The Newman Center at the University of Denver hosted the elegant Martha Graham Dance Company recently, Englewood Arts presented the impressive Boulder-based Lirios String Quartet and we can look forward to a season filled with music and arts throughout the metro area … I’m excited!
We’ll try to keep our readers caught up on opportunities to listen and look as they develop around us — note to publicists — I really need three week’s notice or more to get listings in before press time. And we love to have photos of performers. Can’t always fit them, but we certainly hope to have the option when possible … Brief stories about soloists with your many excellent orchestras are sometimes possible and there are so many opportunities …
Local symphonic orchestras play in Littleton, Parker, Lone Tree, Englewood, Castle Rock and more, bringing us music from across the world. Traveling artists join with them to broaden the vision even more. Today, Sept. 26, I’m typing for the Oct. 5 papers.
Word came today from the Cherry Creek Chorale about a program called “With Strings Attached” at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 13/14 at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E. Hampden Ave., Cherry Hills Village. Bethany Lutheran Church has wonderful acoustics, lots of parking and a pleasing ambience for the many programs it hosts, as does Littleton United Methodist Church, performance home to the Littleton Symphony and location for an extensive program of weekend concerts at 7589 S. Datura St. Not yet received, but perhaps by next week …
The Littleton Symphony, led by Dr. Catherine Sailer, plans concerts throughout the year. Announcements are coming in to our office for many of these organizations, but check at the venue you like to see what their scheduling is. Englewood Arts Presents opened with a string quartet recently and will continue with Saturday mid-day events in the very pleasant Hampden Hall. Senior tickets cost $25.
The schedule at University of Denver’s Newman Center, 2344 East Iliff Ave., is varied and draws from across the world. Samara Joy, winner of the 2023 Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album and Best New Artist — and on a track to join Sarah, Ella and Billie as a jazz singing sensation — appears at Newman on Oct. 15.
Also listed at Newman soon: Compagnie Herve Koubi with “What the Day Owes to the Night” on Jan. 23. This French-Algerian choreographer will include Sufi imagery, featuring 14 male dancers from the Mediterranean, who were called “jaw-dropping” by the Washington Post. Following on Feb. 3 will be American jazz pianist Emmet Cohen Trio, creator of the Master’s Legacy Series and the livestreamed “Live From Emmet’s Place.” Acrobuffos: Air Play brings comedy and sculptural images on Feb. 18, followed by jazz with the Joshua Redman Quartet on March 1.
Okareka: Mana Wahine, scheduled for March 10, is said to be one of the leading contemporary Maori (Indigenous) dance companies in New Zealand. April 12 brings Urban Bush Women, members of the African Diaspora, who will perform classic and new works “that illustrate overlooked perspectives that contribute to our national conversation around equity and justice.”
On another track, Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, 1485 Delgany St., Denver, has a new exhibit called “Cowboy,” which we hope to visit in the next few weeks. It will be exhibited through Feb. 18, 2024. The MCA will host a gala called “Luminosity” on Oct. 19, which should be a classy event to raise money for this really handsome new museum.
My grandson and I heard architect Sir David Adjay talk about his plans for this building as it came together after he was selected in a competition to design it. He has since done some important work in Great Britain … We enjoy having that special connection to a handsome contemporary public building.