Preview by Betsy Schwarm Raisins and almonds: not only tasty ingredients in certain holiday breads, but also a well-known Jewish lullaby. It is, moreover, what the Colorado Hebrew Chorale (CHC) calls its mid-winter event of music, food, and celebration. Culturally, there is a connection to the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat, a festival honoring a […]
A Long and Windy Road
Preview by Mare Trevathan “The Wind”– a new musical by David Nehls. One performance only!Sunday, January 14 @ 2:00 pmSu Teatro, 721 Santa Fe Drive in Denver. Tickets $26. storiesonstage.org As a composer/lyricist and music director, David Nehls has a deep, impressive, and wide-ranging history. Perhaps you saw his work as music director very recently […]
Rare Byrd with Seicento Baroque
A preview by Betsy Schwarm In this case, ‘Rare Byrd’ is not an unexpected avian visitor. Rather, Seicento Baroque Ensemble – drawing its name from the 17th century – will be spotlighting less familiar works by English composer William Byrd (1543 – 1623). Sacred verse anthems, madrigals and secular consort songs, the latter for voices […]
BACH FESTIVAL RECORDING PROVIDES “PURE AUDIO”
CD Review by Kelly Dean Hansen During Zachary Carrettin’s ten-year tenure as music director, the Boulder Bach Festival gradually moved away from a compressed series of concerts in a single festival week to a spread-out season model like those typical of symphony orchestras. In May 2022, however, the organization made a brief return to the […]
Passione with Pro Musica Colorado
Preview article by Betsy Schwarm Apply the word Passione to a musical program and thoughts may drift immediately to Romeo and Juliet. Those legendary lovers are absent from Pro Musica Colorado’s season opening program Passione, though passion in other forms is quite present. There is, of course, the ever-present passion for presenting top-flight performances of […]
The Influence of The Spheres: Colorado Chamber Players
Preview article by Betsy Schwarm Spheres of Influence: that might suggest influences we experience as individuals or groups, though also influences we exert as individuals or groups upon others. In the case of the Colorado Chamber Players’ launch of its 30th anniversary season on September 8, 9 and 10, it is perhaps both. When a […]
Transfigured Night, and Mozart, too: Pro Musica Colorado
Preview by Betsy Schwarm For its season finale concert, set for Saturday, April 29, Pro Musica Colorado will offer a program linking to its mission to evoke “the full range of human expression.” In this case, that ideal is summed up in three works from three centuries, with two big names, one current name, and, […]
The Firebird burns brightly, with Ballet Ariel
Review by Betsy Schwarm In the world of classical music, The Firebird is a familiar title, though perhaps more as an orchestral suite than as a choreographed work. Ballet Ariel’s spring production (two more performances remaining) gives audiences a chance to see it more as Stravinsky intended. Moreover, being paired with Minkus’ Paquita (1881), Firebird (1910) is presented in a […]
Taking Flight: The Falcon as Theater and Chamber Music
Preview by Betsy Schwarm Spoken words, stage action, live music, an engaging story of an imaginative child and her personal superhero: what more could one desire of a theatrical experience, especially one for the entire family? It’s playwright Josh Hartwell‘s new work, Music of Flight: The Falcon. Hartwell attests that the musical element came first. […]
Flamenco Fusion “Gabriella” Album Review
By Adam Goldstein Miguel Espinoza summoned up some very vivid imagery to describe his approach to music during his appearance at Swallow Hill Music in December. During that dynamic Denver performance, Espinoza referred to his musical style as a “boiling vat of flamenco,” a description that eloquently summed up the guitarist’s across-the-board fusion of all […]
