Soundings - Summer 2015

SOUNDINGS THE MAGAZINE OF THE COLORADO SYMPHONY

Welcome Friends: As the Senior Vice President of Program Innovation at the Colorado Symphony, I’m thrilled to share with you a summer of concerts that combine the best elements of the summer. From classical to contemporary, the series offers something for every kind of taste in venues that showcase our state’s natural beauty.

We welcome yet another amazing Colorado summer filled with music by your Colorado Symphony!

We’re doing many new things this summer, including the introduction of several events just for the young and young at heart. We’re excited to return to Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre with our Music Director, Andrew Litton, are presenting five huge programs at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre, we’ll return triumphantly to the Arvada Center, and feature some special opportunities to cool off indoors and hear the orchestra in Boettcher Concert Hall.

I invite you to challenge yourself this summer to experience the orchestra in a new way. If you’ve not seen us perform at Red Rocks, we’ll be performing with some of the most exhilarating artists on the touring circuit, including Belle and Sebastian, Ben Folds, Ingrid Michaelson, and also Diana Krall and Pink Martini.

We’ll continue pushing the envelope of new symphonic experiences with a special performance of Video Games LiveTM this August. Much of the most exciting music being composed today is for video game scores, and we’re excited to collaborate with that community in a special evening at Red Rocks!

We’re thrilled to offer a couple of unique opportunities to experience your orchestra performing the timeless works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At the Arvada Center, we are delighted to introduce the young pianist, Ji, performing Mozart’s Piano Concert No. 23 with the orchestra; a must-see concert debut. Also, join us downtown at Boettcher Concert Hall for a program that includes six world-class vocalists who will show us exactly what makes Mozart’s operas great!

This concert has everything, including, believe it or not, music from “The Shawshank Redemption.”

We thank you for making the Colorado Symphony part of your summer, enjoy the music!

— Anthony Pierce Senior Vice President of Program Innovation

Contents 6 Sponsor Spotlight 8 Colorado Symphony 9 Board of Trustees/Staff 10 Mozart Under Moonlight

Friday, July 10 at 7:30 pm Arvada Center Outdoor Amphitheater 11 Mostly Mozart: The Common Man

Saturday, July 11 at 7:30 pm

Boettcher Concert Hall 14

The Music of Harry Potter Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 pm Boettcher Concert Hall

15 Family Day at the Symphony: Inspired by Nature Sunday, July 26 at 2:00 pm Boettcher Concert Hall 17 Boston Pops Tribute

Friday, August 7 at 7:30 pm Arvada Center Outdoor Amphitheater 18

Audience Choice!

Saturday, August 8 at 7:30 pm Boettcher Concert Hall

19

Biographies

For tickets: 303.623.7876 www.coloradosymphony.org Boettcher Concert Hall Denver Performing Arts Complex 1000 14th Street, #15 Denver, CO 80202 Phone: 303.292.5566 Fax: 303.293.2649 tickets@coloradosymphony.org

Angie Flachman Johnson, Publisher Annette Allen, Art Director Sandy Birkey, Graphic Designer Wilbur E. Flachman, President and Founder For advertising information, please call (303) 428-9529 or e-mail sales@pub-house.com ColoradoArtsPubs.com This program is produced for the Colorado Symphony by The Publishing House, Westminster, CO.

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SCFD — Time for a fresh look and bold thinking Denver Post Column by Wellington Webb and Eric Sondermann June, 2015 Come the 2016 reauthorization vote for the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), it will have been 28 years since metro-area voters had the foresight to create this crucial entity.

SCFD has been a tremendous boon to the arts across the region. We have nothing but admiration for those who were present at the creation and those who have shepherded the district over these decades.

Much — so very much — has changed since the SCFD came about in 1988. The world is a different place and the Denver area has progressed in countless ways. Similarly, the local arts community has changed dramatically and is far more diverse and robust than was the case in that era.

Yet the SCFD reauthorization task force’s recently released proposal is mired in the past and stuck in a dated status quo. Sure, there are some minor tweaks here and there, and a few crumbs thrown in the direction of some lesser organizations. But the proposal is lacking in imagination (particularly notable for a sector renowned for its creativity) and would effectively lock in place many of the current inequities. It would go down as a major missed opportunity.

Since its inception, SCFD has been structured in three tiers. Tier I is limited to the five biggest players, identified by statute as the Denver Art Museum, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the Denver Zoo. Tier II, which consisted of six entities back in 1988, now includes 27 mid-level organizations across the region. Tier III contains nearly 300 smaller, grassroots arts groups that provide so much vitality to this community.

