For many good reasons, classical musicians know it is part of their job to step up for the common good when a community goes through a traumatic event. They do so eagerly, and dependably, and they have for generations.
If you go
The concerts are on Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Stewart Auditorium at the Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont, and on Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 1421 Spruce St., Boulder. Tickets and info on streaming at 720-443-0565 or promusicacolorado.org.
Classical music, particularly those sweeping masterpieces by composers such as Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, projects power and fortitude. The art form has endured through cultural and geopolitical shifts and global disasters, and it invites those who listen to do the same.
A symphony can bring order out of chaos, aligning the sounds that various instruments make into a beautiful, collaborative whole. It’s a metaphor, expressed without actual language, that inspires folks to find strength in themselves and solace in each other.
“We need emotional processing and sometimes this processing is beyond words, and that’s where music takes over,” said Cynthia Katsarelis, who conducts the Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra, which will present “Mozart: A Concert of Healing” on Feb. 4 and 5 in Boulder and Longmont and through live streams online.
The concerts come at a time of high drama in the region and were originally envisioned as a way to help people move forward as the wearying coronavirus pandemic winds down. Then the area suffered through the grief caused by a tragic mass shooting in March at a King Soopers grocery store where 10 people died.
Even as the concert was still being planned, the Marshall fire tore through Boulder County, a sudden and shocking event that destroyed more than 1,000 structures in a matter of hours. “We have actual musicians and patrons and donors who lost their homes,” said Katsarelis.
How does an orchestra respond to that level of catastrophe?
In this case, by offering the community a place to come together, safely, at whatever level audiences are comfortable with. And by recognizing that people are feeling things deeply, and that there might be an opportunity to turn mourning into a commemoration of resilience.
And by bringing out the Mozart.
The highlight of the musical programming is the composer’s Symphony No. 41 in C Major, better known as his “Jupiter” symphony.
“It’s kind of hard to come up with a more perfect piece than the Mozart ‘Jupiter’ for both audience and players,” said Katsarelis, who conceived the program. “It’s got the right combination of familiarity and challenges, but it’s also sublime and awe-inspiring, and it engages everything about us as humans and musicians in body, mind and spirit.”
In some ways, the piece is introspective, Katsarelis suggests, with Mozart “in dialogue” with multiple musical modes: the easy, 18th-century Galant style, a bit of Baroque, the full-blown classical he is known for. It is, she notes, a difficult symphony to perform.
But the piece is among Mozart’s most satisfying and hopeful, as he incorporates its various themes into a counterpoint in the finale that weaves it all together, acknowledging the past, the present and the future possibilities for music. It’s a particularly melodic piece at times; a powerful and, only occasionally, blustery work.
At the other end of the concert program, Katsarelis has placed Mozart’s less-recognized Symphony No. 15, which the composer wrote when he was just 16 years old. The piece is a subtle nod to the fact that the orchestra is entering its 15th anniversary this season.
In between those big-name works, Pro Musica will play Vivaldi’s “Goldfinch” Concerto for Flute and debut a new piece by Boulder composer Carter Pann billed as “My Cross for Solo Flute and Chamber Orchestra.” The soloist is Boulder flutist Christina Jennings
The program is worth noting, not just because it’s a timely and well-constructed variety show, but also because it helps to explain why Pro Musica has actually lasted 15 years as a professional organization.
The ensemble has worked long and hard to nail down a reputation for executing selected repertory standards, particularly by Mozart, while establishing itself as a premier conduit for new and experimental classical in the region. It has never competed with the big, warhorse-bent orchestras in Denver and Boulder, Katsarelis notes, instead carving out a niche as a moderate voice for music both old and adventurous.
There have been difficult years — and the last two are among them. The orchestra kept playing during the pandemic, but in small ways, mostly by employing the string section to record and perform intimate concerts online. Next weekend’s shows will be the first time the wind instruments join back in.
In that way, the event moves Pro Musica itself forward, but not without recognizing recent history and its lingering effects and the notion that the pandemic is not over for everyone. The streaming version of the concert makes it accessible to customers who are still wary of leaving the house or still suffering from economic fallout.
Live concert tickets are $25 for adults. A digital ticket costs just $20 and can be enjoyed by anyone close enough to see the screen on their home device.
It’s a democratic way of presenting music that is often thought of as elite and pricy. But Pro Musica wants to meet people where they are, and to respect the moment that we are in.
A landmark anniversary would normally call for a big, puffy event on stage. In 2022, it’s wiser to put listeners first, to program the healing primarily, and to slip the self-congratulations in on the sides.
“We can’t have this great guns, big bang celebration. This is our way of tip-toeing into our 15th season,” said Katsarelis.
