The Colorado Symphony Orchestra hopes to achieve a balance of the fresh and familiar in its just-announced 2010-11 season as it strives to attract new audiences without taking unduly large risks in a still-lingering recession.
“I like this season,” said James Palermo, the orchestra’s president and chief executive officer. “I think it has sparkle. I think we’re trying some new things. We’re trying to connect with audiences and, at the same time, have an artistic sensibility that’s modern and contemporary.”
Venerable classical stars, including soprano Kathleen Battle (Sept. 18), violinist Itzhak Perlman (April 27) and pianist Leon Fleisher (Feb. 26-27), will be featured along with up-and-comers, such as French pianist Lise de la Salle, who will make her debut with the orchestra on Oct. 16-17.
At the same time, an emphasis has been placed on classical masterpieces, whose popularity symphony leaders obviously hope will translate into ticket sales.
These include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 (Sept 24-26), Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” (Oct. 22-24), Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” (Jan. 14-16), Orff’s “Carmina Burana” (April 2-3) and Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” (May 20-22).
“We, just like everyone else, have to sell tickets,” Palermo said, “but I believe that you can mix pieces in effectively on programs, and expose people to new music and pieces they don’t know at the same time as enjoying some of the great standards.”
Among such new and little-known works will be the American premiere of Kenji Bunch’s Piano Concerto (May 20-22), as well as the symphony’s first first-ever performance of Czech composer Bohuslav’s Martinu’s rarely heard 1942 Symphony No. 1 (Nov. 20-21).
The biggest change for 2010-11 is the establishment of Inside the Score, a lineup of seven Friday-evening thematic concerts that will be accompanied by background commentary and a changing array of extras, including visual presentations and dance performances.
The series, which is similar to culturalConvergence, a multimedia outreach series begun by former music director Marin Alsop in 2001-02, is the first in a series of new initiatives the orchestra hopes to introduce during the next three years.
“We’ve got lots of ideas for things for the future, but we’ve decided that it’s probably not wise to try and do too much at one time,” Palermo said. “What we do new, we want to do really well.”
The Inside the Score concerts will replace seven Friday evening Masterworks performances, meaning that more of the 21 Masterworks programs will be repeated just twice on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons.
“What I’d like to do is maximize attendance,” Palermo said. “To have 21 Masterworks concerts on Friday night when it is our slowest night doesn’t make sense to me.”
Typically, the symphony’s season lineups are assembled by the orchestra’s music director in conjunction with the orchestra’s artistic committee, which includes nine musicians and several board members.
But music director Jeffrey Kahane is stepping down after this season and did not have input into the 2010-11 lineup other than the program he will lead in May 2011.
Instead, the season was put together by the artistic committee under the guidance of Palermo, who began his duties in March 2009. The former head of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago holds a master’s degree in trumpet performance.
For 2010-11, the symphony has reduced its price levels from seven to five, with base ticket prices increasing slightly. The lowest priced single tickets will increase from $15 to $19. Subscription packages, which go on sale March 19, start at $122. 303-623-7876 or .
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@
Highlights of the Colorado Symphony’s 2010-11 season
Sept. 17, Elvis Costello, pop vocalist
Sept. 18, Kathleen Battle, soprano
Sept. 24-26, Olga Kern, pianist, and Douglas Boyd, conductor
Jan. 28-30, Mozart’s Requiem. Bernard Labadie, conductor
Feb. 26-27, Leon Fleisher, pianist
April 27, Itzhak Perlman, violinist
May 14-15, Tan Dun’s “Crouching Tiger Concerto.” Betti Xiang, erhu player, and Scott Yoo, conductor
May 20-22, American premiere, Kenji Bunch’s Piano Concerto. Monica Ohuchi, pianist, and Jeffrey Kahane, conductor
May 27-28, Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, Marin Alsop, conductor
June 11-12, Wagner’s “Die Walküre,” Act One. Christian Arming, conductor
