Pro Musica Presents, Diverse Voices 

Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra is presenting a concert program of “Diverse Voices,” on February 1st and 2nd in Denver and Boulder. In today’s era, classical music journalists, policy makers, and funders have been asking about diversity in classical music. Typically, orchestras have been extremely conservative in programming and presenting the music of women composers and composers of color. Their appearance on the podiums and upper administrations of orchestras is also rare.

The February concerts include the music of four established composers, Gabriela Lena Frank, William Grant Still, Jessie Montgomery, and Rudy Perrault. Frank is currently composer-in-residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Frank describes herself as a “musical anthropologist.” With Peruvian-Japanese mother and a Lithuanian-Jewish father, she has explored the musical cultures of her heritage. Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout draws from Peruvian instrumental and vocal genres and asks the string orchestra to imitate panpipes and guitars, and embody Peruvian characters, professional mourners in one movement and romanceros in another. “The work pulls you into another culture, and it is delightful and touching,” says Cynthia Katsarelis, music director and conductor of Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra.

William Grant Still has often been called "the Dean" of African-American composers, he was a part of the “Harlem Renaissance” movement and his career included writing operas, symphonies, and numerous vocal and instrumental works. His Danzas de Panama uses Caribbean dance music that have African, Hispanic, and indigenous inspirations. “In this piece, you can feel the ocean breeze and imagine the dancers while sipping a cold beverage,” says Katsarelis. 

Rudy Perrault is a Haitian composer, conductor, and violinist. His work, Exodus, is dedicated to “all of those forced out of their homelands.” The piece explores the agonizing decision to leave, with its fears and hopes. “Rudy is the director of the music camp in Haiti, where I’ve been teaching since 2004. He’s an awesome musician with real gravitas,” Says Katsarelis. The string quartet version has been recorded by the Borromeo String Quartet. 

Jessie Montgomery is a composer and violinist from New York. She is prolific and her music is frequently played. The composer writes that Starburst musically elaborates on “the rapid formation of large numbers of new stars in a galaxy at a rate high enough to alter the structure of the galaxy significantly,”  

Katsarelis says, “The music is all terrific and promises a concert experience that transports us to other places, gives us much to ponder, and inspires wonder; the concert is a special opportunity to experience another dimension of human creative endeavor. Music by diverse composers isn’t part of the regular concert going experience. I believe that it should be, there’s a lot of great music. The moral dimension is that we live in a pluralistic society and orchestras are public institutions, supported by the public in many ways. I think the arts should reveal full depth of artistic expressions in our diverse world.” 

February Diverse Voices 

Jessie Montgomery Starburst
Rudy Perrault Exodus
William Grant Still Danzas de Panama
Gabriela Lena Frank Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout

February 1, 2020 at 7:30 pm | First Baptist Church of Denver, 1373 Grant St., Denver
February 2, 2020 at 2:00 pm | Mountain View United Methodist Church, 355 Ponca Place, Boulder

Ticket prices: $25 Adult single tickets, $5 Students. Tickets are available online at Pro Musica Colorado. For further information, or to purchase tickets by phone, call: 720-443-0565

About Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra and Cynthia Katsarelis, Music Director and Conductor

Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra is a fully professional chamber orchestra presenting excellent performances of familiar and innovative music. Cynthia Katsarelis has served with the Cincinnati Symphony, Pops and May Festival, the Greensboro (N.C.) Symphony, and has conducted many professional, college, and youth orchestras. For three seasons, she has guest conducted the Colorado Music Festival’s Young People’s Concerts. Critical reviews have praised her work as “a model of precision and spirit,” and noted her “creative imagination.” Katsarelis is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, with degrees in both violin and conducting.