The Boulder Symphony and Music Academy, in partnership with the Jared Music Foundation, is providing 22 scholarships to Boulder County students for a year of private music lessons.

Students awarded a scholarship are taught how to sing or play an instrument by musicians in the Boulder Symphony through the Boulder Symphony Music Academy.

With another 18 students on the wait list, the foundation also is raising money to cover additional scholarships. Or, donors can sponsor students individually for $1,500. To donate, go to jaredmusic.org/support-bsma.

Boulder Symphony Executive Director Andrew Krimm said the goal is to make the symphony more accessible, especially to people of color.

It’s not Clint Eastwood, but it is the local Sheriff of Musical Harmony.

The “Curiosity Concert,” programmed for children and families, will feature classical, pop and movie music associated with the West, including Rossini’s Overture to William Tell,, the “Hoe-Down” from Aaron Copland’s ballet Rodeo, and Johnny  Cash’s “Get Rhythm.” The concert’s plot features the loser of the orchestra’s recent “Best Conductor in the West” contest derailing the concert and taking the orchestra hostage. It will be up to the Sherriff of Musical Harmony to re-establish order in the concert hall.

The symphony will perform its Christmas concert, “Holidays at the Movies” this Saturday at the Idaho Falls Civic Center for the Performing Arts at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The show will consist of music taken from classic holiday films, including “Home Alone,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and “Frozen.” (Click here for tickets.)

Devin Hughes, the show’s conductor, said that this concert will remind the audience how much of a role symphonic film music plays in all our lives, even at Christmastime. 

“So the concept behind this performance was that we kind of tried to put together all the classic (Christmas) film scores people think about all the time,” said Hughes. “‘Home Alone’ is a masterpiece and (its composer) John Williams, who in 1977 did ‘Star Wars’ then ‘Indiana Jones’ and then ‘Harry Potter’ – he’s in our ears all the time. More people would probably recognize the ‘Harry Potter’ theme than ‘Beethoven’s 5th’.”

The Boulder Symphony is tackling Tchaikovsky's dramatic Symphony No. 4and Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini — performed by a very special guest.

Shangru Du is from Wuhan, China, he is the 2022 International Keyboard Odyssiad & Festival Competition winner, who just graduated from Julliard.

Devin Patrick Hughes, the music director and conductor of the Boulder Symphony, says he selected Tchaikovsky’s Fourth for the program as a great example of the composer's work.

"Tchaikovsky's Four is a great masterwork with so many kind of layers emotionally, historically and just from a performance standpoint,” Hughes said. “I think Tchaikovsky knows how to take the listener on an emotional rollercoaster because that's the life that Tchaikovsky lived.”

On Saturday, December 10th, the holidays arrive at the Idaho Falls Symphony, and we have fun plans for the whole family! Enjoy Holidays at the Movies as a matinee Family Concert or as an evening performance, with programs catered to the different audiences. Music is part of what sets the scene and drives our nostalgia for classic movies, and Guest Conductor Devin Patrick Hughes infuses every score with tangible energy.

Boulder Symphony joins Claudia Garofalo on Colorado & Company on 9 News to discuss the Curiosity Concert October 29, Treasure of Sound, with conductor Devin Patrick Hughes, writer & singer Dana Vachharajani, Symphony musician Tina Herod, and Longmont Symphony musicians Nate Bonin & Joseph Lee.

Devin Patrick Hughes, music director and conductor for Arapahoe Philharmonic, has curated a musical event perfect for the spooky season. “The Haunting Concert Hall” will take place Friday at Lone Tree Arts Center. (Arapahoe Philharmonic/Courtesy photo) Attendees are encouraged to get in on the Halloween action by donning their best imaginative get-ups. “We are looking for originality and execution in the costume contest,” Hughes said. Best overall will receive a trophy and four tickets to Arapahoe Phil’s December concert, “Holiday Classics.” Runners-up will receive a trophy and an Arapahoe Philharmonic coffee mug.

Patrick Orr — winner of the International Keyboard Odyssiad and Festival’s annual piano concerto competition — will play Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” “This also features the ‘Dies Irae,’ or day of reckoning, when judgment is cast upon all of us, and composers have used this musical idea for centuries to invoke the specter of mortality,” Hughes said.

Violinists Jackson Bailey & Laura Johnson, violist Heidi Snyder, cellist Jacob Martin, and bassist Domi Edson perform selections from Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho Suite on Colorado & Company, conducted by Devin Patrick Hughes, in anticipation of the Arapahoe Philharmonic’s Haunting in the Concert Hall at Lone Tree Arts Center.

Arapahoe Philharmonic, led by Devin Patrick Hughes — who also serves as the conductor for Boulder Symphony — is embracing the macabre mood with “The Haunting Concert Hall.”

