Author: David Sckolnik
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Arnest’s ‘Ludlow Scenes’ to open Chamber Orchestra season
If you’ve been a regular reader of The Gazette over the past two decades, then you know Mark Arnest. For 15 years, he was the arts writer and critic for this paper, winning awards while being ubiquitous throughout the community. Less known were his own artistic efforts. Growing up in Colorado Springs with a father…
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Classical and contemporary
John Musto is a classical composer and pianist whose biggest influence is popular music. The 60-year-old New Yorker is due in Colorado Springs as part of Colorado College’s Visiting Composers Series The music of Musto, a composer of opera, song and instrumental music, will be featured in two Packard Hall concerts Monday and Wednesday nights.…
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The art of improvisation: Music without a safety net
Got improvisation? They do at the UCCS Peak FreQuency Creative Arts Collective. The season opener for this boundary-stretching music series makes its sounds without any printed music or rehearsal. That’s the agenda of every Bottesini Project concert. Five musicians, including collective founder and artistic director Glen Whitehead, will make something out of nothing Saturday night…
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Bombastic season opener for the Philharmonic
Superb symphonic music is back in the Springs. With guest conductor Cristian Macelaru at the helm, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic launched what has the look of its most exciting and challenging season in decades. On this occasion, the experience was an over-the-top sonic spectacular that left much of the audience punch drunk. This all-American program…
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‘Red Violin’ turns ‘Ruby’ for philharmonic season opener
Philippe Quint has a special relationship with John Corigliano’s “The Red Violin Concerto.” “I’m playing it all the time these days,” he said from his New York City home. The 40-year-old Russian- born violinist will be the guest artist for the Colorado Springs Philharmonic’s season opening concerts this weekend. The all-American program also includes music by…
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BLOG REVIEW: ‘Green Valley’ undermined by sound and sameness
There was a lot on the line Thursday night for a lot of people. Huge forces and great talents collaborated to realize the latest incarnation of Roger Ames and Elizabeth Bassine’s work in progress: “How Green Was My Valley.” The participating organizations for this first of two presentations included the Central City Opera, the Chamber…
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Colorado Springs Philharmonic kicks off program offering free tickets to kids
When the Colorado Springs Philharmonic puts its 2014-2015 individual tickets on sale Friday, it’ll inaugurate Free for Kids, a program designed to open up new musical worlds for children. The new program offers up to two free tickets for kids ages 7-17 with the purchase of one adult ticket to any of 14 scheduled concerts.…
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Future Broadway hopeful get a fine-tuning in the Colorado Springs
A semi-staged performance of the music-theatre version of Richard Llewellyn’s novel with music by Roger Ames and libretto by Elizabeth Bassine, 7 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m. Aug. 15, First United Methodist Church, 420 N. Nevada Ave., $15-$20; 577-4556, csconservatory.org Seven years ago Roger Ames and his wife, Elizabeth Bassine, began putting pen to paper…
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REVIEW: Central City Opera’s ‘Sound of Music’ is spectacular
One would be hard-pressed to find anyone in America who has not seen some version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music,” the Tony Award-winning musical from 1959.Whether it was the 1965 Academy Award-winning film, one of its numerous revivals or December’s Emmy-nominated live television production starring Carrie Underwood, this is a piece that…
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REVIEW: New music festival scores in Manitou Springs
In the summer, Manitou Springs has always been a mecca for tourism and a gateway to mountain adventures. Unfortunately, the danger of flash floods is now part of the mix.Still, score one for culture on Tuesday. Those of us who braved the elements were treated to a poignant evening of music offered by the newly…