As a highly regarded bassoonist, Brian Jack has performed with ensembles such as the Colorado Ballet, Colorado Music Festival, MahlerFest Symphony Orchestra, Wyoming Symphony, and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra. He is an avid chamber musician, having formed the Boulder Bassoon Quartet and played with the award-winning Antero Wind Quintet.
Equally sought after as performer and composer, The Boulder Symphony Orchestra has recently commissioned Colin Thurmond for a new orchestral work, resulting in the Concierto de Pampas, a duo concerto for guitar and percussion, to be premiered in April of 2011 with Mr. Thurmond himself as guitarist. In addition, his works have been performed by Denver’s premier contemporary music ensemble, The Playground, in which he has been a regular performer.
Mr. Thurmond’s concert engagements have carried him across the United States, Canada and Europe. As a collaborator and chamber musician, he has shared the stage with performers such as Daniel and Maria Stabrawa, concertmaster and violinist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Tracy Silverman, electric six-string violinist and American flamenco guitar virtuoso, Miguel Antonio. Mr. Thurmond maintains a passionate interest in chamber music, performing with mezzo-soprano, Molly Kittle in the voice and guitar duo, Eisteddfod.
Colin Thurmond earned his Bachelor of Music from the University of Denver with renowned pedagogues Ricardo Iznaola and Jonathan Leathwood, graduating Magna Cum Laude and being awarded the 2007 Senior Recital of Distinction and the Elective Recital of Distinction in the same year. He was also prizewinner in the Lamont Concerto Competition in 2007 and grand prizewinner of the 2009 Lamont Chamber Music Competition. He earned his Masters of Music in March of 2010 after being awarded the Graduate Recital of Distinction. Thurmond is currently pursuing his doctorate at the New England Conservatory with guitar virtuoso, Eliot Fisk.
Mr. Thurmond has been Adjunct Professor of Music Theory at the University of Denver, Guitar Instructor at Arapahoe Community College and Musicology Instructor at the Academy of Lifelong Learning.
Thurmond interests include a strong commitment to contemporary music, aiming for the expansion of repertoire through composition and commissioning of new works.
Learn More
Chip Michael (b. 1962) recently returned from the UK after studying composition with Kenneth Dempster and Stephen Davismoon. He is currently studying with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Percussionist, William Hill.
Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra premiered Chip’s Symphony No. 1 “Figuratively Speaking” in 2008. The Edinburgh Quartet also premiered several string quartets and chamber pieces over the past four years and has maintained a “Skimming Rock & Skipping Stones” as part of their permanent repertoire.
While in Colorado several of Chip’s pieces have premiered with local artists and ensembles, including Cantilena’s with the Lamont Symphony Orchestra, violin concerto performed by Hannah Barton and Piano Preludes by Ani Gyulamiryan. Exchanging Glances is his latest orchestral work commissioned by the Boulder Symphony Orchestra and premiering in late 2010.
Chip Michael’s blog, Interchanging Idioms, is one of the foremost classical music blogs on the internet covering news, reviews and commentary from professional classical music artists around the world. He also is published in the monthly journal 21st Century Music.
http://chipmichael.com Learn MoreThe Boulder Symphony seeks dedicated music and culture lovers, who enjoy interacting with patrons and supporting and promoting the mission of the Orchestra. Please send an email to info@bouldersymphony.org if you are interested in joining us!
Since her 1992 recording debut with new age composer Kitaro and singer Jon Anderson of Yes on Grammy nominated Dream, Kristin Stordahl Kanda has been featured on a number of albums, including Grammy nominated albums Gaia Onbashira, An Ancient Journey, and Sacred Journey of Ku-Kai. Of her work on Gaia, Chicago Sun-Times music critic Celeste Busk writes: “Of special merit is Kristin Stordahl Kanda’s transverse flute, which lends eerie and spiritual undertones to the album.” Her performance with Kitaro was also featured as the theme music for NHK’s (Japan National Television) documentary series Shikoku Hachijuhachi Kasho.
