The Scen3

Review by Betsy Schwarm Over 32 years, the Boulder-based Ars Nova Singers have built a reputation as one of the finest a cappella choirs anywhere. Their concert October 6 in Denver had all the artistry one expects of the ensemble. This time, however, being ever inventive in his programming, music director Thomas Edward Morgan had […]

A preview by Barbara Hamilton A 33-year old man emerged from the shadows, paper in hand. His hands shaking, he nailed the manuscript with 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church. Martin Luther’s revolutionary acts of insubordination and protest against the Catholic Church had just begun. All over the world, choral groups are […]

Like every director of every orchestra or chorus, Timothy Krueger begins sketching out the upcoming season with the equivalent of a blinking cursor on an empty computer screen.

Preview by Betsy Schwarm Music has often set out to support and promote social causes.   Even before recent and current pop stars began undertaking such endeavors, Bedřich Smetana was speaking up for Czech nationalism, and it is no accident that Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro explores the divide between aristocrats and those who serve them. So […]

A review by Marc Shulgold  In their spoken introduction, Tom Morgan and Nancy Smith welcomed their audience to the Dairy Arts Center by cutely alternating words and phrases in explaining the collaboration of his Ars Nova Singers and her all-women Frequent Flyers aerial dance troupe. Most of what they actually said became lost in the […]

A preview by Marc Shulgold  Evanne Browne chuckled when faced with an unexpected challenge: Pronounce the name of a choral piece to be sung by her choral ensemble Seicento later this month. It’s titled Teponazcuicatl. “I’ve been practicing it,” the conductor said with a laugh. She had no problem translating the title of this charming […]

A preview by Marc Shulgold What’s in a name? In the case of Timothy J. Krueger’s first name, apparently not much. The choral conductor chuckled as he pointed out that the origins of “Timothy” are related to “timid,” after the Latin word timere, meaning “to fear.” Well, there’s nothing timid about the season-opener of his […]

A preview by Marc Shulgold  It was a scene right out of a movie: In the fall of 2013, Leah Peer was strolling along a street in Jerusalem with her mother, Ruth Keusch, discussing what they could do to help those in need – specifically, the residents of Woman to Woman, the . And just […]

A review by Gwen Gray What would it feel like to hear a poem of your own creating rise up, take flight and fill your ears with angelic voices through the force of an entire choir? You had only to look at Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s tear-streaked face Saturday evening to get an idea. As the […]

A preview by Marc Shulgold One of the popular acts on the old Ed Sullivan TV show featured a guy dashing around madly,  keeping a dozen dinner plates spinning atop a dozen skinny wooden poles. Talk about having your hands full. Thomas Edward Morgan knows the feeling. On Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19 and 20, […]