Program Notes: Frozen and Elf

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY

DISNEY’S FROZEN IN CONCERT

SUSIE SEITER, conductor WITH YOUR COLORADO SYMPHONY & COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, MARY LOUISE BURKE, director

Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 7:00pm Boettcher Concert Hall

Feature Film with Live Orchestra

There will be one intermission

CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 2 HOURs AND 3 MINUTES WITH A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION

FIRST TIME TO THE SYMPHONY? SEE PAGE 8 OF THIS PROGRAM FOR FAQ’S TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE GREAT!

Season Sponsors

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY

DISNEY prESENtS “FROZEN” in Concert Songs by KRISTEN ANDERSON-LOPEZ and ROBERT LOPEZ Original Score by CHRISTOPHE BECK Story by CHRIS BUCK, JENNIFER LEE, SHANE MORRIS Screenplay by JENNIFER LEE Executive Producer JOHN LASSETER

Produced by PETER DEL VECHO, p.g.a. Directed by CHRIS BUCK JENNIFER LEE

Voice Cast

KRISTEN BELL “ANNA” IDINA MENZEL “ELSA” JONATHAN GROFF “KRISTOFF” JOSH GAD “Olaf” SANTINO FONTANA “Hans” ALAN TUDYK “DUKE” CIARAN HINDS “Pappie”/”Grandpa”

This film is rated PG

The performance is a presentation of the complete film Frozen with a live performance of the film’s entire score. Out of respect for the musicians and your fellow audience members, please remain seated until the conclusion of the end credits.

Original Soundtrack available from WALT DISNEY RECORDS at Disneymusicemporium.com

Distributed by WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES ©2013 DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.

Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts. © All rights reserved.

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY BIOGRAPHIES

CHRISTOPHE BECK, composer

Canadian composer Christophe Beck started piano lessons at five, and by eleven he was learning Bee Gees songs by ear and performing with his first-ever band, the unfortunately-named Chris and The Cupcakes. During high school he studied piano, saxophone, and drums, and wrote many tender 80’s love ballads.

While studying music at Yale, Beck wrote two musicals with his brother Jason (a.k.a. Gonzales, the Paris-based pianist-producer-TV Host-prankster), as well as an opera based on “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe.

Upon graduation, Beck moved to Los Angeles to attend USC’s prestigious film scoring program, where he studied with Jerry Goldsmith. A personal recommendation from the legendary Buddy Baker, then head of the USC Music Department, led to his first assignment for a Canadian TV series called White Fang. Several TV series later, he was asked to score the second season of WB Network’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Beck received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for his score to the Buffy episode, “Becoming, Part 1.”

In 2000, the cheerleading comedy Bring It On launched Beck’s film career, which includes such diverse credits as Under The Tuscan Sun, Edge of Tomorrow, Crazy Stupid Love, Pitch Perfect, and the Hangover trilogy. More recently, Chris scored the Oscar® and Grammy®-winning animated film Frozen, and both of Marvel’s Ant-Man films.

Christophe works out of his studio in Santa Monica, California.

KRISTEN ANDERSON-LOPEZ & ROBERT LOPEZ, songwriters

Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez are the Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy winning, married songwriting team behind the Disney animated films, Frozen and Frozen 2. Together they also wrote the Oscar winning song “Remember Me” from Pixar’s Coco and songs for Marvel’s WandaVision (Emmy Award win for “Agatha All Along”). They wrote songs for the Obama’s series We the People and adapted Frozen for the Broadway stage. Robert co-conceived and co-wrote the hit musicals Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon, both earning him Tony Awards. Kristen’s show In Transit made history as the first all a cappella musical to run on Broadway, after an award-winning Off-Broadway run. Anderson-Lopez and Lopez have written for television, film and stage, including Finding Nemo: The Musical; songs for “The Wonder Pets” (two Emmy Award wins) and the Winnie the Pooh animated film. Anderson-Lopez and Lopez both serve on the Dramatist Guild Council. Graduates of Yale University and Williams College, respectively, they now reside in Brooklyn with their two daughters.

