-Gregory T.S. Walker Song of the Untouchable for Electric Violin (World Premiere)
-Colin Thurmond Concierto de Pampas for Guitar & Percussion (World Premiere)
-Arturo Marquez Danzon no. 2
-Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade
with narration by Douglas Penick
This Event is made possible in part by University of Colorado at Denver’s College of Arts and Media
The inaugural season of the Boulder Symphony comes to a climactic and not to be missed finale as we explore multiple musical journeys and exchange glances across time and distant lands. A multimedia experience fusing symphonic colors, spectacular video, and cutting-edge technology, Gregory T.S. Walker’s Song of the Untouchable for Electric Violin and Chamber Orchestra is inspired by the composer’s recent journey to the heart of Kerala, India. The astonishing sounds of his specially-designed instrument guide the orchestra through filmmaker Chuck Fryberger’s images of exotic jungle canals and rituals, with a kaleidoscope of temple drums, Eastern melodies – and of course, audience participation.
Colin Thurmond describes his Concierto de Pampas for Guitar and Percucssion as “on many levels a commentary on the music to which I listen. The piece seeks to relate my experience and travels in the world and the rich diversity that coexists in the 21st century.” Incorporating stylistic elements of composers as far flung as Alberto Ginastera, Sergei Prokofiev, Edward Elgar and Thomas Adès, the Concierto masterfully showcases a novel, imaginative and globally-influenced compositional voice of the 21st century.
Arturo Marquez discovered the world of the Danzon along with the seeds of his classical roots during his journeys throughout Mexico: “I discovered that the apparent lightness of the danzon hides a music full of sensuality and rigor, music that our old folks live with and haunts us today…. nostalgia and joy, a world that we can still grasp in the dance music of Veracruz and the dance halls of Mexico City. [The Danzon no. 2] tries to get as close as possible to the dance, to the nostalgic melodies, its monotonous rhythms, and although it desecrates its intimacy, its form and its harmonic vocabulary, it is a personal way of expressing my admiration and feelings towards real popular music”
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov probably began contemplating his richly colorful and fantastical Sheherazade during his travels as a young sailor throughout the Orient and Near East. In this Symphonic Narrative, the Sultan Shahriar, convinced of the duplicity and infidelity of all women, vowed to slay each of his wives after the first night. The Sultana Sheherazade, however, saved her life by recounting to the Sultan a succession of tales over a period of one thousand and one nights. Overcome by curiosity, the Sultan postponed the execution of the mystical and alluring Sheherazade from day to day, and ended by renouncing his murderous appetite altogether and going monogamous.
Song of the Untouchable by Gregory T.S. Walker
A multimedia experience fusing symphonic colors, spectacular video, and cutting-edge technology, Gregory T.S. Walker’s Song of the Untouchable for Electric Violin and Chamber Orchestra is inspired by the composer’s January 2011 journey to the heart of Kerala, India. The astonishing sounds of Walker’s specially-designed instrument guide the orchestra through filmmaker Chuck Fryberger’s images of exotic jungle canals and rituals, with a kaleidoscope of temple drums, Eastern melodies – and audience participation. http://songoftheuntouchable.blogspot.com/
