Overview
Colorado Chamber Orchestra Spring Concert
The
Colorado Chamber Orchestra
presents its Spring Concert as Orchestra-In-Residence at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities.
Maestro Thomas Blomster
will lead the orchestra in performances of familiar favorites by Handel, Mendelssohn and a selection from CCO Composer-in-Residence,
Dr. Michael Udow
.
Spring Concert
Our Spring concert on March 28 and 29, 2015 features dynamic new solo percussionist and Udow protege, Dave Alcorn, performing Remembrance by Michael Udow, written in memory of Dr. Udow's father.
Dr. Udow remarks: "The first two sections are tonal, yet with the Japanese prayer bells, and hanging bells and the musical saw, the tonal music will ultimately have an eerie quality. Those sections are more reflective of my Dad’s temperament – Tchaikovsky – “meat and potatoes” kind of fellow, yet quiet and mild mannered. Then the work goes through a series of transformations while staying true to my interest in contrapuntal complexities."
Opening the concert will be Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. Maestro Thomas Blomster first performed this piece as a 14-year-old percussionist under the baton of Mr. Copland, who is now Mr. Blomster's mentor and life-long influence.
Anchoring our Spring program is Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony , a masterpiece balancing classical control with romantic impulse, culminating in a powerful quote of Ein feste Burg. "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (German, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott) is one of the best known of Martin Luther's hymns based on Psalm 46. The hymn was also a favorite of J. S. Bach, a composer whom Mendelssohn was instrumental in reviving from obscurity.
Rounding out the program is Music for the Royal Fireworks, by the great Baroque composer George Frideric Handel - a rousing and festive piece originally conceived for and performed by winds in an outdoor setting complete with fireworks. CCO is performing a re-instrumentation of this work that includes strings in addition to brass and winds and fireworks of only a purely musical nature!