But consider this: The five Tier I organizations currently receive 65 percent of the total SCFD pot and under the current reauthorization proposal would receive 62 percent. How is that equitable? How does that stimulate innovation and growth of new ventures? How does that spread the opportunity around the region?

There are now four-and-a-half times as many organizations in Tier II as there were in the late 1980s. That’s a strong, healthy sign of a vigorous

arts sector. But the SCFD allocation has increased by only a fraction. The effect of this, as any math major will attest, is that the funding of Tier II groups has been enormously diluted.

The fact is that the five dominant players in Tier I each realize roughly 20 percent of their respective operating budgets from SCFD, while the 27 groups that comprise Tier II, on average, receive between eight and nine percent.

As in so many other realms, the perpetuation of the current structure serves to benefit those who are already the best off. As they say, the rich get richer.

Let’s also consider the growth of the metro area. Do you notice what the five Tier I organizations have in common? The first word in each of their names is “Denver.” To be sure, each is a regional asset. But they are no longer the only games in town. As the area has grown and the SCFD tax base has spread, why shouldn’t the Lone Tree Arts Center, Hudson Gardens, the Arvada Center and numerous others be treated in a similar and fair manner?

Following the lead of the Denver Preschool Program — which won voter approval of a tax increase after only a few years of operation — perhaps, three decades later, it might be time to give the arts a raise by elevating the tax from .001 to .0012 (from 10 to 12 cents on a $100 purchase) with extra revenues exclusively targeting Tier II and Tier III groups.

Some within SCFD, especially those who benefit the most from the current, weighted structure, counsel caution and argue against rocking the boat. We couldn’t disagree more.

The creation of the SCFD was a visionary step. But time moves on, and institutions cannot be static. This reauthorization process offers an opportunity for a new, updated, equally bold vision. It is time — nay, past time — for a fresh look.

Become a part of the conversation at www.scfdfreshlook.com Wellington Webb served as Mayor of Denver from 19912003. Eric Sondermann is a Denver civic leader and political commentator. Both are Board members of the Colorado Symphony, a Tier II organization.

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KYM THOMSON

DANNY TURNER

COLORADO SYMPHONY

ANDREW LITTON MARIN ALSOP

SCOTT O’NEIL

DUAIN WOLFE

MUSIC DIRECTOR

RESIDENT CONDUCTOR

CHORUS DIRECTOR

VIOLIN Yumi Hwang-Williams Concertmaster The Mary Rossick Kern & Jerome H. Kern Concertmaster Chair Claude Sim Associate Concertmaster Yi Zhao Assistant Concertmaster Boram Kang Fixed 4th Chair Paul Primus Principal Second Allegra Wermuth Assistant Principal Second Jerry Chiu Larisa Fesmire Thomas Hanulik Wyn Hart John Hilton Anne-Marie Hoffman Myroslava Ivanchenko-Bartels Dorian Kincaid Karen Kinzie Mark Lamprey Ben Odhner Miroslaw Pastusiak Erik Peterson Felix Petit* Robert Stoyanov Amy Tyson Bradley Watson Tena White VIOLA Basil Vendryes Principal Catherine Beeson Assistant Principal Mary Cowell Fixed 3rd Chair Charlyn Campbell Marsha Holmes Helen McDermott Kelly Shanafelt Phillip Stevens

CONDUCTOR LAUREATE

CELLO Silver Ainomäe Principal Matthew Switzer Assistant Principal Judith Galecki Fixed 3rd Chair Susan Rockey Bowles Danielle Guideri Austin Fisher* Thomas Heinrich + Margaret Hoeppner Kimberly Patterson* Susan Yun BASS Brandon McLean Principal Nicholas Recuber Assistant Principal John Arnesen Susan Cahill James Carroll Karl Fenner Jeremy Kincaid FLUTE Brook Ferguson Principal Catherine Peterson 2nd / Assistant Principal Julie Duncan Thornton PICCOLO Julie Duncan Thornton OBOE Peter Cooper Principal The Irene & David Abosch Principal Oboe Chair Monica Hanulik 2nd / Assistant Principal Jason Lichtenwalter

CLARINET Jason Shafer Principal Abby Raymond 2nd / Assistant Principal Andrew Stevens

TROMBONE John Sipher Principal Paul Naslund 2nd / Associate Principal Gregory Harper

