Colorado Music Festival Celebrates 50 Years with Season Kickoff in July

Colorado Music Festival will celebrate its 50th anniversary season with world premieres, exciting International Artists and all-American programming to honor the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The festival runs from July 9 to August 9, with 19 concerts presented at the historic Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder, at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Under Music Director Peter Oundjian, the Festival's programming is characterized by a thoughtful mix of world premieres, a diverse roster of guest artists, and sustained engagement with unusual and beloved works across 300 years of orchestral repertoire.

The 2026 season includes nine guest artists, two internationally acclaimed chamber ensembles, and four guest conductors alongside the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, with musicians from dozens of orchestras across more than 20 U.S. states and Canadian provinces and beyond. The work of Colorado-based artists and composers is presented throughout the season as part of the statewide celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Colorado becoming a state.

Selected Festival Highlights

July 9 and 10: the world premiere of a new orchestral work by Colorado-based composer Carter Pann and Himari in Sibelius's Violin Concerto

Sunday, July 12: Free Family Day, including Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, offered in both English and Spanish

July 16 and 17: Yuja Wang's Colorado Music Festival debut performing Barber's Piano Concerto

July 23: an All-American program conducted by Leonard Slatkin featuring works by Corigliano, Nelson, McTee, Copland and Gershwin

July 30: the world premiere of a new orchestral work by Leigha Amick, paired with Holst's The Planets

August 2: Gemma New conducts Copland's Clarinet Concerto featuring Ricardo Morales

August 6 and 7: Michelle Cann performs the Colorado premiere of Valerie Coleman’s Piano Concerto

August 9: Mahler's Symphony No. 3 conducted by Peter Oundjian

Tickets & Festival Information

CMF offers $10 tickets for youths (ages 18 and under) and students (with current school identification). For more information, visit coloradomusicfestival.org/ticket-info.

For more information about CMF, or to purchase tickets beginning March 4, visit ColoradoMusicFestival.org or call the Chautauqua box office at 303-440-7666.

Colorado Music Festival 2026

HIMARI PLAYS SIBELIUS + CARTER PANN WORLD PREMIERE

Thursday, July 9, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 10, 6:30 p.m.
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Himari, violin
Carter Pann, composer
Carter Pann, World Premiere
Jean Sibelius, Concerto for Violin
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5

FREE FAMILY CONCERT

Sunday, July 12, 10:30 a.m.
Samuel Hollister, conductor
Really Inventive Stuff
John Williams, Liberty Fanfare
Antonín Dvořák, Second Movement, Symphony No. 9
Sergei Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf (Spanish and English)

Robert Mann CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES – CANADIAN BRASS

Tuesday, July 14, 7:30 p.m.
Canadian Brass

Yuja Wang + WEST SIDE STORY

Thursday, July 16, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 17, 6:30 p.m.
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano
Sergei Prokofiev, American Overture Op. 42bis
Samuel Barber, Piano Concerto
Camille Saint-Saëns, Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah
Leonard Bernstein, Symphonic Dances from West Side Story

BACH'S BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS

Sunday, July 19, 6:30 p.m.
Jeffrey Kahane, leader
Maximilian Morel, trumpet

Robert Mann CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES – TCHAIKOVSKY'S SOUVENIR DE FLORENCE

Tuesday, July 21, 7:30 p.m.
Colorado Music Festival musicians
Jeffrey Work, trumpet
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Trio in E-flat Major K. 498 (“Kegelstatt”)
James Stephenson, Love Notes for Trumpet and Strings (World Premiere)
Tchaikovsky, Souvenir de Florence

ALL AMERICAN: COPLAND, GERSHWIN & MORE

Thursday, July 23, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 24, 6:30 p.m.
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Njioma Grievous, violin
Aaron Copland, Rodeo
John Corigliano, Chaconne from The Red Violin
Ron Nelson, Savannah River Holiday
Cindy McTee, Adagio for Strings
George Gershwin, An American in Paris

MOZART: HAFFNER, NIGHT MUSIC, & MORE

Sunday, July 26, 6:30 p.m.
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Tony Siqi Yun, piano
Mozart works including Piano Concerto No. 20 and the “Haffner” Symphony

Robert Mann CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES – BEETHOVEN & STRAVINSKY

Tuesday, July 28, 7:30 p.m.
Colorado Music Festival musicians
Martinů, Beethoven, Stravinsky

HOLST'S THE PLANETS + AMICK WORLD PREMIERE

Thursday, July 30, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 31, 6:30 p.m.
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Nobuyuki Tsujii, piano
Leigha Amick, World Premiere
Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 2
Holst, The Planets

PROKOFIEV, COPLAND, ROSSINI & RAVEL

Sunday, August 2, 6:30 p.m.
Gemma New, conductor
Ricardo Morales, clarinet

Robert Mann CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES – DANISH STRING QUARTET

Tuesday, August 4, 7:30 p.m.
Danish String Quartet

VALERIE COLEMAN COLORADO PREMIERE + MICHELLE CANN

Thursday, August 6, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, August 7, 6:30 p.m.
Peter Oundjian, conductor
Michelle Cann, piano
Valerie Coleman, Piano Concerto (Colorado Premiere)
Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique

MAHLER 3