Saturday, September 15, 2012 — 7:30 PM, Macky Auditorium, CU Campus, Boulder

Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra
Michael Butterman, Music Director

JEFFREY NYTCH    Acclamations
SERGEI PROKOFIEV    Piano Concerto No. 3 
PIOTR TCHAIKOVSKY    Symphony No. 4 

CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR, PIANO
Bio |

Our season launches with the high-spirited and rousing Acclamations by CU composer Jeffrey Nytch. Beautiful and blazing, Prokofiev’s popular Third Piano Concerto, played by Boulder native CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR, is a tour de force combining incredible technical demands with heartfelt lyricism. Tchaikovsky’s magnificent Fourth Symphony dramatized the composer’s struggle with destiny. The opening “fate” motive sweeps us along through twists and turns, ultimately leading to one of the most exhilarating codas in all of music.

“Christopher Taylor, a versatile, ready-for-anything soloist, delivered a brilliant, intense performance."
~Denver Post




Hear Michael Butterman's radio interview with KGNU's Ron Nadel:

6:30 PM - FREE Pre-Concert Talk at Macky Auditorium

EVENT OF NOTE:
Thursday, September 13, 7 PM
Enjoy drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and an intimate recital with Christopher Taylor in a private home in East Boulder. More info 

Christopher Taylor

Among his generation of pianists, Christopher Taylor stands out as an innovative musician with a diverse array of talents and interests. During the past few years he has appeared regularly in many important concert halls and developed a loyal following throughout the U.S. and abroad; critics hail him as “one of the most impressive young pianists on the horizon today” (The Washington Post) and “frighteningly talented” (The New York Times). He is known for a passionate advocacy of music written in the past 100 years — Messiaen, Ligeti, and Bolcom figure prominently in his performances — but his repertoire spans four centuries and includes the complete Beethoven sonatas, the Liszt Transcendental Etudes, Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and a multitude of other familiar masterworks. Whatever the genre or era of the composition, Mr. Taylor brings to it an active imagination and intellect coupled with heartfelt intensity and grace.

In recent seasons Mr. Taylor has concertized around the globe, performing throughout Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. At home in the U.S. he has appeared with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Boston Pops, and has toured with the Polish Chamber Philharmonic. As a soloist he has performed in New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls, Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Ravinia and Aspen festivals, and dozens of other venues.

Numerous awards have confirmed Taylor’s high standing in the musical world. He was named an American Pianists’ Association Fellow for 2000, before which he received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1996 and the Bronze Medal in the 1993 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he was the first American to receive such high recognition in 12 years. In 1990 he took first prize in the William Kapell International Piano Competition, and also became one of the first recipients of the Irving Gilmore Young Artists’ Award.    website