Kristin spent two summers at the Aspen Music Festival prompting her move to Colorado. After her graduation from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Music in performance, she took up post graduate studies with world renowned teacher, Geoffrey Gilbert (London). Ms. Stordahl traveled to Japan to observe Shinichi Suzuki and study flute pedagogy with Toshio Takahashi at the Talent Education Institute (Suzuki Method) in Matsumoto. She has been principal flutist with the Boulder Symphony (formerly Timberline Symphony) since its inception.
Kristin lives near Niwot with her husband, Nao, and their sons, Kai and Amuro.
Learn More
Ginger Hedrick plays flute with the Boulder Symphony, Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra, the Boulder Chamber Orchestra, and the Second Winds woodwind quintet. In addition, she has performed with the Jefferson Symphony and Boulder Philharmonic. Ginger graduated from the School of Music at the University of Illinois, and has studied with Charles Delaney, Maralyn Prestia, and Alexa Still. She has performed in masterclasses with William Bennett in London and Jeanne Baxtresser at the Juilliard School in NYC. Ginger and her husband Bill have three adult sons, and live in the mountains northwest of Boulder with their two dogs. When she’s not playing flute, Ginger likes to hike, read, travel and spend time with family and friends.
Erin Christensen, cellist, is in the Master of Music program at the University of Denver, where she is currently studying with Richard Slavich. Erin has a Bachelor’s of Music degree from Gonzaga University where she studied with Kevin Hekmatpanah. She has also studied with cellists Psyche Dunkhase, Hamilton Cheifetz and Margaret Ferry. She has performed cello with various groups of the Boulder Chorale, Lamont Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Cello Choir (under the direction of Kimberlee Hanto), Spokane Civic Theatre, Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra, Whitworth Orchestra, Gonzaga Choir, and with many smaller ensembles. Erin currently is the studio cellist for San Luis Sound.
Jim Roecker, PhD is a violin player in the Boulder Symphony. In high school he was concertmaster of the Peoria High Orchestra, concertmaster of the Illinois Wesleyan University Summer Music Camp Orchestra, participated in the Central Illinois Youth Symphony and earned a spot in the Illinois All State Orchestra. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and is now an algorithm developer working for Northrop-Grumman. Dr. Roecker is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the Niwot Timberline Symphony.
Diane Rakoczy-Smith is a graduate of DePaul University, Chicago, IL with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. She taught piano for over 35 years in the Chicagoland area and has done much work in the field of accompanying middle school and high school instrumentalists and vocalists.
She has also extensive accompaniment experience for Suzuki violin students and has played a variety of styles on piano and keyboard for private parties and social venues including the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. She was a member of the Oakton Community College Six Piano Ensemble for several years and has just joined the Boulder Symphony Orchestra in 2010.
Learn More
After graduating from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Music and English, Gregory T.S. Walker performed solo synthesizer concerts throughout California under the auspices of the University of California Touring Artists program before obtaining a masters degree in computer music from the University of California at San Diego. He performed his Concerto No. 1 for Orchestra and Synthesizer with the Oakland Sinfonietta and earned a second masters in musical composition from Mills College before completing a doctorate in composition at the University of Colorado.
In 1993, the Colorado Symphony commissioned Walker to compose what was acclaimed to be the first “rap symphony,” Dream N. the Hood, described as “an American masterpiece” by the Minneapolis Pioneer Press. He received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Fellowship in 2000.
In performances ranging from the Filharmonia Sudecka’s premiere of XUCUOYKCUFA in Poland to the Detroit Symphony’s reading of micro*phone for Amplified Orchestra, Walker has pushed the stylistic limits of contemporary music. Dr. Walker has been featured on National Public Radio and in Symphony magazine; his Looking for the Perfect Planet for Amplified Chorus and Video Sampler is the subject of a 2010 Travis Fowler documentary:
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~gwalker/perfectplanetpage.html .
