You can watch plenty of online holiday performances from the safety of your home this week, but Colorado’s innovative music organizations also keep the spirit of in-person concerts alive this July 4th! Here’s a short roundup of where you can see live classical music being performed over Independence Day Weekend. ~ Do you know of others? Let us know! Email us at [email protected].
Fort Collins
The Fort Collins Symphony performs a live July 4th concert at one of the nation’s remaining drive-in movie theaters. Pack your kids or quaranteam, some snacks and head to the Holiday Twin Drive-In in Fort Collins to see the orchestra perform before the night’s featured movie.
A stage has been set up over the putt-putt golf area in front of the screen. Musicians will be physically distanced with the brass playing twelve feet apart from each other for extra safety. Music Director Wes Kenney said he plans a full patriotic program similar to what they have done on July 4th at City Park in Fort Collins.
The 90-minute concert will include Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture with a simulated fireworks show on the big screen. The movie “Ghostbusters”, with score by film great Elmer Bernstein, follows the concert. Expect this unique event to sell out.
Here's host David Ginder speaking with Fort Collins Symphony conductor, Wes Kenney:
South Denver
The Arapahoe Philharmonic is hosting a “drive-up” concert on Thursday, July 2, at Denver First Church of the Nazarene in Cherry Hills Village south of Denver. This “Brass in the Park(ing Lot)” concert will feature traditional Americana music, with some light classical and jazzy favorites. RSVPs are required and concert-goers will need to remain in their cars.
Online
See CPR Classical’s Summerfest virtual calendar for a list of online concerts
Prefer to enjoy your July 4th musical celebration from your home? The Colorado Symphony has you covered! They’ve performed for Denver’s fireworks show at Civic Center Park since 2009. This year the concert moves to the comfort of your living room.
The virtual concert will be a celebration of music, song and dance featuring collaborations with the Colorado Ballet, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance and Opera Colorado, filmed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Civic Center Park, Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex and the Colorado State Capitol Rotunda.
The celebration will raise money for organizations in great need due to COVID-19. Watch the show Friday, July 3, at 7 p.m. on Denver7 or on the Colorado Symphony’s YouTube page at 8 p.m or Saturday, July 4, at 7 p.m.
And, of course, listen to CPR Classical throughout the day for American favorites like Aaron Copland, John Williams, John Philip Sousa and the United States Air Force Academy Winds in Colorado Springs. Also listen for Navajo pianist Connor Chee, great spirituals and works by accomplished African-American composers like William Grant Still, Florence Price and Scott Joplin.
You can listen to CPR Classical by clicking "Listen Live" on this website. You can also hear CPR Classical at 88.1 FM in Denver, at radio signals around Colorado, or ask your smart speaker to “Play CPR Classical.”
