Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Peter Oundjian

Join your Colorado Symphony and Principal Conductor Peter Oundjian as they usher in the start of a spectacular new season that will inspire, delight, and ignite your imagination from its first note to its last. Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances creates a wondrous kaleidoscope of instrumental colors in a work that is retrospective yet astonishingly youthful, showing the aging composer was still at the peak of his powers. International superstar Jon Kimura Parker — famed for his interpretations of Gershwin — joins the orchestra to deliver a peerless rendition of the composer’s intoxicating Rhapsody in Blue. This uniquely American classic continues to charm listeners by occupying the intersection between classical music, jazz, and Broadway. The legacy of William Grant Still is remarkable both for the barriers he broke and the inventive works he wrote, blending European art music with African-rooted folk tunes. His Poem for orchestra takes inspiration from the hope of a world spiritually reborn following the desolation of war. John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine offers the perfect energetic introduction to an opening weekend spectacle that shouldn't be missed.