'May the 4th (Be With You)' performance highlights town-gown cultural partnership
The Boulder Chamber Orchestra (BCO) will once again bring a special performance to Macky Auditorium—this time, in a concert titled May the 4th (Be With You) featuring the music of Star Wars by composer John Williams.
The opportunity for the orchestra to perform at CU Boulder’s impressive gothic theater came about due to support from CU Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano and local donors.
The Boulder Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2004 and comprises professionally trained musicians who appreciate the opportunity to be involved with a chamber ensemble. Now in its 14th year, the BCO has scheduled 12 main concerts this season, plus a New Year’s concert, a dance-style concert, and the Star Wars-themed special concert at Macky.
The connections between BCO and CU Boulder are many. Bahman Saless, founder and music director of the BCO, is an ex-physicist who received his PhD at CU Boulder in 1987.
Who: Open to the public
What: May the 4th (Be With You) concert
When: Friday, May 4, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Macky Auditorium
Renting Macky: Get more information
Silas Huff, associate director of the BCO, previously served as the conductor of the U.S. Army Band and is now a conducting students at CU Boulder under the guidance of Gary Lewis, director of orchestras and music professor in the College of Music. Huff is also pursuing a doctoral degree in musical arts at CU Boulder.
Saless and Huff also run the International Conducting Institute (ICI), which invites young conducting students from around the world to attend workshops allowing them to work and study with some of the world’s best conductors. While the premier ICI workshops is held in the historic city of Kroměříž in the Czech Republic, the institute has one of its pillars in Boulder, where dozens of young conductors gather each year to conduct members of the BCO.