The Roser ATLAS B2 Black Box Theater on Friday night will once again be filled with the sound of live music for the first time since the coronavirus forced the on-campus venue’s closure.
“From Past to Present”— a show that features a range of songs, some dating back 450 years — is a collaboration between ATLAS Institute and Cultural Caravan — a recently-formed arts group that brings flash-mob-style pop-up shows and fully-realized productions to locales throughout the Front Range.
“I was brand-new to the community when I started the Caravan, having come here from New York during the pandemic and it’s been incredibly rewarding to get to know the city in this way –– connecting with so many artists, local business owners and passionate community members and bringing them together after being isolated for so long,” said Josh Halpern, Cultural Caravan founder and cellist.
The free concert, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, is a welcome-back for music fans. Attendees can secure a seat by registering at eventbrite.com/e/the-cultural-caravan-atlas-present-from-past-to-present-tickets-162875167009.
“We’ve got a great-sized crowd registered so far, but tickets are still available,” Halpern said. “We’re optimistic it will be full-capacity, especially since this is the ATLAS Institute’s first public event since 2019.”
When many venues still remained shuttered, the Cultural Caravan hosted 15 diverse performances throughout the region — bringing the arts to restaurant patios and grassy lots since May.
“One thing I love about the Caravan is that it sort of resists expectations,” Halpern said. “We don’t just present one kind of music. We present the community in all its creative forms.”
Halpern — who will play cello as part of the “From Past to Present” supergroup — is excited to bring the thoughtfully-curated program to this art center whose seats have remained empty for such a long stretch.
“Our concert at the ATLAS Institute will be a mashup of music from long ago — John Dowland, Henry Purcell and Claudio Monteverdi, all of whom lived in the 16th and 17th centuries — with music by John Tavener, who died in 2013 and Caroline Shaw who — besides being the youngest-ever composer to win a Pulitzer Prize — has also worked with Kanye West,” Halpern said.
The skilled ensemble includes violinists Yumi Hwang and Yi Zhao from Colorado Symphony, Charles Wetherbee, College of Music professor, on viola and Frank Nowell, artistic director of Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, on harpsichord.
Also in the mix is an incredibly gifted vocalist who is no stranger to this on-campus venue.
“I am thrilled to be joining such a stellar lineup of Colorado musicians for my first concert since moving back to Colorado,” said Kristin Gornstein, a mezzo-soprano and 2008 graduate of CU Boulder College of Music. “My family moved back in October because of the pandemic. We wanted to be closer to friends and family and had been in New York for the past 10 years. It is really wonderful to be back.”
Gornstein looks forward to returning to her alma mater for this eclectic performance, not just because of the show’s diverse song choices and stellar musicians – but for the magic and ambiance the venue provides.
“I performed several concerts in the ATLAS Black Box Theater when it first opened and enjoyed it immensely,” Gornstein said. “It is my favorite venue in Boulder. I love the intimacy of the space and its versatility. Being able to look the audience in the eye as I sing is not necessarily a guaranteed thing in larger venues and I think Britten’s genius piece ‘Phaedra’ will be perfect for a Black Box setting.”
As pandemic restrictions start to loosen, Gornstein is enthused to take more area stages.
“Locally, I will be sitting with the Boulder Bach Festival this coming season, in both outreach performances throughout the year and in their festival next May,” Gornstein said.
On Sunday, Cultural Caravan will converge on the Boulder Bandshell for another free concert, Zivanai Masango & Friends.
Previously, Masango shared stages with Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Cliff and Colorado’s own String Cheese Incident.
“Our concert at the Bandshell will be — in many ways — the polar opposite of our ATLAS concert,” Halpern said. “Zivanai (Masango) and I met back in May and he’s become a good friend of the Caravan. His band, ZiMbira, does traditional Zimbabwean music — along with Afropop — and it’s the perfect soundtrack for summer.”
Although tickets for Sunday’s show are also free, there is an option to provide a donation when registering at brownpapertickets.com/event/5169429.
While many of Cultural Caravan’s events are low cost or free to the public, Halpern has been able to raise close to $35,000 for participating artists through fundraising efforts.
“I’ve met so many passionate community members who see the Caravan’s potential to bring everyone together and luckily they’ve been extremely generous,” Halpern said. “I think it’s compelling for people to know that since all our artists and collaborating businesses are local, every dollar we raise gets directly reinvested into the community.”
Cultural Caravan is also fiscally-sponsored by Boulder County Arts Alliance.
“The Cultural Caravan will definitely continue beyond this summer,” Halpern said. “While it started as a reaction to COVID, the fact is that 2020 wasn’t the first year in which small businesses struggled to keep up with big-box stores and online retailers.”
Halpern has plans to stay in Colorado and continue to build on his organization’s creative efforts.
“It’s not the first year in which artists have struggled to do stimulating work while paying their bills and it’s not the first year in which we’ve all grown a little further from our own neighbors,” Halpern said.
Upcoming Cultural Caravan shows include Gonzalo Teppa, Victor Mestas, and Joshua Halpern, on Aug. 8 at Farm 49, and banjoist Jayme Stone & Friends, which also includes Halpern, Joy Adams, Carolyn Hunter and Enion Pelta-Tiller, on Aug. 14, at NoBo Arts District.
Jayme Stone and this crew will also perform at Boulder JCC, at 7:30 p.m., on Aug. 15. Tickets are $18 per person.
“It’s rewarding as an artist to feel like you’re providing something of value to your community, especially after the year we’ve had,” Halpern said.
