Photograph by Jiyang Chen Photography Story by Kyle MacMillan Jessie Montgomery’s first piano concerto, which won the 2024 Grammy Award for best contemporary classical composition, ranks among the classical world’s biggest success stories of the past two years, and the work’s popularity just keeps soaring. Since its world premiere in March 2022, Rounds has received more than 50 performances by 30 ensembles, including such heavy-hitters as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. And more presentations are on the way, including July 25 and 26 concerts ..read more

Photo by Geremy Kornreich Story by Kyle MacMillan Music Director Peter Oundjian is quick to admit that he is taking something of a risk with his July 14 line-up for the 2024 Colorado Music Festival, which features no sizzling soloist but focuses instead on two calmer symphonic masterworks. However, he is confident it will pay off. “This is the program,” he said, “about which I feel the greatest sense of anticipation and excitement this summer. Both of these masterpieces represent the ultimate power of music from the Romantic period. It will be a memorable and uplifting experience — the kind th ..read more

“When you receive a gift like the Colorado Music Festival, you want to say thank you.” —Festival supporter Julie Kaewert Julie Kaewert has been bringing her family to Colorado Music Festival concerts since her daughters were very young. “They were very special nights for us as a family,” she remembers. The Kaewerts loved to dress up and enjoy a picnic on the lawn. “And then there was the magic of the concert,” Julie recalls fondly. “Just big family memories.” Julie’s daughters each chose instruments to study from a young age. As much as she loves the Festival experience, Julie wanted more th ..read more

OVERVIEW OF POSITIONSpecial Event Day Volunteers assist on the day of the event and help with set-up, greeting attendees, answering questions, recruiting volunteers for various programs, crowd flow management and/or tearing down tables and tents. SPECIFIC TASKS Set up tables and/or tents Greet attendees and answer questions Manage the flow of the crowd Volunteer recruitment Tear down tables and/or tents Help haul boxes of wine, beer, soda, etc. Administrative aid in submitting events to online calendars Please note that specific tasks may change depending on the event. TIME REQUIRED2-6 hours ..read more

Story by Kyle MacMillan | Photo by Mariah Tauger Scan the list of works by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and you won’t find any called Flute Concerto No. 2 or String Quartet No. 4. Instead, her works sport evocative titles like Requiem for a Magical America, Chronicles of the Picaflor, or Ghosts in the Dream Machine. Put simply, the Grammy Award-nominated California composer likes to tell stories. “Abstract music — I could play it as a pianist, but I couldn’t write it,” she said in a recent interview for the Festival. “I had to have something happening that was more cinematic in my head.”  ..read more

2024 Marketing & Communications Intern DescriptionThis position works as an integral part of a three-person marketing and communications team, assisting with marketing, communications, and public relations tasks. The internship is suited for someone with a music background, social media marketing experience, and an interest in arts management.  Responsibilities Brainstorm, implement, and create posts for CMF social media channels (Facebook and Instagram) Assist with concert marketing activities including installing and striking signage and liaising with box office and house managemen ..read more

Enter today for a chance to win the Taylor Swift Eras Tour London Experience for Four. You and three friends will see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium on Monday, August 19, 2024. In addition to four concert tickets, you will receive: Four nights at the five-star Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane Transportation to and from the concert in a limousine $4,000 travel stipend The Eras Tour is the sixth headlining concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. As of August 2023, it is the highest-grossing tour ever by a woman and second highe ..read more

Story by Kyle MacMillan Since appointing conductor Peter Oundjian as Music Director in 2019, the Colorado Music Festival has put a renewed focus on contemporary music, featuring esteemed figures like John Adams and John Corigliano as composers-in-residence. In addition, it has commissioned a series of significant new works, putting an emphasis on equity and inclusion with the selection of such creative voices as Joan Tower, known for enduring works such as her Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, and Joel Thompson, a member of an informal composers group known playfully as “The Blacknificent Seven ..read more

Story by Kyle MacMillan Composer Joel Thompson had been primarily known for his vocal, choral, and operatic works, but all that changed in 2020 when the Colorado Music Festival led the commissioning of a 20-minute work for orchestra and narrator titled To Awaken the Sleeper. Nine American orchestras signed on as co-commissioners, and an array of other symphonies, including such notables as Atlanta and London, have performed it since the Festival premiered the piece in August 2021. Composer Joel Thompson “It’s been a dream come true,” Thompson said from Texas, where he is composer-in-residenc ..read more

Story by Kyle MacMillanPhoto by Bernard Mindich Joan Tower called it one of the best days of her life. She was talking about a rare event for a living composer: a concert that was completely devoted to her music. That’s what the Colorado Music Festival made happen in July 2021, with an all-Tower line-up that included the world premiere of her cello concerto A New Day.  “The whole thing was just a dream in heaven come true,” she said. Since taking over as the Festival’s Music Director in 2019, Peter Oundjian has made commissioning new works a priority, and he believes Tower was an obvious ..read more