E-FLAT CLARINET Abby Raymond

BASS TROMBONE Gregory Harper

BASS CLARINET Andrew Stevens

TUBA Stephen Dombrowski Principal

BASSOON Chad Cognata Principal Tristan Rennie 2nd / Assistant Principal Roger Soren CONTRA-BASSOON Roger Soren HORN Michael Thornton Principal Carolyn Kunicki Kolio Plachkov 3rd / Associate Principal David Brussel Austin Larson Assistant Principal TRUMPET Justin Bartels Principal Phillip Hembree 2nd / Assistant Principal Patrick Tillery Associate Principal

ENGLISH HORN Jason Lichtenwalter

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HARP Courtney Hershey Bress Principal TIMPANI William Hill Principal Steve Hearn Assistant Principal PERCUSSION John Kinzie Principal Chair Endowed by a Friend of the Colorado Symphony Steve Hearn Michael Van Wirt ORCHESTRA LIBRARIAN Joanne Goble Jonathan Groszew * One year replacement + On Leave

BOARD OF TRUSTEES/STAFF OFFICERS Jerome H. Kern , Co-Chair Mary Rossick Kern, Co-Chair Susan Bowles,* Secretary Dr. Christopher Ott, Treasurer TRUSTEES Margaret Anderson Dr. Paula P. Bernstein Susan Cahill* Char Campbell* Young Cho Jim Copenhaver Jason Crow Zachary D. Detra, Esq. Stephanie Donner BJ Dyer Sandy Elliott Brook Ferguson* Jack Finlaw Dr. Everette J. Freeman Neda Ghaemi Dr. Michael G. Gundzik Diane S. Hill John Hilton* Yumi Hwang-Williams* John Kinzie* Richard Kylberg Paul Lopez Patrick C. McKinstry Mike Pappas Kolio Plachkov* Dr. W. Gerald Rainer Julie Rubsam Jim Shpall Jason Shafer* Eric Sondermann Barbara Springer Lynne Valencia Basil Vendryes* Wellington Webb * Colorado Symphony Musician Trustee EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEES Andrew Litton Colorado Symphony Music Director Mary Neidig Colorado Symphony Guild Charlie Siebert, Associate Board Ginger White City and County of Denver, Arts & Venues EMERITUS TRUSTEES William K. Coors John Low Lee Yeingst HONORARY TRUSTEES Governor John W. Hickenlooper Mayor Michael B. Hancock

ASSOCIATE BOARD OFFICERS Charlie Siebert, Chair Wendell Matt, Vice Chair Bridget McNeil, Secretary Nick Recuber, Musician Chair ASSOCIATE BOARD MEMBERS Whitney Ariss Andrea Copland Ron Dappen Rachel Ellis Jocelyn Hittle William Kowalski Ryan Mordecai Sarah Parmley Jake Spratt Chris Strom Kelly Waltrip Rachel Yeates STAFF Jerome H. Kern Chief Executive Officer Evan Lasky Executive Vice President Coreen Miller Chief Financial Officer Andrew Litton Music Director Robert Neu Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning Anthony Pierce Senior Vice President of Program Innovation Christina Carlson Vice President of Development David Aeling Production and Stage Manager Catherine Beeson Director of Community and Education Programs Anthony Berkley Development Intern Larry Brezicka Orchestra Personnel Manager Lena Capra Senior Staff Accountant Aric Christensen Audio Engineer Sherri Colgan House Manager Stephanie Derybowski Manager of Digital Media Christine Devereaux Special Events Planner Susan Ellis Executive Administrator & Board Liaison

Molly Epstein Group Sales Associate Joanne Goble Orchestra Librarian Jonathan Groszew Assistant Librarian Deborah Guess Properties Master Philip Hiester Master Electrician Eric Israelson Chorus Manager Susan Kelly Director of Patron Services Christopher Kirkland Master Carpenter Kyle Kamrath Artistic Project Manager Matt Krupa Applications Support Analyst Ian MacIntyre Manager of Patron Services Jessica Mays Artistic Coordinator Shari Myers Education Coordinator Scott O’Neil Resident Conductor Parker Owens Director of Marketing Mike Pappas New Media Center Barbara Porter Assistant Chorus Manager Emily Scott Artistic Administrator Park Wm. Showalter House Manager Amarie Söderlind, Manager of Patron Services & Staff Accountant Norma Theisen Director of Finance Kate White Development Administrative Assistant Doug Yost Information Services Director Suzanne Yuzer Development Associate Patron Services Associates Amanda Cantu Rob Halgren Alexis Kittner Amy Moore-Shipley Jessica Ramos Julia Shim Robert Steiger, Senior Patron Services Associate George Ward

