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September 19, 2007 - Denver, CO - The Colorado Chamber Players today announced its 14th season themed “Music
Moves the Spirit,” a fusion of chamber music and movement. Opening the 2007-2008 season at the Lakewood Cultural
Center, the CCP and the David Taylor Dance Theatre collaborate in “Medusa,” James Wallace’sintimate chamber work
fordance featuring the hauntingly powerful music of AndréCaplet, Dmitri Shostakovich and Erwin Schulhoff. Performances are
Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 28 at 2 p.m.
Continuing with a Halloween program at the Highlands Garden Café, the CPP presents “Conte Fantastique,” Caplet’s dramatic
quintet for harp and strings, and Claude Debussy’s “Danses sacrée et profane.” A reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s
short story “Masque of the Red Death,” the inspiration for “Conte Fantastique,” will round out this special event on the
evening of Oct. 28. A complimentarywine and appetizers reception precedes the concert at 5:30 p.m., followed by the
concert at 6 p.m. A festive Halloween dinner (optional) at the Café begins at 7 p.m.
In conjunction with the Denver Art Museum’s spring blockbuster exhibition “Inspiring Impressionism, the CCP performs “La
Belle Epoche” on March [29th, 2:30 p.m.] at the Foothills Art Center in Golden and on March [30th, 7:30 p.m.]
at the Alliance Française de Denver. Cesar Franck’s magnificent Piano Quintet in F minor is the nexus of this program, which
also includes works by Debussy, Ernest Chausson and Lili Boulanger, as well as readings of the poetry of Stéphane Mallarmé
and Paul Verlaine. Other “Music Moves the Spirit” performances include:
“Made in the USA,” an adventuresome program that highlights works by American-influenced composers Rebecca Clarke,
Paul Creston, Katrina Wreede, Lowell Liebermann, Kevin Puts and Maria Newman. The performance is Nov. 19 at [7:30 p.m.,
Onofrio Piano Recital Hall, 1332 S. Broadway in Denver.
On Jan. 18, 2008 at 7:30 p.m., the CCP will perform Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time,” an epic statement on
war, imprisonment and the human spirit. Also on the program to be performed at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver is Charles
Martin Loeffler’s atmospheric “Two Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola and Piano.”
Continuing its series at the Highlands Garden Café, the CCP will present a Mozart birthday celebration on Feb. 17 introducing
violist Matthew Dane to Denver concertgoers in Mozart’s majestic String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515. A complimentary
wine and appetizers reception precedes the concert at 5:30 p.m., followed by the concert at 6 p.m. An Austrian dinner
(optional) begins at 7 p.m.
On Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m., poet Kate Light rejoins the CCP in a performance of “Einstein’s Mozart: Two Geniuses”
at Packard Hall, Colorado College. The original work integrates segments of two of Einstein’s favorite Mozart
works – String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515 and String Quartet in C Major, K. 465 (“Dissonant”) – with a
narration that draws listeners into the lives of two exceptional men.
In a series of concerts for families and children, the CCP will perform “Sweet Songs of Butterflies” at the Butterfly Pavilion in
Westminster. Illustrating connections between the natural and musical worlds, the program includes a slideshow of
butterflies and insects as a backdrop to related musical works by Chinese composer He Zhan Hao (“Butterfly Lovers’
Concerto”); Katrina Wreede (“How a Mosquito Operates”); Hollis Taylor (excerpt from the jazz suite “Crawl Ball”) and John
Lampkin (“Etymology of Insects”). Performance are March [3rd, 4th and 5th at 10 and 11:15 a.m.], and children and
families may tour the Pavilion’s butterfly and insect collections as part of the concert experience.
Concluding its 2007-2008 season, the CCP and bandoneonista Evan Orman will present “The Story of Tango” during Cinco de
Mayo. The program explores the Argentine tango through the music of Astor Piazzolla and Carlos Gardel – additionally, as a
special treat, the CCP will be joined by dancers from Tango Colorado. The concerts are May 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th at 6:30
p.m.] at Douglas County Libraries and in May(date tba) at the Denver Turnverein.
Performers include Paul Primus and David Waldman, violins; Barbara Hamilton-Primus, viola; Katharine Knight
and Jeffrey Watson, celli; Kenneth Harper, bass; Daniel Silver, clarinet; Lisa Martin, oboe; Paul Nagem, flute;
Lynne Abbey-Lee, harp; and Andrew Cooperstock and Nanette Shannon, pianos. Guest artists featured during
the 2007-2008 season are Evan Orman, bandoneon, Irene VanHam Friedlob, soprano, and Matthew Dane, viola.
We look forward to seeing you!
About the Colorado Chamber Players The award-winning Colorado Chamber Players, now in its 14th season, is
a diverse chamber ensemble of eleven distinguished musicians, performing nationally and internationally. The
CCP has toured the United States, Spain and Brazil, and released its first CD “Uplifting Discoveries from a
Generation Lost” on the Centaur label in 1997. The CCP received the 2006 Creativity Award from the SCFD,
and was a Hosokawa Fellowship Recipient in 2006. The chamber works presented by this energetic, virtuoso
group have ranged from Bach to Brahms, to lesser known composers of the Holocaust, to banned composers,
to Latino and women composers. The CCP engages audiences with dynamic spoken program notes about each piece. |