SUSIE SEITER, conductor

Susie Benchasil Seiter is a prolific conductor and orchestrator for film, television, video games, and live concerts. She recently completed a worldwide orchestra tour as conductor and music director for multiple Grammy-winning Evanescence and Billboard Music Award winner and YouTube sensation, Lindsey Stirling Seiter is perhaps best known for orchestrating and conducting the remarkably successful orchestral concert tours The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses and Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions. Combined, these tours have been performed more than 300 times by some of the world’s most respected orchestras. In 2015

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY BIOGRAPHIES

alone, she conducted over 60 orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic at London’s Apollo Hammersmith, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Madison Square Garden, the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap, and the Sydney Symphony at the iconic Sydney Opera House. Seiter excels in leading popular symphonic film concerts such as Frozen Live and Pixar in Concert. In 2015 she conducted and hosted the Orlando Philharmonic’s inaugural season at the Dr. Phillips Center Walt Disney Amphitheater with Pixar in Concert. Later this season she will conduct John Williams music with a performance of Star Wars: A New Hope in Bulgaria.

Parallel to her active concert career, Susie Seiter has worked alongside her husband, composer Chad Seiter, conducting and orchestrating his music to many AAA video game titles that include some of history’s most popular, enduring franchises: Star Trek: The Video Game and LEGO Jurassic World. She recently finished orchestrating and conducting his score to Microsoft Studios’ major game release, ReCore. This ambitious endeavor, recorded at the late George Martin’s AIR Studios in Lyndhurst Hall, featured the London Philharmonia, full chorus, a large rock ensemble, and comprehensive electronics. She also completed the orchestration for the symphonic feature commission for The Little Mermaid Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Also a frequent collaborator with Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory, Seiter orchestrated The Banner Saga series as well as his BAFTA nominated score, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, which was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.

Susie Seiter was on the orchestration team for Universal Pictures’ film Minions and Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak. She was also the lead orchestrator on the upcoming Sony Pictures feature film Patient Zero and the fifth installation of Underworld for composer Michael Wandmacher, which signified their 25th collaboration together over the course of 12 years.

Susie Seiter believes that orchestral music should be shared and celebrated by all generations, and she takes great pride in her contributions as a conductor and orchestrator. Originally from Baltimore, Seiter now calls Los Angeles home, where she lives with Chad and their son Samuel.

MARY LOUISE BURKE, director, Colorado Symphony Chorus

Mary Louise Burke is in her 29th season as Principal Associate Director of the Colorado Symphony Chorus. In addition to assisting Chorus Director Duain Wolfe, she also prepares the chorus for various Colorado Symphony pops concerts and special projects, including Too Hot to Handel. In the summer of 2022, she conducted the Symphony chorus on their concert tour of Austria. She has worked as the Associate Director of the Colorado Children’s Chorale, participating in hundreds of concerts and dozens of the Chorale’s regional, national and international tours. She was also Vocal Director of the Children’s Chorale, where she provided specialized vocal coaching and opera preparation. With an expertise in vocal technique, Burke frequently conducts seminars in vocal and choral techniques for area church and community choirs. She is the Vocal Advisor at Montview Presbyterian Church and has taught classes in Find Your Authentic Voice at the University of Denver. She has a Doctorate in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado.

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY BIOGRAPHIES

COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS

The 2022/23 Colorado Symphony concert season marks the 39th season of the Colorado Symphony Chorus. Founded in 1984 by Duain Wolfe at the request of Gaetano Delogu, then the Music Director of the Symphony, the chorus has grown into a nationally respected ensemble. This outstanding chorus of volunteers joins the Colorado Symphony for numerous performances each year, to repeated critical acclaim.

The Chorus has performed at noted music festivals in the Rocky Mountain region, including the Colorado Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, where it has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony, under conductors Alan Gilbert, Hans Graf, Jaap van Zweden, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Fabio Luisi. For over twenty five years, the Chorus was featured at the world-renowned Aspen Music Festival, performing many great masterworks under the baton of conductors Lawrence Foster, James Levine, Murry Sidlin, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, and Robert Spano.

