The Scen3

By Marc Shulgold For Tom Morgan, the concept for concerts by his chamber choir seems pretty straight forward. In fact the title of those concerts and name of his ensemble say it all. “Shared Visions is truly ‘ars nova’ – new art,” he wrote me, “forged from shared inspirations of visual art, poetry and sound.” […]

A Preview by Toni Tresca In the world of love, not every romance ends with ‘happily ever after.’ Despite what pop culture has drilled into us since we were children, things are frequently more complex and messy. “Love is a gift that can also go really wrong, and not everyone gives the gift the other […]

A preview by Betsy Schwarm Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men – and musicians!  Invite a French-based string ensemble to Denver for a concert in 2020 with the Colorado Chamber Players:  COVID intervenes.  Reschedule the program for the spring of 2024:  one of the Colorado-based performers suffers a hand injury and won’t be […]

Guest harpsichordist joins baroque vocal ensemble A preview by Kelly Dean Hansen, April 1, 2024 Evanne Browne started the Boulder-based Seicento Baroque Ensemble in 2011 to share her passion for the often-neglected music of the 17th Century.  She explains that this is beautiful music audiences will not hear elsewhere, performed in a historically informed way […]

A preview by Marc Shulgold Glancing at the accomplishments of composer Joan Szymko, it’s no surprise that she emerged from an encouraging home environment. Born in Chicago in 1957 to a devout Catholic family, where (her bio states) “faith, education and the arts were core values,” she began piano at 8. Pursuing a life in […]

Review by Toni Tresca On a crisp evening in Denver, as the city brushed away the remnants of recent snow, Dazzle Denver came alive with a vibe that was anything but cold, thanks to the fiery ensemble known as Miguel ‘ Espinoza Fusion.  The quartet, known for their virtuosic blending of musical traditions, performed as […]

Preview by Marc Shulgold Cynthia Katsarelis spoke with enthusiasm as she discussed her Pro Musica Colorado’s season-ending chamber orchestra concert. She gave particular emphasis to the concluding work – a rarely heard Symphony by a rarely heard French composer. Then, when a question about next season came up, she turned serious and delivered some unexpected […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]