Robert Warner, Senior Patron Services Associate and Symphony Concierge COLORADO SYMPHONY FOUNDATION John W. Low, President William W. (Peter) Grant, Vice President Suzanne Ryan, Secretary Jerome H. Kern Gordon Parker Marcia D. Strickland Raymond Sutton COLORADO SYMPHONY GUILD OFFICERS Mary Neidig President Susan Seitz President-Elect Constance Bender Recording Secretary J. Rene Gash Corresponding Secretary Donna Connolly Treasurer Sara Moore Assistant Treasurer Barbara Servis Vice-President of Fundraising Maureen Solomon Vice-President of Information Management Sharon Reimer Vice-President of Membership Judith Inman Vice-President of Music Education Janet Weisheit Parliamentarian Linda Rickard Ackerman Immediate Past President Norma Pile Maureen Solomon Boettcher Concert Hall Denver Performing Arts Complex 1000 14th Street, Box #15 Denver, CO 80202 Phone: 303.292.5566 Fax: 303.293.2649 Email: admin@ coloradosymphony.org Tickets: 303.623.7876 coloradosymphony.org

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SUMMER • 2015 MOZART UNDER MOONLIGHT COLORADO SYMPHONY SCOTT O’NEIL, resident conductor JI, piano Friday, July 10, 2015 at 7:30 pm Arvada Center Outdoor Amphitheater

MOZART

Ballet Music from Idomeneo, K. 367

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 Allegro Adagio Allegro assai — intermission — MOZART Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major, K. 16 Molto allegro Andante Presto MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, “Jupiter” Allegro vivace Andante cantabile Allegretto Molto allegro

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SUMMER • 2015 MOSTLY MOZART: THE COMMON MAN COLORADO SYMPHONY GARY LEWIS, conductor NATALIE POLITO, soprano CHRISTIE CONOVER, soprano CHRISTINA BALDWIN, mezzo ERIC NEUVILLE, tenor GABRIEL PREISSER, baritone LUKE WILLIAMS, bass-baritone Saturday, July 11, 2015 at 7:30 pm Boettcher Concert Hall MOZART MOZART

Overture to Le nozze de Figaro “I would like a word...” from Cosi fan tutte

Mr. Preisser

MOZART “Cinque, dieci” from Le nozze di Figaro

Ms. Conover and Mr. Preisser MOZART “Ach, ich fuhl’s” from The Magic Flute

Ms. Conover MOZART “Papagena, Papageno” from The Magic Flute

Ms. Baldwin and Mr. Preisser MOZART “Non so piu” from Le nozze di Figaro

Ms. Baldwin MOZART “Il mio tesoro” from Don Giovanni

Mr. Neuville MOZART “O wie ängstlich” from The Abduction from the Seraglio

Mr. Neuville MOZART “Der Holle Rache” from The Magic Flute

Ms. Polito — Intermission — MOZART Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio MOZART “La ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni

Ms. Conover and Mr. Preisser MOZART “Soave sia il vento” from Cosi fan tutte

Ms. Polito, Ms. Baldwin, and Mr. Williams MOZART “Cosa sento!” from Le nozze di Figaro

Ms. Conover, Mr. Neuville, and Mr. Preisser MOZART “Sull’aria” from Le nozze di Figaro

Ms. Polito and Ms. Conover MOZART Act I Finale of Cosi fan tutte

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SUMMER • 2015 THE MUSIC OF HARRY POTTER COLORADO SYMPHONY SCOTT O’NEIL, resident conductor Saturday, July 18, 2015 at 7:30 pm Boettcher Concert Hall JOHN WILLIAMS Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Hedwig’s Theme

The Sorcerer’s Stone

Nimbus 2000

Harry’s Wondrous World JOHN WILLIAMS Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

Fawkes the Phoenix

Dobby the House Elf

The Chamber of Secrets JOHN WILLIAMS Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Witches, Wands, and Wizards

Aunt Margie’s Waltz

Knight Bus

Double Trouble DOYLE/ WILLIAMS/ Brubaker Concert Suite from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

HOOPER/WILLIAMS/Brubaker Concert Suite from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix HOOPER/ Brubaker Concert Suite from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince DESPLAT/ WILLIAMS/ Brubaker Suite from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