Among the eight recordings the Colorado Symphony Chorus has made is a NAXOS release of Roy Harris’s Symphony No. 4. The Chorus is also featured on a Hyperion release of the Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem and Stephen Hough’s Missa Mirabilis. Most recently, the Colorado Symphony and Chorus released a world-premiere recording of William Hill’s The Raven.

In 2009, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the chorus, Duain Wolfe conducted the chorus on a three-country, two-week concert tour of Europe, presenting the Verdi Requiem in Budapest, Vienna, Litomysl and Prague; in 2016 the chorus returned to Europe for concerts in Paris, Strasbourg and Munich featuring the Fauré Requiem. In the summer of 2022, the Chorus toured Austria, performing to great acclaim in Vienna, Graz and Salzburg.

COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS

Duain Wolfe, Founding Director and Conductor

Mary Louise Burke, Principal Associate Director and Conductor

Taylor Martin, Associate Director and Conductor

Jared Joseph, Conducting Intern

Hsiao-Ling Lin and ShaoChun Tsai Schneider, pianists

Eric Israelson, Chorus Manager/Librarian

Barbara Porter, Associate Chorus Managers

SOPRANOS

Manda Baker

Suzanne Collins

Angie Collums

Emily Eck

Alaina Headrick

Alicia Irigoyen

Anne Lopez

Anne Maupin

Kim Pflug

Barb Porter

Roberta Sladovnik

Caitlin Wadman

Rebecca Wise

ALTOS

Brenda Berganza

Anna Friedman

Brienna Martin

Annélise Nelson

Jill Parsons

Mary Thayer

Benita Wandel

TENORS

Ryan Bowman

Jack Dinkel

Dallas Rehberg

Hannis Thompson

BASSES

Bob Friedlander

Eric Israelson

Matt Molberg

Gene Nuccio

Josh Richards

Russ Skillings

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY

ELF™ IN CONCERT

NICHOLAS HERSH, conductor

Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 7:00pm

Friday, December 23, 2022 at 7:00pm Boettcher Concert Hall

“Elf”

Directed by Jon Favreau

Produced by Kent Alterman, Cale Boyter, Julie Wixson Darmody, Toby Emmerich, and Jimmy Miller Written by David Berenbaum

Starring: Will Farrell James Caan Bob Newhart Edward Asner Mary Steenburgen Zooey Deschanel

Music by John Debney Cinematography by Greg Gardiner Edited by Dan Lebental

Produced by New Line Cinema & Guy Walks Into a Bar Productions Distributed by New Line Cinema

Justin Freer President/Founder/Producer Brady Beaubien Co-Founder/Producer

Chief XR Officer / Head of Publicity & Communications Andrew P. Alderete Director of Operations Andrew McIntyre Senior Marketing Manager Brittany Fonseca Senior Social Media Manager Si Peng

Worldwide Representation Opus 3

Music Preparation JoAnn Kane Music Service Sound Remixing Justin Moshkevich, Igloo Music Studios

CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND 57 MINUTES WITH A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY BIOGRAPHIES

NICHOLAS HERSH, conductor

American conductor Nicholas Hersh has earned critical acclaim for his innovative programming and natural ability to connect with musicians and audiences alike.

In the 2022-2023 season, Hersh debuts with the Utah, Colorado and Modesto symphonies, and The Florida Orchestra, and returns to the Baltimore, Houston and New Jersey symphony orchestras, and Rochester Philharmonic. Highlights of the prior season include engagements with the National (D.C.), Detroit, Grand Rapids, Portland (ME), and Tucson symphony orchestras, Louisiana Philharmonic, Sarasota Orchestra, and symphonies of Richmond and Winston-Salem, and Peabody Opera. Other recent conducting appearances include the Phoenix Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, and New World Symphony.

Over a remarkable tenure as Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Hersh created the BSO Pulse series, through which he brought together indie bands and orchestral musicians in unique collaborations; he led the BSO in several subscription weeks, and concerts in and around Baltimore; and he directed the BSO’s educational and family programming, including the celebrated Academy for adult amateur musicians. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hersh developed and conducted the BSO’s new digital concert series, BSO Sessions. Mixing performance with documentary-style interviews, Hersh introduced the BSO and online audiences to a wide variety of new repertoire, including numerous living composers as well as seldom-performed historical composers. “His commitment to performing works by composers of color,” described BSO leadership, “will continue to inform the BSO’s programming long into the future.”

