Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater at Bravo! Vail. [Photo credit: Zach Mahone]
Dear CPR Classical Listeners,
All summer, you could almost smell the fresh grass through your radio, from Aspen outside the Benedict Music Tent, from Vail at the Ford Amphitheater, and from Boulder at Chautauqua Auditorium. This year's CPR SummerFest brought these Colorado treasures to life on our airwaves as never before.
Our first CPR SummerFest Concert Series featured 10 concerts, including several live broadcasts. From Bravo! Vail, CPR gave its broadcast debut of three major American orchestras that traveled to Colorado with their illustrious conductors: The Dallas Symphony with Jaap van Zweden, the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the New York Philharmonic led by Alan Gilbert. The Aspen Music Festival's memorable finale on August 18th was a fitting end to a full summer of world-class music making on CPR Classical.
No other place hosts so many classical summer festivals per capita than Colorado. Any surprise? We live in heaven on earth, and it's why the most eminent musicians travel here every summer to play.
To Colorado Public Radio's members: thank you for making our first SummerFest Concert Series possible. From Central City Opera's opening night of Rossini's “Barber of Seville” to highlights from the Colorado College Summer Music Festival in Colorado Springs, and the Colorado Music Festival's final performance in Boulder, we couldn't have done it without you. The music we play 24 hours a day on Colorado Public Radio is available to listeners across the state only because you've chosen to support great culture and what matters in our community. And that you do so voluntarily is what makes the music we broadcast pure magic.
With the summer drawing to a close, we look forward to a new series of live broadcasts for the coming concert season on CPR Classical. I hope you stay tuned to hear the Colorado Symphony, among many more musical delights in store in the months to come.
Sincerely,
Monika Vischer
Program Director, CPR Classical