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SUMMER • 2015 FAMILY DAY AT THE SYMPHONY: INSPIRED BY NATURE COLORADO SYMPHONY SCOTT O’NEIL, resident conductor VADIM MATHYS, piano, Schmitt Music Piano Competition Winner GEORGE YOUNGER, piano, Schmitt Music Piano Competition Winner Sunday, July 26, 2015 at 2:00 pm Boettcher Concert Hall

MUSSORGSKY

Night on Bald Mountain

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV

Flight of the Bumblebee

BEETHOVEN

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

I. Allegro con bio

GRIEG

In the Hall of the Mountain King

KABALEVSKY

Piano Concerto No. 3 in D major, “Youth”

STRAVINSKY

III. Presto

Berceuse and Finale from The Firebird

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SUMMER • 2015 BOSTON POPS TRIBUTE COLORADO SYMPHONY ANDREW LITTON, CONDUCTOR DEVIN DESANTIS, vocalist YI ZHAO, violin Friday, August 7, 2015 at 7:30 pm Arvada Center Outdoor Amphitheater COPLAND Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo

Buckaroo Holiday

Corral Nocturne

Saturday Night Waltz

Hoe Down SARASATE

Fantasy on Bizet’s Carmen for Violin, Op. 25 — Intermission —

MEL BROOKS

“The Brain” from Young Frankenstein

JOHN MORRIS

Theme from High Anxiety

JOHN MORRIS

Theme from Blazing Saddles — Intermission —

PORTER/Lanchbery Porter Meets Poirot

HAMLISCH/Lowden Selections from A Chorus Line

JOHN WILLIAMS Main Title from Star Wars

KANDER/EBB New York, New York

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SUMMER • 2015 AUDIENCE CHOICE! COLORADO SYMPHONY SCOTT O’NEIL, resident conductor GRACE DAVENPORT, piano, Schmitt Music Piano Competition Winner Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 7:30 pm Boettcher Concert Hall

OVERTURE ROSSINI BARBER MOZART

Overture to William Tell Adagio for Strings Overture to The Magic Flute

ORCHESTRAL SHOW-PIECE GRIEG COPLAND RACHMANINOFF

Suite No. 1 from Peer Gynt Billy the Kid Symphonic Dances

BACH Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052

I. Allegro MOVIE SOUNDTRACK KRISTEN AND ROBERT LOPEZ JOHN MORRIS JOHN WILLIAMS

Frozen Spaceballs Star Wars — Intermission —

SYMPHONY BEETHOVEN DVORΑK MOZART

Symphony No. 5 in C minor Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World” Symphony No. 40 in G minor

ENCORE J. STRAUSS, Jr. DUKAS SIBELIUS

On the Beautiful Blue Danube The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Finlandia

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SUMMER BIOGRAPHIES

JEFF WHEELER

ANDREW LITTON, conductor Andrew Litton currently serves as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York City Ballet, Artistic Director of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest and Conductor Laureate of Britain’s Bournemouth Symphony. He was also Music Director of the Dallas Symphony from 1994-2006. He guest conducts the world’s leading orchestras and has a discography of over 120 recordings with awards including America’s Grammy®, France’s Diapason d’Or, and many British and other honours. Litton has also conducted many of the world’s finest opera companies, such as the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Australian Opera. Besides his Grammy®-winning Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with Bryn Terfel and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, he also recorded the complete symphonies by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, a Dallas Mahler cycle, and many Gershwin recordings, as both conductor and pianist. Andrew Litton received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Juilliard in piano and conducting.

SCOTT O’NEIL, resident conductor This is Scott O’Neil’s ninth season with the Colorado Symphony, and his fourth full season as resident conductor. O’Neil maintains a strong commitment to making music of the highest quality accessible to young audiences. He served as associate conductor for the Utah Symphony, which he joined in August 2000. O’Neil studied piano performance at the Oberlin College Conservatory, served as the assistant conductor of the Eastman School Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras at the Eastman School of Music, and earned a master’s degree in orchestral conducting at Rice University, where he was the director of the Campanile Orchestra, a community/university orchestra. In the spring of 2003, O’Neil was selected by the League of American Orchestras to conduct an orchestra comprised of members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and advanced students from the University of Southern California in Synergy, a program created to promote young, contemporary composers.

