Silver Anniversary - 25th Season: 2008-2009
Thinking About “25”
Posted Mar 15, 2008
On the surface, our all-Beethoven season finale might look like any other season finale around the world. We have a fine orchestra, incomparable music, true artistry, and a confluence of tradition and innovation. But for the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, there is something more. We’ve been nurturing something very special—waiting, building and hoping for years. Music lovers in our city have taken notice and our audiences have grown dramatically. Beethoven’s mighty Eroica brings our twenty-fourth season to a triumphant close while heralding a key benchmark in the life of any ensemble—our 2008-2009 Silver Anniversary Season.
The Chamber Orchestra started as a place for fine musicians to make serious music. Performances were few. The budget was painfully laughable. This beautiful light in the darkness might have been extinguished if not for the care and oversight of longtime musicians and their dedicated music directors, like Edward Lanning, Randy Fischer, and the late Frank Toth, who conducted some fine performances before cancer took him at far too young an age. Diana Zombola, our principal violist, is the only orchestra member who has performed with the Chamber Orchestra all 24 years, also serving admirably on the board of directors.
On an August evening in 1996, just off a plane from Oklahoma , I stepped in front of the Chamber Orchestra for the first time. There were four candidates for Music Director; each would conduct half a rehearsal. Three finalists would conduct during the 1996-1997 season … or so they thought. A brief hour over Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and we were fast friends. The search was called off and I was named Music Director. The following week, I attended a board meeting, learning that the orchestra had a grand total of $60 in the bank. There was work to do!
It all seems so quaint, simple, and logical now. We raised the level of our performances. We moved the orchestra downtown to First Christian Church—an acoustically and aesthetically superior location we are still proud to call “home.” We put new marketing and development plans in place and started reaching out to other performing arts groups, joining forces to get the community excited about our mission. We were growing and succeeding against all odds.
Our successes also attracted other community leaders. Lionel Rivera and Rocky Scott made cameo appearances in our programs, while others rolled up their sleeves and gave serious time and energy to help us. Most notable of these leaders is David Ball, our current Board President. David came to us with decades of experience running orchestras. He helped us run the business side of our organization more professionally and intelligently, inspiring the artistic side to “think big.” David’s contributions to the Chamber Orchestra cannot be overstated. As he and his wife, Gail, our principal oboist, plan a new life in Oregon , we cannot thank them enough for all they’ve given.
So today is about beginnings and endings, new phrases and counterpoint in the Song of the Earth. Imagine Beethoven, panned by critics for his Second Symphony, continuing along his path to write an audacious, daring, bold symphony like the Eroica—the piece that changed music forever. Vision and perseverance are rare, precious gifts. The musicians you’re hearing today, their predecessors and their leaders are, without question, heroes.
With every good wish,
-- Thomas Wilson
March 15, 2008
Posted Mar 15, 2008
On the surface, our all-Beethoven season finale might look like any other season finale around the world. We have a fine orchestra, incomparable music, true artistry, and a confluence of tradition and innovation. But for the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, there is something more. We’ve been nurturing something very special—waiting, building and hoping for years. Music lovers in our city have taken notice and our audiences have grown dramatically. Beethoven’s mighty Eroica brings our twenty-fourth season to a triumphant close while heralding a key benchmark in the life of any ensemble—our 2008-2009 Silver Anniversary Season.
The Chamber Orchestra started as a place for fine musicians to make serious music. Performances were few. The budget was painfully laughable. This beautiful light in the darkness might have been extinguished if not for the care and oversight of longtime musicians and their dedicated music directors, like Edward Lanning, Randy Fischer, and the late Frank Toth, who conducted some fine performances before cancer took him at far too young an age. Diana Zombola, our principal violist, is the only orchestra member who has performed with the Chamber Orchestra all 24 years, also serving admirably on the board of directors.
On an August evening in 1996, just off a plane from Oklahoma , I stepped in front of the Chamber Orchestra for the first time. There were four candidates for Music Director; each would conduct half a rehearsal. Three finalists would conduct during the 1996-1997 season … or so they thought. A brief hour over Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and we were fast friends. The search was called off and I was named Music Director. The following week, I attended a board meeting, learning that the orchestra had a grand total of $60 in the bank. There was work to do!
It all seems so quaint, simple, and logical now. We raised the level of our performances. We moved the orchestra downtown to First Christian Church—an acoustically and aesthetically superior location we are still proud to call “home.” We put new marketing and development plans in place and started reaching out to other performing arts groups, joining forces to get the community excited about our mission. We were growing and succeeding against all odds.
Our successes also attracted other community leaders. Lionel Rivera and Rocky Scott made cameo appearances in our programs, while others rolled up their sleeves and gave serious time and energy to help us. Most notable of these leaders is David Ball, our current Board President. David came to us with decades of experience running orchestras. He helped us run the business side of our organization more professionally and intelligently, inspiring the artistic side to “think big.” David’s contributions to the Chamber Orchestra cannot be overstated. As he and his wife, Gail, our principal oboist, plan a new life in Oregon , we cannot thank them enough for all they’ve given.
