No group has done more to promote new music than the Kronos Quartet, whose boundary-crossing explorations have earned it fame well beyond the confines of classical music.
So when Colorado Music Festival leaders asked the Ars Nova Singers if they would like to perform with the renowned ensemble, the Boulder-based chamber choir did not hesitate.
“Any opportunity that would come along to share the stage with Kronos, with a group of that caliber, even not knowing anything about the piece, we just leaped at it,” said Thomas Morgan, the choir’s artistic director.
Ars Nova will join Kronos on July 11 in Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium for a performance of Terry Riley’s “Sun Rings,” a 90-minute work commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It premiered in October 2002 at the University of Iowa.
The multimedia piece, since performed in cities such as London, San Francisco and Chicago, incorporates sounds of space collected over 40 years by Don Gurnett, a faculty member at the University of Iowa.
“The quartet kind of responds to the space sounds that are played back on a recording during the piece,” Morgan said. “And there are little fragments of melody or things that might sound like a melody that he (Riley) extrapolates from the recordings and has the quartet develop a little bit.”
Here’s a look at 10 other summer classical events in Colorado worth noting:
“Vision,” Kevin Puts, composer, Aspen Music Festival, June 25, Benedict Music Tent, Aspen festival grounds|It’s not hard to get a sense of Puts’ standing among composers. No less than cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the world’s most recognized classical instrumentalist, will premiere Puts’ new cello concerto during a concert with conductor David Zinman and the Aspen Festival Orchestra.
Jeffrey Kahane, pianist and conductor, June 30, Aspen Music festival, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Benedict Music Tent, Aspen|After just one season with Kahane as the Colorado Symphony’s music director, area classical fans have already developed a keen appreciation for his multiple talents. They will have a chance to see the pianist-conductor in a different setting as he makes his first appearance in Aspen.
Leila Josefowicz, violin, July 6, 7 and 9, Colorado Music Festival, Chautauqua Auditorium, Boulder; Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, July 22, New York Philharmonic, Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater|To get a sense of Josefowicz’s increasingly important place in classical music, consider that she is featured on the cover of the June issue of BBC Music Magazine. The young violinist will be one of the most visible visiting artists this summer in Colorado.
David Zinman, conductor, Aspen Music Festival, July 8, Benedict Music Tent |A galaxy of classical luminaries will pay tribute to Zinman on his 70th birthday. Participants include violinist Gil Shaham, pianist Leon Fleisher, cellist Truls Mork and bassist Edgar Meyer.
Alexander Kobrin, piano, July 13 and 14, Colorado Music Festival, Chautauqua Auditorium|Although the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition’s record of selecting performers who go on to influential careers is mixed, its winners always generate widespread attention. Kobrin, the gold medalist at the contest’s 2005 edition, is no exception.
“Mesa Verde Suite,” Music in the Mountains, July 16, Mesa Verde National Park; July 22, Purgatory Village Tent, Durango|Sterling Procter, a French horn player with the Fort Worth Symphony since 1972, has composed an 18-minute work celebrating the centennial of Mesa Verde National Park. It incorporates brass quintet and native flute and drums.
Vadim Gluzman and Philippe Quint, violins, Music in the Mountains, July 18, Purgatory Village Tent, and July 21, Bootjack Ranch, Pagosa Springs|The festival is billing these two concerts as “duels” between two of the world’s top young violinists – both born in the former Soviet Union. They will be joined by Gluzman’s wife and performing partner, pianist Angela Yoffe.
Wind Quintet, Kenji Bunch, composer, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, July 18, Imani Winds, Vilar Center for the Arts, Beaver Creek| Each summer, the Vail festival commissions a new work from its composer-in-residence. Spotlighted this year is Bunch, a rising talent born in Portland, Ore., in 1973.
New York Philharmonic, Marin Alsop, conductor, Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, July 21, 22 and 23, Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater|The philharmonic, one of the world’s great orchestras, returns for another summer series of concerts. Three of its performances will be be led by Alsop, who, as the Colorado Symphony’s conductor laureate, is no stranger to the state.
Renée Fleming, soprano, Aspen Music Festival, July 27, Benedict Music Tent|What else needs to be said? Fleming, an alumna of the festival’s school, is, quite simply, one of the world’s reigning sopranos. Making her first Aspen appearance since 1993, she will present a program of vocal works by composers ranging from Henry Purcell to George Crumb and selected arias.
