Colorado Music Festival Announces Virtual Summer Concerts

Colorado Music Festival (CMF) presents six virtual concerts on Thursday evenings from June 25 through July 30, featuring unique performances by guest artists from around the world and Colorado Music Festival's orchestra members.

Under the direction of Peter Oundjian, CMF music director, the virtual concerts bring together world-class musicians to perform exceptional pieces in intimate settings, including the following.

· The opening June 25 performance features hometown favorites, the Takács Quartet. This performance will mark the debut of the Takács Quartet's newest member, violist Richard O'Neill.

· The July 2 performance will be a celebration of women in music with performances by guitarist Sharon Isbin and percussionist Jisu Jung.

· On July 9, virtuoso violinist Augustin Hadelich will join Oundjian in his home to perform works by Bach, Ysaÿe and Tarrega.

· On July 16, award-winning pianist Jan Lisiecki will perform cadenzas from the Beethoven piano concerti and join Oundjian in a discussion about the pieces.

· On July 23, string quartet Brooklyn Rider will share a performance from their Healing Modes repertoire. Also included will be a performance of Joan Tower's Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 5 by members of the CMF Orchestra brass section.

· The finale, on July 30, will highlight CMF's own musicians as they play movements from Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and include performances by sensational twin sister pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton and Festival Fellows, Ivalas Quartet.

All virtual performances will be accessible on demand via Colorado Music Festival's website, ColoradoMusicFestival.org, and are presented for free as a sign of gratitude to donors, subscribers, ticket buyers and the community.

"Music is a language that should have no boundaries, know no prejudice and speak to the heart and soul of humanity. In these challenging times, we find it more important than ever to continue our work to seek and share the talents of diverse musicians from across the world," said Oundjian. "The Colorado Music Festival welcomes female composers, musicians of color, young performers and more to take the virtual stage - accessible for viewing around the world - to share their musical story."

New this year, the Colorado Music Festival and the Center for Musical Arts (CMA) are partnering on a Festival Fellows program and a Youth Musician Seminar, advancing their collective mission to provide access to the world's best performance and educational opportunities.

In advance of the 2020 festival season, CMF and CMA launched the Festival Fellows program which hosts a total of eight aspiring professional musicians to serve as fellows in Boulder during what is now the virtual festival. This program serves to advance the fellows' experience and knowledge within a broad spectrum of performance and educational opportunities with the goal of inspiring the next generation of diverse musicians. Four of the fellows, the Ivalas Quartet, based out of Boulder, were selected in partnership with the Sphinx Organization. The Sphinx Organization's goal is to address "the social issue of underrepresentation of people of color in classical music."

From July 20 through July 24, the Colorado Music Festival will host an online Youth Musician Seminar for serious musicians in high school and older. Oundjian, Harumi Rhodes of the Takács Quartet, Wang Jie, guest composer, and Colorado Music Festival Orchestra musicians will offer sessions throughout the week. Musicians may register for individual sessions or for the full seminar by visiting www.centerformusicalarts.org/youth-musician-seminar.

For more information about CMF, visit ColoradoMusicFestival.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.