So today is about beginnings and endings, new phrases and counterpoint in the Song of the Earth. Imagine Beethoven, panned by critics for his Second Symphony, continuing along his path to write an audacious, daring, bold symphony like the Eroica—the piece that changed music forever. Vision and perseverance are rare, precious gifts. The musicians you’re hearing today, their predecessors and their leaders are, without question, heroes.
With every good wish,
-- Thomas Wilson
March 15, 2008
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Season Premiere
October 4 and 5 Kevin McChesney: Ring of Fire Pike’s Peak Ringers, handbells Gioacchino Rossini: An Italian in Algiers Overture Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, op. 92 Concert Program We begin our season ablaze! It’s Beethoven’s hottest symphony with Kevin McChesney’s Ring of Fire. The Seventh Symphony of Beethoven is the most driving, intense, and daring music he ever wrote. Couple that with McChesney’s innovative music, returning by popular demand. The Chamber Orchestra and Pikes Peak Ringers gave the first performances of Ring of Fire to packed halls and the made the world premier recording. This is a "must see." |
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Ancient Airs, Timeless Grace
November 8 and 9 William Boyce Symphony No. 7 in F Major Henry Purcell Sonata in D Major for Trumpet and Strings David Zuercher, trumpet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat Major, K595 Kelly Zuercher, piano Georg Philipp Telemann Concerto Grosso in D Major, TWV54:D3 Oboes: Nancy Brown, Carla Scott Trumpets: David Zuercher, Thomas Wilson, William Flitter Antonio Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto in B-flat Major, “La Notte” Alejandro Vieira, Bassoon Concert Program This is the most tuneful concert of the year. Two talented couples join us: David and Kelly Zuercher, Alex and Azi Viera. The elegance and grace of Vivaldi, Telemann, and Purcell bring us music that sounds as though it were plucked from heaven. Essential to these concerts is a rare opportunity to hear Mozart’s final piano concerto and Respighi’s brilliantly orchestrated Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite I. |
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The Chamber Orchestra & the Conservatory—Together!
January 17 and 18 Aaron Copland Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson I. Nature, The Gentlest Mother II. There Came A Wind Like a Bugle III. The World Feels Dusty IV. Heart, We Will Forget Him! V. Dear March, Come In! VI. Sleep Is Supposed To Be VII. Going To Heaven VIII. The Chariot Judeth Shay Burns, soprano Music for Movies I. New England Countryside, from The City II. Barley Wagons, from Of Mice and Men III. Sunday Traffic, from The City IV. Grovers Corners, from Our Town V. Threshing Machines, from Of Mice and Men Gian Carlo Menotti The Boy Who Grew Too Fast A Comic Opera in Two Parts Featuring the Colorado springs Conservatory |
Judeth Shay Burnes
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Concert Program
The Colorado Springs Conservatory has some of the most talented students and faculty in our community. Together, we have presented four of Menotti’s quirky, fun operas. The Boy Who Grew Too Fast is both riotously funny and inspiring—a delight for children of all ages. Add to that Copland’s Music for Movies and Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson sung by Judeth Shay Burns and you have a concert event that you can’t miss.
The Colorado Springs Conservatory has some of the most talented students and faculty in our community. Together, we have presented four of Menotti’s quirky, fun operas. The Boy Who Grew Too Fast is both riotously funny and inspiring—a delight for children of all ages. Add to that Copland’s Music for Movies and Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson sung by Judeth Shay Burns and you have a concert event that you can’t miss.
Kensuke Ota
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Local Flair, International Fare
February 28 and March 1 Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 70 in D Major Mark Arnest: Towards the Garden Franz Schubert: Overture in D Major, D.590 “In the Italian Style” Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, op. 22 Kensuke Ota, piano Concert Program Colorado Springs hosts one of the finest competitions for amateur pianists in the world. Don’t let the word “amateur” fool you; these are emerging artists of the highest caliber, and you get to hear them first. Kensuke Ota is the 2007 winner of Amateur Pianists International, performing Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto. The concert also features a world premier by local composer and arts writer Mark Arnest, inspired by our Garden of the Gods. With additional masterworks by Haydn and Clementi, you can’t go wrong! |
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Season Finale
April 25 and 26 Felix Mendelssohn: Ruy Blas Overture, op. 95 Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto for Violin in D Major, op. 61 Desiree Cedeno-Suarez, violin Gabriel Fauré Cantique de Jean Racine, op. 11 Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale: Pikes Peak Singers; Lori Bammesberger, director Requiem, op. 48 I. Introït et Kyrie II. Offertoire III. Sanctus IV. Pie Jesu V. Agnus Dei VI. Libera me VII. In paradisum Lori Bammesberger, soprano James Sena, baritone Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale: Summit Ensemble; Brad Petersen, director Concert Program The Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale is our special guest in a rare performance of Faure’s timeless and haunting Requiem. Emerging soloist Desiree Cedeno-Suarez, recently named a Shivers Foundation artist, tackles Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. If we began our season on fire, we end with joy and inspiration. This is music for all time—a good beginning for the next 25 years. |
Desiree Cedeno-Suarez
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