The show — that will feature songs from iconic movies, such as Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” from “The Exorcist” — will take place Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Lone Tree Arts Center, south of Denver.

Tickets are $12-$37. There is also an option to livestream the show.

“I love showcasing the orchestra with all different kinds of genres and music,” Hughes said. “The show was created around the idea of music that scares us and concepts that are on the darker side of things. This can be found both in the standard classical repertoire, like Rachmaninoff and Berlioz, and, naturally, also in the horror film genre.”

Boulder Symphony brings the Force: Hear the Boulder Symphony bring the Star Wars Universe to life with music spanning four decades, with John Williams’ epic scores.

The Symphony musicians performed in small groups throughout the garage as guests toured the car collection. The event culminated when all of the musicians gathered together and were joined by guest artist, vocalist Carol Calkins, who has performed in a number of chamber groups and many operas. Boulder Symphony board member Doyle Albee spoke to the gathered guests thanking Tebo for the venue, along with conductor Devin Patrick Hughes.

Straying from typical classical offerings, Boulder Symphony always makes sure to deliver a show rich with contemporary and wild-card favorites.

“One the new works I am most excited about is Jessie Montgomery’s ‘Soul Force,’ which brings to life a voice struggling to be heard beyond the thumb of oppression,” Hughes said. “The symphonic work uses big-band, funk, hip hop and R&B to portray Dr. Martin Luther King’s endorsement of soul force to meet the challenges of our time, and never physical violence.”

West Side Story, which was written by Leonard Bernstein in 1961, has been repopularized in recent months thanks to Stephen Spielberg’s 2021 movie remake. At this performance, Coloradans can hear its classic score performed by the Boulder Symphony. Bonus: In addition to selections from timeless musical, the symphony will play songs from the ballets of Manuel de Falla and Alberto Ginastera, as well as the 1919 ballet Three-Cornered Hat. May 6; 7:30-9:30 p.m.; 1820 15th St., Boulder.

Maestro Devin Patrick Hughes will lead the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra (LCSO) in its Classics 3 concerts.

Hughes is currently the music director and conductor of the Boulder Symphony in Boulder, Colorado, and Arapahoe Philharmonic in Littleton, Colorado. Hughes previously held artistic leadership positions with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association, Denver Young Artists Orchestra and Denver Philharmonic Orchestra.

Conductor Devin Patrick Hughes approaches classical music as a kind of quest. “Our music, our orchestras, our art form, just the nature of the ensemble has so many amazing attributes that teach us about community, that teach us about harmony, about working together,” the Colorado-based conductor told KRWG’s Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin in this Zoom interview. “It’s really a quest,” he said, for him and many of his colleagues, "to bring this music to as many people as possible.”

Conductor Devin Patrick Hughes is at the forefront of creating orchestra programs that not only promote diversity but celebrate it. He has partnered with living composers over a decades-long career, initiating composer-in-residence programs, and founding ensembles that exist to give new voices platforms to showcase their skills.

The season will feature four guest conductors, including Lonnie Klein, who is retiring this May after 21 seasons as LCSO director.

Here is the lineup, with all performances on both Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.

Classics 3: March 12-13, guest conductor Devin Patrick Hughes, music director and conductor of the Boulder Symphony and Arapahoe Philharmonic, conducting Ginastera’s Four Dances from "Estancia," Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, Harbach’s Lilia Polka and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

Jonathan Bingham had just finished his work shift at an Apple Store in May 2021 when he saw the voicemail. He had been offered a commission as part of the Emerging Black Composers Project. After graduating in 2016, he juggled a full-time position there with a burgeoning composing career that included residencies at the Arapahoe Philharmonic and Boulder Symphony.

“Historically, composers of color have had a much harder time getting their music performed and workshopped,” says Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, chair of the EBCP selection committee and the San Francisco Symphony’s resident conductor of engagement and education. “[The] project is an attempt to address some of that, and to provide points of access to young people from a community that has often previously been denied access.”

On Friday, Boulder Symphony will present a benefit concert at Grace Commons Church in Boulder at 7:30 p.m. Members will play Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale,” narrated by award-winning poet Dominique Christina.

“As musicians and artists at the Boulder Symphony, community service has always been one of our most sacred values,” said Devin Patrick Hughes, music director and conductor of Boulder Symphony. “It feels essential to support our neighbors in their greatest times of need.”

Violinist Gregory Walker, who lost his home in the fire, will also be joining the ensemble to perform the theme from “Schindler’s List.” “Gregory Walker has given so much to our community for decades, from his electric performances to his trailblazing compositions, inspiring us to go where no one has gone before, in the realm of symphonic music,” Hughes said. “Right after the fires, after losing all of his possessions, we chatted. Putting myself in his shoes, I was feeling grief on his behalf and, amazingly, he had nothing but optimism and hope to share.”