2011-2012 Season Schedule

Here is the concert lineup for the 2011-2012 season of the Boulder Chamber Orchestra.

2011-2012
SCHEDULE

Director's Notes

An artist's quest to achieve mastery of his or her art is an incredible journey filled with excitement, frustration, hope, despair, and unending challenge. This season's selection of pieces could readily be packaged in such a way as to portray the stages that artists—indeed, all who aspire to master their domain—pass through in their lifetime. Thus, we have titled our season "Road to Mastery"!

The season stands on six pillars, each representing a concert featuring pieces that express a particular theme.

We begin with "Liberation," where we will hear Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Mozart defying the norms of their day and stepping outside the box of conservatism. The Finale of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is perhaps the epitome of "letting go," considering that it may have been written, as Wagner suggested, in a state of intoxication.

We then step into the world of "Reverence" with Mozart's astounding Requiem, written at the end of his life in what may have been an attempt to balance liberation with observance of the unknown and the divine. We are delighted to have the beloved Ars Nova Singers as our partners in performing this masterpiece for our community.

"Festivity" marks the third pillar, which coincides with the beginning of our own holiday season. What could be more apt than to celebrate the season with a set of Baroque masterpieces by Bach, Albinoni, and other masters whom we all love and cherish?

February 2012 will bring us to "Joy," a concert filled with music that celebrates love of life. Its cornerstone is Tchaikovsky's String Serenade, which he wrote not only to bring joy to the world but also to commemorate his idol, Mozart. This is complemented by a twentieth-century work by David Diamond (commissioned by Dimitri Mitropoulos to be written as a Happy Piece) and a well-known happy Divertimento by Mozart.

Reverence for other masters is part of every artist's life and, as such, provides the theme of our fifth concert. Stravinsky and Prokofiev pay homage to the Baroque and Classical masters, and Saint Saens specifically honors Johann Sebastian Bach at the beginning of his virtuosic yet dramatic concerto.

With our last concert we reach our destination: Mastery. For this program we have selected pieces that reflect the composers' skills at the height of their professions. Mendelssohn's journey, having started with his Violin Concerto in the first concert, ends here with his Scottish Symphony, written in 1844, three years before the end of his life. And Hummel's well-known Trumpet Concerto is an example of a work by a master who was overshadowed by composers yearning to change the direction of music from Classical to Romantic.

We hope you will join us for the entire adventure from Liberation to Mastery!

Happy listening,

Bahman Saless