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The 2011 – 2012 season for the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra contains some very interesting and seldom performed works. For their first performance, listed below, the DPO will present the Overture to As You Like It by the American composer, John Knowles Paine (1839 to 1906). As there was no outstanding school of music in the mid-1800s in theUnited States, Paine studied in Europe, as did many of his contemporaries. He returned to the United States in 1861, where he became a member of the faculty at Harvard University. He established his reputation by being the first American composer to write large orchestral pieces.
On the same program, another American composer, Daniel Kellogg, will have his composition, Pyramus and Thisbe performed. This is a work for small orchestra and an actor. Born inWilton,Connecticut in 1976, Mr. Kellogg received his Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute and Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Yale School of Music. He has studied at Indiana University, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. His teachers have included Don Freund, Ned Rorem, Jennifer Higdon, Joseph Schwantner, Ezra Laderman, and Martin Bresnick. Mr. Kellogg served as composer-in-residence at the University of Connecticut in 2000-2001, and has since returned as a visiting lecturer. He currently holds the post of Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Colorado at Boulder and resides in Colorado with his wife, pianist Hsing-ay Hsu Kellogg, and their daughter, Kaela Li.
The actor in Pyramus and Thisbe is Frank Oden. A long-term resident of Denver, Colorado, Oden is also one of the most recognizable and award-winning character actors in the mile-high city, having worked in nearly every theater and appeared in numerous television commercials and film productions. As a theatrical playwright and producer, he’s written book, music and lyrics for several musical comedies including Blackbeard, Gumshoe, Punch, The Pecos Pest, The Fatal Glass, Easy Money and The Winter Rose, which was voted Best New Play of 1996 by Denver Drama Critics. His television scripts as head writer for two seasons of The Cyber City Diner on KnowledgeTV received two Telly awards and a Flame Award for children’s programming. Mr. Oden has directed more than thirty productions of original musicals, including a world premiere theatrical version of Heidi for Walden Media, and served for several years as Artistic Director at the historic Goldenrod Showboat in St. Louis and the Heritage Square Opera House in Golden, Colorado.
Pyramus and Thisbe is another of the Romeo and Juliet genre involving a young couple whose marriage is opposed by their parents. In a variation of this genre, Pyramus becomes convinced that Thisbe has been killed by a lion, and in despair, he kills himself. Thisbe finds him, and joins her beloved in death.
On the November 11th program, the DPO will perform the Brahms Piano Concerto Nr.2, with Katie Mahan as the soloist.
A native of Colorado, Katie began her piano studies at the age of four with her mother, Bobette Mahan, and gave her first solo recital at the age of six. She has appeared as recitalist, soloist with orchestra, or chamber musician across the world. Katie made her orchestral debut in 1999 with the Breckenridge Symphony performing Gershwin’s Concerto in F, and has subsequently appeared with many orchestras in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Also on the November 11 program will be the rarely performed Dances of Galánta by the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály. Kodály was not only a composer, but a highly skilled ethnomusicologist and music educator. His Dances of Galánta reflects the rich Hungarian-Gypsy tradition which inspired list and Bartok. This is a wonderful piece which none of you will want to miss.
On the final concert of the 2011 – 2012 concert season, the Denver Phil will present another rarely performed work, the Saint-Saens Morceau de Concert. This is a composition for orchestra and French horn, and will feature the DPO’s own David Wallace, who is the outstanding Principal Horn. Mr. Wallace was the Assistant Principal Horn in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and has played and recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, working under conductors including Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Gunther Schuller, Henry Mancini, Bill Conti, and Keith Lockhart. His Broadway credits include the National Companies of Tommy, the Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, and Camelot. He has been back-up musician for Rosemary Clooney, Robert Goulet, Manhattan Transfer, Wynton Marsalis, Andy Williams and Nancy Wilson. In addition, David was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, playing principal for two seasons. Presently he is an elementary music teacher in theAdams 12 school district, and has Kodaly Level I certification. He has been Performing Artist in Residence at the Denver School of the Arts, and for the Colorado Honor Bands, and has served as horn, music, and drill instructor, as well as musical theater director, at area high schools.
Here is the list of the entire season. Consult the DPO website for tickets and further details.
Friday, September 30, 2011
7:30 pm at the KPOF Hall
Frank Oden, actor
Weber: Overture to Oberon
Kellogg: Pyramus and Thisbe
Paine: As you like it
Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Friday November 11, 2011
7:30 pm at the KPOF Hall
Katie Mahan, piano
Kodaly: Dances of Galánta
Effinger: Little Symphony Nr. 1
Armed Forces Salute
Brahms: Piano Concerto Nr. 2
Friday December 16, 2011
7:30 pm at the KPOF Hall
Holiday Concert
Bizet: L’Arlesienne Suite Nr. 2
Corelli: Concerto Grosso Op. 6, Nr. 8
Waldteufel: Les Patineurs
and holiday favorites
Saturday January 28, 2012
7:30 pm venue TBD
Chamber Music Recital
A benefit for the Denver Philharmonic
Repertoire TBA
Friday February 17, 2012
7:30 pm at the KPOF Hall
Featuring Young Artist Vocal Competition Winners
Vocal pieces TBA
Puccini: Capriccio Sinfonico
Verdi: Overture to Nabucco
Verdi: Ballet Music from Macbeth
Verdi: Triumphal March from Aida
Friday March 30, 2012
7:30 pm at the KPOF Hall
Lamont Women’s Chorus
Debussy: Nocturnes
Bartok: Three Village Scenes
Beethoven: Symphony Nr. 6
Friday May 11, 2012
7:30 pm at the KPOF Hall
David Wallace, French horn
Piston: Suite from The Incredible Flutist
Saint-Saens: Morceau de Concert
TBA
This truly appears to be a very promising season for the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra. As I stated above, there are some real gems being performed this season, for example, the Puccini Capriccio Sinfonico. And you certainly won’t want to miss the March 30 concert which features the Lamont Women’s Chorus, which is conducted by the outstanding Dr. Catherine Sailer. One could not help but notice, this past season, that the DPO audience almost filled the hall at every concert.
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