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SUMMER BIOGRAPHIES CHRISTINA BALDWIN, mezzo Christina Baldwin is a singer and actor telling stories through concert, theater, film and operatic works. She has been a frequent soloist and recording artist with the Minnesota Orchestra. She is an advocate of new work and serves as Artistic Associate, music director and performer with The Moving Company, based in Minneapolis, MN. Christina’s frequent Guthrie Theater collaborations range from multiple Shakespeare works and contemporary plays, to musical theater and operetta (PBS national broadcast of HMS Pinafore). Christina wrote and performs opera outreach programs for the young, is an actor on the nationally broadcast public radio show “Wits,” has performed on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” and lent her voice to animated short films by the Dutch filmmaker Rosto A.D (Cannes Film Festival awardwinner). She is happy to be back in Denver, previously appearing with the Colorado Symphony as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel.

CHRISTIE CONOVER, soprano Described as a “jewel” with a “lovely timbre, perfect trill, and soaring top”, soprano Christie Conover is a rapidly rising star. Her voice, rich and warm, is partnered by a personal grace both on and off the stage. Her sensitive portrayal of characters such as Liù (Turandot), Juliette (Romeo et Juliette) and Micaëla (Carmen) have garnered her critical acclaim, as well as her fiery portrayal of Musetta (La bohème) and effervescent, comedic rendition of Clorinda (La Cenerentola). Most recently, however, Conover was “the standout, expressing her character’s reticence and yearning with radiant vocalism” singing Caroline Abbott in Opera San Jose’s world premier Where Angels Fear to Tread.

The upcoming 2015-2016 season marks her international professional debut with the Komische Oper Berlin as Pamina in their tour of China including performances in Guanghzou and Xiamen.

GRACE DAVENPORT, piano, Schmitt Music Piano Competition Winner A 13 year old from Laporte, Colorado, Grace Davenport is second in a family of seven children — and she shares her love of piano playing with three of them. At the age of six and a half, Grace took her very first piano lesson and absolutely loved it. Her abilities quickly blossomed as well as her love of music. Grace began studying with current teachers Dr. David McArthur and Dr. Miroslava Mintcheva when she was nine. Since then she has placed in a number of city and state wide piano competitions, including the CSMTA/SPA Festival, the Fort Collins Festival, the CSMTA Concerto competition, the Schmitt Piano competition, and the Steinway Concerto competition.

Performing her beloved Bach Concerto with the Colorado Symphony is a dream come 20 SOUNDINGS SUMMER 2015 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

SUMMER BIOGRAPHIES true. Homeschooled since kindergarten, Grace loves math, reading, sewing, church activities, and hanging out with her siblings and friends.

DEVIN DESANTIS, vocalist Devin DeSantis is a Chicago-based artist who grew up right here in Arvada and whose professional career began as the boy soloist with the Colorado Symphony in Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms conducted by Marin Alsop. He is an extremely proud alum of the Colorado Children’s Chorale and a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Music. Some of his favorite theatrical credits include Tommy in The Who’s Tommy, Marius in Les Miserables, Matthew in Altar Boyz, Frederic in Pirates of Penzance, Nanki Poo in The Hot Mikado, Jimmy Powers in City of Angels, and Frederick Frankenstein in Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein. He spent years in New York as a singer with the Rockettes in the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. Though work has taken him to Chicago, New York, and even across the pond to houses in the UK, he will always be honored to call Colorado his home.

DARIO ACOSTA

JI, piano Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “a gifted young pianist who is clearly going places,” Ji has been lauded from a young age for his compelling musical presence and impressive technical command.

A sought-after soloist, he makes his Alice Tully Hall debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, performing Ravel’s Concerto in G Major.

Ji began playing the piano at the age of five. At nine, his family relocated to New York, where he studied at the Music Preparatory Division of the Mannes College with Yuri Kim, and later at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College with Yoheved Kaplinsky. At the age of 10, he was the youngest pianist to win the New York Philharmonic’s Young Artists Competition, resulting in a performance at Avery Fisher Hall under Maestro Kurt Masur. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School, with Choong-Mo Kang.

GARY LEWIS, conductor Gary Lewis is the Director of Orchestras and Professor of Music in the College of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is also the Music Director and Conductor of the Midland-Odessa (TX) Symphony Orchestra. At Colorado, Lewis conducts the University Symphony Orchestra and oversees the entire orchestra program.

He also leads the graduate program in orchestral conducting, including both the masters and doctoral level. Lewis is equally at home with professional, university, and youth ensembles. He is also a strong proponent of new music. Lewis has been instrumental in the development and production of contemporary music festivals and his interest in new music has led him to collaborations with composers such as George Crumb, William Bolcom, John 22 SOUNDINGS SUMMER 2015 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

SUMMER BIOGRAPHIES Harbison, Chen Yi, Michael Daugherty, Stephen Paulus, Dan Kellogg, Carter Pann, and many others.

