From Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲBoulder to Denverāa music extravaganza
But why not go big, after all this lost time? COVID forced us to abandon our series in 2020āit normally runs every other year. āWeād planned to do Verdiās āRequiemā back then,ā Lewis recalls. āRather than perform it this year, we decided to do Carl Orffās āCarmina Buranaā with the biggest forces we can muster. Weāll be involving all the Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲBoulder choirs, including the Festival Choirāa Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲentity consisting of students and singers from the greater community.ā Those familiar with āCarminaā know it as a major challenge for huge chorus and orchestra (in this case, the Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲSymphony Orchestra)āand as a serious test for three soloists. Lewis voices full confidence in his vocal trio. āTwo are staff and faculty members, tenor Javier Abreu and baritone Andrew Garland. And the soprano is a marvelous graduate student, Dawna Rae Warren,ā he says.
Orffās spectacular oratorio may be the headliner, but this concert will also deliver a news-making world premiere commissioned by the Dr. C.W. Bixler Family Foundationāthe Symphony No. 3 by renowned composer Carter Pann, Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲBoulder professor of composition. Subtitled āOn The Importance of Our Democracy,ā the five-movement, 17-minute work was completed in just the last few months, according to Lewis. āItās a charming work, with some incredible grooves and wonderful rhythms.ā
āYes, thereās some angst in it,ā he adds, referring to the political underpinning. āBut it stands on its own. Carter will be at the concert and heāll say something about the meaning of the symphony. I talked to the players about it when we started to work on the piece.ā
Any controversy will disappear after Pannās symphony when the Boettcher stage fills with 150 gifted young musicians from El Sistemaās music-training program. āWe had invited some of them to join us a few years ago,ā Lewis says. āBut weāve never had this many. Weāll probably fill up every corner of the stage. Most of them will have to play standing up. Theyāll offer a few short selections and then weāll all finish with (Beethovenās) āOde to Joy.āā
This is an opportunity for hundreds of young musicians to strut their stuff before a big audience in a big concert hall. Itās a huge deal, with a large crowd expected. Governor Jared Polis has been invited. āWe want to get people aware of the College of Music,ā Lewis concludes. āWeāre trying to expand our reach.
āWe are so proud of the product. Iāve been at Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲBoulder for 15 years and itās an honor for me to work here.ā
Professor of Conducting + Director of Orchestral Studies Gary Lewis will direct āa gathering of forces from the College of Musicāon Tuesday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Boettcher Concert Hall at the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Admission is free, no tickets required. Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲat Boettcher is funded by the Deanās Annual Fund.
Above right photo: Carter Pann (left) dedicated his Symphony No. 3 to his close friend, Brian Scott Mason (right), āwho has revealed himself as a touchstone of balanced integrity in my life.ā Mason, a Ā鶹Ćā·Ń°ęĻĀŌŲalumnus, is currently the District Attorney of Adams and Broomfield counties in Colorado. In 2016, he officiated Pannās wedding.