Author: Marc Shulgold
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Two composers honor Chautauqua’s 125th birthday
Opened in 1898 as part of the nationwide Chautauqua movement established by Texas schoolteachers to create extra summertime education opportunities for their ranks, Boulder’s Chautauqua Park and its spacious auditorium have since welcomed hikers, picnickers and concert-goers for a century-and-a-quarter. To open Sunday’s Colorado Music Festival concert in the auditorium, the hall’s 125th anniversary will…
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Musical remembrance of JFK’s final speech to premiere in Boulder
Boulder’s’ Neil Bicknell was there in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy gave his final speech at Amherst College in honor of Robert Frost. It was Bicknell’s idea to turn the occasion into the concert “The Last Speech,“ which will have its world premiere performance on Sunday at the Colorado Music Festival, along with a new…
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Colorado Music Festival ’23 harbors an old flame for new works
Peter Oundjian glanced over the Colorado Music Festival‘s 2023 lineup and reported with unconcealed glee, “Everybody I wanted to invite said ‘Yes.’” That pretty much sums up the music director’s enthusiasm for the annual summer event that opens June 29-30 in Boulder’s Chautauqua Auditorium. That’s when superstar violinist Joshua Bell will serve as soloist to…
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Denver production of Puccini’s opera “Turandot” tackles stereotypes
It’s a good thing that Opera Colorado’s four performances of “Turandot” are almost sold-out. This might be the last chance for locals to see Puccini’s final opera. At least, that’s what Kara Shay Thomson has been hearing. “There’s a thought in the industry that it could disappear,” the soprano said with a look of disappointment.…
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Wonderbound dancer says farewell after 14 ‘dangerous’ seasons with Denver company
As a boy growing up in a tough Baltimore inner city neighborhood, Damien Patterson fell in love with modern dance. A dangerous romance. No surprise that he didn’t find much support for it. “My family tried to talk me out of it,” he recalled, flashing an irrepressible smile under a few short dangling braids. Luckily,…