The Fort Collins Symphony, in partnership with the Gardens on Spring Creek, will present Johann Sebastian Bach’s lively and colorful Brandenburg Concertos at 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 21, 2021 at the Everitt Pavilion. What better way to spend a summer evening than with a picnic, friends, late summer flowers, and fabulous music on the Great Lawn at the Gardens on Spring Creek (2145 Center Ave, Fort Collins, CO)?
The Fort Collins Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Wes Kenney, will play all six Brandenburg concertos in celebration of the 300th anniversary of these masterpieces. Composed in 1721, the concertos were the groundbreaking compositions of their day. Each highlights a different set of instruments that Bach combined in daring new partnerships with other instruments, meant to showcase the composer’s talent to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, to whom the concertos were gifted. The first concerto has two horns, two oboes, bassoon, and violin as solo instruments, while the second replaces the horns and bassoon with a trumpet and a flute. The third and sixth concertos have no specific solo instruments, being designed more as ensemble pieces, but the fourth and fifth concertos have, respectively, a pair of flutes with violin, and a transverse flute, violin, and harpsichord.
Guest artists are harpsichordist Dr. Joel Bacon, Stewart and Sheron Golden Chair of Organ and Liturgical Studies at Colorado State University, and violinist Michael Davis, retired Concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra (Kentucky). Fort Collins Symphony musicians will also be performing solos.
The concert begins at 5 p.m. Concertos No. 1, No. 6, and No. 2 will be played during the first half of the evening. Following a 20-minute intermission, Concertos No. 5, No. 3, and No. 4 will be performed.
“Bach is Back: The Brandenburg Concertos at the Gardens on Spring Creek” is sponsored by the City of Fort Collins Fort Fund, the Gardens on Spring Creek, the Lincoln Center, the Fan Foundation, Marilyn Cockburn, Carol Ann and Gary Hixon, Mary Pat and Mike McCurdie, Dr. Peter Springberg and Jan Kowall, and Nancy and Denis Symes.
Gates open at 4 p.m. ALL guests need a ticket. For information about access, food and beverage options, and inclement weather, please visit: https://www.fcgov.com/gardens/concerts or contact the Lincoln Center Box Office at either 970.221.6730 or LCTIX.com.