Most people, even many classical music aficionados, have never heard of the guest artists for this weekend’s Colorado Symphony concerts – and that’s the point.
Instead of booking any of today’s stars in the field, the orchestra sought out soloists it believes will be among tomorrow’s luminaries, such as 18-year-old pianist Natasha Paremski and 27-year-old trumpeter Alison Balsom.
The concerts tonight and Saturday evening with music director Jeffrey Kahane are the first of three sets of performances in the symphony’s newly created miniseries: the Rising Stars Spotlight.
“Not all of these people who are on this series are kids,” said Cyndi Mancinelli, the symphony’s vice president of artistic administration. “To me, it was important to highlight people who are very young in their careers but moving up very quickly.”
The idea emerged when the symphony was forced to find substitutes for four pianists who canceled performances during the past 2 1/2 years or so.
Three of the four last-minute fill-ins turned out to be emerging artists, Mancinelli said. They proved to be such big hits with audiences that the orchestra decided to make such emerging performers a regular part of its seasonal offerings.
“I think it’s great for our audience,” she said. “They love seeing young people who are doing well. It’s great for the orchestra. It’s inspiring. And obviously it’s a plus for the artist, because they get to work with a really great orchestra.”
Another factor, she said, is the increasing challenge of finding classical stars with true drawing power.
“In terms of really big names that sell tickets, that are recognizable to everybody, that are in that Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell category – it’s very difficult, and obviously you can’t bring them back year after year.”
Instead of turning to more midlevel artists who might be terrific musicians but have little box-office power, Mancinelli said, the orchestra believes it makes more sense to focus on younger artists with fresh appeal.
The symphony is not the first classical-music organization to try this approach. Paremski is scheduled to appear next summer on the Ravinia Festival’s Rising Stars series, and Balsom was recently named one of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists in England.
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity for me and lots of people, because we’ve all got start to somewhere to get recognition if we’re not household names,” Balsom said.
Full-time trumpet soloists – emerging or established – are rare in the classical world. The spotlight typically falls on such instruments as the piano, violin and cello. The English trumpeter’s decision to strike out on her own was a bit of a risk.
“It is, I suppose, because there is no path that has already been trodden that I can follow, but in a way that’s what I like about it,” she said. “It’s all new and all exciting and all unknown territory. I don’t know where it’s going to go or how well it’s going to go, but it’s definitely worth trying, because I believe in the trumpet.”
Balsom signed a three-disc contract with EMI Classics in fall 2004 and has an album devoted to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach scheduled for release in December in the United States.
She plans to promote that recording when she makes her debut tour in this country in January. Besides her Denver stop, it will include recitals and appearances with the Milwaukee Symphony and IRIS Chamber Orchestra.
Paremski, who debuted with Colorado Symphony in May 2004 as a replacement for Louis Lortie, is also a fan of offerings like the Rising Stars Spotlight.
“I think it’s just important because a lot of the – shall we call them the grown-up series – they’re sometimes not so partial to showcasing young artists because they sometimes feel that maybe we’re really not up to the standard, which is not always the case. But there is that bias,” she said.
Paremski was born in Moscow and immigrated to the U.S. in 1995. In a career already marked by major accomplishments, her biggest break so far might have come last year when she performed Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto in Carnegie Hall with the New York Chamber Symphony.
Other up-and-coming artists set to appear as part of the Rising Stars Spotlight include Xian Zhang, who was appointed the New York Philharmonic’s associate conductor in July, and tenor Richard Clement, who is featured on a just-released Telarc disc with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
Mancinelli is so confident the Rising Stars Spotlight will be successful that she already predicts it not only will become a regular part of the orchestra’s season but also expand to as many as six sets of performances.
“There is just so much talent out there,” she said.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
Rising Stars Spotlight
The Colorado Symphony Rising Stars Spotlight program will feature some up-and-comers in the classical world during the next few months. Here are the details:
TODAY AND SATURDAY|Pianist Natasha Paremski, soprano Oksana Krovytska, tenor Richard Clement and bass Nathan Berg|$15-$65| Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets; 7:30 p.m.
JAN. 27-28|Trumpeter Alison Balsom and Antonio Pompa-Baldi|$15-$65|Boettcher Concert Hall; 7:30 p.m.
JAN. 29|Balsom and Pompa-Baldi|Boettcher; 2:30 p.m.; family series |$20 adults and $10 students|303-623-7876 or coloradosymphony.org.
APRIL 21-23|Guest conductor Xian Zhang|Boettcher Concert Hall; 7:30 p.m. April 21 and 22, and 2:30 p.m. April 23|$15-$65|303-623-7876 or coloradosymphony.org
