed, and subsequently forgotten. (July 11 & 12)
• The popular mini-festival returns with “Russian Masters,” featuring all four Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto, Prokofiev’s Peter & the Wolf and more. A highlight of this year’s mini-festival will be the appearance of Van Cliburn Gold Medal winner Olga Kern performing all four of the Rachmaninoff piano concertos and the Paganini Variations in just two nights. (July 14-21)
• Cellist Johannes Moser will join Music Director Michael Christie and the Festival orchestra for a performance of Dvorak’s impressive Cello Concerto. Praised for his rich, gorgeous tone and playing that can range from lovely and elegant, to vigorous with head-banging, rock star energy, German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser has been called both “remarkable” by the Los Angeles Times and “greatly gifted” by the Chicago Tribune. (July 25 & 26)
• The Rediscovered Masters Series continues with the CMF Festival Chorus in a performance of Ernest Bloch’s intensely spiritual Sacred Service. Bloch learned Hebrew specifically to compose this piece. (July 25 & 26)
• Bach to the Future – this concert presents some of the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2, 4 & 5, followed by award-winning composer Paul Moravec’s Brandenburg Gate, Melinda Wagner’s Little Moonhead and Peter Maxwell-Davies’s Sea Orpheus. Moravec, Wagner, and Maxwell-Davies are three of six composers that were commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to write new works based on the instrumentation of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti as part of their series called “The New Brandenburgs.” (July 28)
• Time for Three, the young, dynamic trio of classically trained string musicians is back by popular demand and will join Music Director Michael Christie and the CMF Festival Orchestra to bring a groundbreaking blend of classical, country western, gypsy, and jazz music to Chautauqua Auditorium. Playing 120 concerts a year, this group continually wins over diverse audiences across America, featuring Nick Kendall and Zack De Pue on violin and Ranaan Meyer on double bass. (August 1 & 2)
• Conductor Courtney Lewis will make his Festival debut and lead the CMF Chamber Orchestra in a concert featuring CMF’s Principal Clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan performing Mozart’s ever-popular Clarinet Concerto. Courtney Lewis is quickly becoming recognized as one of today’s top emerging talents. He is founder and music director of Boston’s acclaimed Discovery Ensemble, a chamber orchestra with the mission of introducing inner-city school children to classical music while bringing new and unusual repertoire to established concert audiences. Lewis has also recently been promoted to associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra.
• World-renowned flutist Alexa Still will take the stage to perform Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Corigliano’s Pied Piper Fantasy, a 40-minute concerto for flute and orchestra which is an interactive fairy tale. (August 8 & 9)
• CMF’s new music commissioning club Click! closes the 2013 Festival with a world premiere by contemporary composer and Boulder native Kristin Kuster. (August 8 & 9)
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