I had the pleasure of having a conversation with the Colorado Music Festival & Center for Musical Arts Music Director, Jean-Marie Zeitouni. We talked about the overall 2016 Season, and here is his vision in his own words:
I’ve identified five big ideas that I think should be at the core of the programming. And those five ideas: education, opera, American composers – alive and dead, honoring them nurturing them, symphonic cycles, and also hidden jewels or unlucky masterpieces- forgotten masterpieces… being able to hear less familiar works from composers.
I always think of programming like being a chef and making a menu. There are traditional dishes, some new cuisine that is completely different, and there is also dishes with a new twist on the old recipes.
It’s really like establishing not only a menu for a single night, but you do a menu for a whole restaurant. You think about vegan people. You think about steak lovers. You think about people who like new cuisine and people who like an Asian twist, and how it’s spread toward the season. But I’m trying to mix it up in a way that it makes sense in the context of any given concert.
Let’s say we have different dishes on our seasonal menu. We have an Orchestra Concert dish, a MashUp dish, a Chamber dish, a Presenting Series dish, and an Artistic Currents dish. Then new music and different components can be spread among the different dishes.
The Mash-Up Series, you can expect that it’s going to be a mix of genres. The Artistic Currents Series at the Dairy, expect not only a mix of genres in music but also a mix of art forms. The Chamber music, it’s going to be more traditional. And, the Orchestra concerts, you can be sure that if we play a new work, I’m going to give you the tools to appreciate it and to understand it, to put it into the context where it’s complimentary with the other pieces that we’re playing that evening. It’s always meant to be a coherent experience. -JMZ
From the traditional classics of the genius composers (Brahms, Beethoven, etc.), to classical music with a mash-up (The Bad Plus, DJ Spooky), with family concerts, new works (Click! Commission), and way beyond the typical performances (Artistic Currents series), the 2016 season, as Zeitouni calls it, is like a menu from a restaurant that offers a full variety of flavors.
With over 30 performances to choose from, join us for lasting musical memories with friends and loved ones. For tickets and concert information, visit COmusic.org/.