JOHN DEBNEY, composer

John Debney is the ultimate film music character actor. In equal demand for family films such as Jingle Jangle, Come Away, and Elf, as he is for adventure films like Iron Man 2, the Oscar-nominated composer also scored the powerful and poignant The Passion of the Christ. Debney is an agile jack-of-all-genres, sci-fi adventure (ORVILLE), composing for comedies (Bruce Almighty), horror (Dream House) and romance (Valentine’s Day) with the same confidence and panache. Debney is also known for his work in such films as Princess Diaries, Sin City, Liar Liar, Spy Kids, No Strings Attached, The Emperor’s New Groove, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Hocus Pocus. Debney’s work also includes Disney’s The Jungle Book directed by Jon Favreau, Fox’s Ice Age: Collision Course directed by Mike Thurmeier, and Twentieth Century Fox’s award-winning musical The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron. Debney’s most recent films include The Beach Bum starring Matthew McConaughey and directed by Harmony Korine, the Warner Bros.

MOVIES AT THE SYMPHONY BIOGRAPHIES

comedy feature Isn’t It Romantic starring Rebel Wilson, Paramount Pictures’ family adventure feature Dora and the Lost City of Gold, and Bleecker Street’s biopic Brian Banks. Upcoming for Debney is Come Away directed by Brenda Chapman and starring Angelina Jolie.

Born in Glendale, California, Debney’s professional life began after he studied composition at the California Institute of the Arts, when he went to work writing music and orchestrating for Disney Studios and various television series. He won his first Emmy in 1990 for the main theme for The Young Riders, and his career soon hit a gallop. Since then he has won three more Emmys (Sea Quest DSV), and been nominated for a total of six (most recently in 2012 for his work on the Kevin Costner western miniseries Hatfields & McCoys). His foray into videogame scoring—2007’s Lair—resulted in a BAFTA nomination and a Best Videogame Score award from The International Film Music Critics Association.

Debney has collaborated with acclaimed directors as diverse as Robert Rodriguez, Garry Marshall, Mel Gibson, the Farrelly Brothers, Jon Favreau, Jim Sheridan, Ivan Reitman, Peter Chelsom, Rob Cohen, Brian Robbins, Tom Shadyac, Sam Raimi, Adam Shankman, Howie Deutch, Renny Harlin, Peter Hyams and Kenny Ortega. He was nominated by the Academy for his Passion of the Christ score. Inspired by that score, he then created The Passion Oratorio, performed in 2015 in the historic Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, Spain in front of 6,000 people during Holy Week. In 2005, Debney was the youngest recipient of ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Career Achievement Award.

“If I’m doing my job well,” says Debney, “I need to feel it. I really try to make sure that whatever I’m doing— even if it’s a comedy—that I’m feeling it and feeling either humor or the pathos or the dramatic impact of what I’m seeing. That’s the way I approach it.”

About CineConcerts

CineConcerts is one of the leading producers of live and digital music experiences performed with visual media, and continues to redefine entertainment. Founded by Producer/Conductor Justin Freer and Producer/Writer Brady Beaubien, CineConcerts will engage over 4.8 million people worldwide in concert presentations in over 1,749 performances in 48 countries through 2022, and recently launched CineConcerts +PLUS - a global digital network and app suite with hundreds of exclusive podcast episodes and produced content. CineConcerts continues to work with some of the most prestigious orchestras and venues in the world including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and more. Recent and current live and digital concert experiences include Elf in Concert, The Pinball Concert (Digital), The Polar Express in Concert, Rudy in Concert, The Passion of the Christ in Concert, The Da Vinci Code in Concert, The Harry Potter Film Concert Series, Gladiator Live, The Godfather Live, It’s a Wonderful Life in Concert, DreamWorks Animation In Concert, Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage 50th Anniversary Concert Tour, Breakfast at Tiffany’s in Concert, and A Christmas Dream Live