VADIM MATHYS, piano, Schmitt Music Piano Competition Winner Eight years ago, on July 27, 2007, at the age of seven, Vadim had his debut performance with an orchestra after winning the Yamaha Piano Competition. He played the Haydn Concerto in C major with the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge. Now at 15, he is a rising 10th grader at Fairview High School in Boulder. In the past years Vadim performed with several orchestras including Inside the Orchestra, Boulder Symphony Orchestra and the New York Concerti Sinfonietta. Vadim studies piano with his mother Elena Mathys and he takes coaching lessons with Larry Graham. He was a winner of the Yamaha, Schmitt and Kawai piano competitions, as well as the Steinway Concerto competitions, the CSMTA Concerto competition and the MTNA State competition. Besides piano Vadim enjoys mathematics and languages — he is fluent in Russian and he studies French, German and Latin.

ERIC NEUVILLE, tenor Eric Neuville has been praised for his “golden, Mozartean tenor and perfect command of both nuance and melodrama” (Tacoma News Tribune). A member of Seattle and Chautauqua Opera’s prestigious Young Artist Programs from 2009-2011, he has quickly built a reputation as one of the country’s most exciting young tenors. He performs regularly on concert stages throughout the country, most recently heard as the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Seattle Symphony and Orchestra Seattle, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Victoria Bach Festival, Handel’s Messiah with the Tacoma Symphony and Washington Idaho Symphony, Cary Ratcliff’s Ode to Common Things with Conspirare, and Haydn’s Creation with the Bainbridge Chorale. Upcoming performances include Adamo’s Little Women with Madison Opera, Fauré’s Pénélope with Vespertine Opera, Verdi’s Nabucco with Seattle Opera, Carmina Burana with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and several concerts as a member of the Grammy® Award-winning vocal ensemble — Conspirare.

NATALIE POLITO, soprano Praised for her “note perfect and thrilling” (Times Union) performances as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute at Opera Saratoga, rising star soprano Natalie Polito is enjoying a busy career on the country’s finest opera and concert stages. Ms. Polito’s recent engagements include her highly acclaimed Opera Columbus debut as Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with the Erie Chamber Orchestra, First Lady in The Magic Flute and Gretel in Hansel and SOUNDINGS SUMMER 2014 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG 23

SUMMER BIOGRAPHIES Gretel with Virginia Opera, Violetta in La Traviata at Opera Providence, the world premiere of Joseph Summer’s The Tempest with The Shakespeare Concerts in Boston, Musetta in La Bohème at the Green Mountain Opera Festival, and her international debut in concert at the National Academy of Music in Hanoi, Vietnam. Polito holds an M.M. in Vocal Performance from The Boston Conservatory and a B.M. in Vocal Performance with Honors from Northwestern University.

GABRIEL PREISSER, baritone Praised for his “matinee idol charm and charisma,” “a beautiful, luscious baritone,” and “a compelling, commanding stage presence” by publications such as Opera News, the Star Tribune, and the Houston Chronicle, Gabriel Preisser received rave reviews once again for his performance of Lt. Gordon in the world-première of Kevin Putz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night with Minnesota Opera. Preisser was a Resident Artist at Minnesota Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Pensacola Opera and an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera. In the competition circuit, he has been honored as a district winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and won the American finals of the International Lirico Concorso Competition this past summer. Preisser graduated summa cum laude from Florida State University with Bachelor of Music degrees in Voice Performance and Commercial Music and earned a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Houston.

LUKE WILLIAMS, bass-baritone Luke Williams, bass-baritone, is currently in pursuit of his Doctorate in vocal performance and pedagogy through the University of Colorado in Boulder where he studies under Patrick Mason.

During his studies, Mr. Williams has been seen as the Sergeant in Pirates of Penzance, Pistola in Falstaff, Father Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, and Don Alfonzo in Cosi fan tutte with CU Opera Theater.

Williams received his Masters degree at Indiana University in 2012 where he performed the roles of Marco in A View from the Bridge, Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring, and Theodorus VanGogh in the world premiere of Vincent. Other notable roles include Sciarrone in Tosca with the Colorado Symphony, Lucas in The Student Prince with the Utah Festival Opera, Gugliemo in Cosí fan Tutte, Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro.

26 SOUNDINGS SUMMER 2015 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

SUMMER BIOGRAPHIES GEORGE YOUNGER, piano, Schmitt Music Piano Competition Winner George Younger is a rising senior at Colorado Academy in Denver. He has been studying piano with his teacher, Joyce Li, for 11 years. George placed First in the Schmitt Music Steinway Piano Concerto Competition in November 2014, Second in the Colorado State Music Teacher’s Association Piano Competition (Level III) in 2013 and Second in the Schmitt Music Piano Competition (Group III) in 2012. Outside of piano, George has a love of math and computer science, and has been a member of the A1 Colorado State Math Team competing in the American Regional Math League Tournament for the past two years and also qualified to compete in the American Computer Science League National Competition. George is a member of his high school varsity soccer team and will serve as Co-President of his senior class next year.

YI ZHAO, violin Born in Henan, China, Ms. Zhao has excelled in both solo and ensemble playing. At age 12, she was selected as one of China’s bests and entered the prestigious preparatory school program at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. From there on, she has studied with Zhou Qian and received her Bachelor’s of Music at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore in 2007 and recently finished her Master’s study under Cho-Liang Lin at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University in May 2013. Her solo accomplishments include her winning the concerto competitions at both of her universities. In 2011, she performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto in Singapore and performed the Korngold Violin Concerto in Houston in October 2013. Yi Zhao officially joined the Colorado Symphony as the Assistant Concertmaster in July of 2014 and is excited to work with highly-skilled and talented colleagues.

SOUNDINGS SUMMER 2014 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG 27

Come to the Geek Side

NOV 14 T SAT 7:30

Symphony At The Movies: Back To The Future

Power up your DeLorean, recharge your flux capacitor, and get ready to celebrate the 30th anniversary of an unforgettable movie classic: Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox, the 1.21-gigawatt blockbuster that topped the 1985 box office. Fans old and new will experience the thrill of the film like never before: on a big screen with the full orchestra performing Alan Silvestri’s dazzling musical score live—and you don’t even need a time machine to get to 2015!

A Weekend Of Star Wars

DEC 26-27 T SAT 7:30 T SUN 1:00

Join us for a performance of epic music celebrating a galaxy far, far away. Your Colorado Symphony presents a concert filled with music from the world of Star Wars and Classical favorites spanning the parsecs between Denver and Dagobah. Whether your loyalties lie with the Imperial Forces or the Rebel Troops, you’re sure to hear your favorite themes and discover a few more. And remember: May the Force be with you.

A Symphonic Tribute To Comic Con v3.0

MAY 6 T FRI 7:30

BAM! POW! CRASH! Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the concert hall, your Colorado Symphony returns with the third annual edition of A Symphonic Tribute To Comic Con rebooted to v3.0! This concert features your favorite scores from superhero-tinged movies, television, and video games. Whether you’re a Wolverine diehard or a fan of The Flash, costumes and cosplay are heartily encouraged.

coloradosymphony.org ✣ 303.623.7876 box office mon-fri 10 am-6 pm :: sat 12 pm-6 pm

Mozart Under Moonlight FRIDAY, JULY 10 ✣ 7:30 PM

Arvada Center Outdoor Amphitheater

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Mostly Mozart: The Common Man SATURDAY, JULY 11 ✣ 7:30 PM

Boettcher Concert Hall

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The Music of Harry Potter SATURDAY, JULY 18 ✣ 7:30 PM

Boettcher Concert Hall

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DeVotchKa With The Colorado Symphony With special guest Kishi Bashi

THURSDAY, JULY 23 ✣ 7:30 PM

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

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Family Day at the Symphony: Inspired by Nature SUNDAY, JULY 26 ✣ 2:00 PM TICKETS AT COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

Boettcher Concert Hall

Video Games Live™ With The Colorado Symphony WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 ✣ 7:30 PM

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

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Boston Pops Tribute FRIDAY, AUGUST 7 ✣ 7:30 PM

Arvada Center Outdoor Amphitheater

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Audience Choice!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 ✣ 7:30 PM

Boettcher Concert Hall

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Diana Krall With The Colorado Symphony With special guest Pink Martini

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12 ✣ 7:30 PM

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

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A Rodgers & Hammerstein Celebration SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 ✣ 7:30 PM

Boettcher Concert Hall

TICKETS AT COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

tickets

coloradosymphony.org ✣ 303.623.7876 box office mon-fri 10 am-6 pm :: sat 12 pm-6 pm