Opera Colorado has announced its new director and CEO. Meanwhile, students in Routt County are learning about opera in a new way.
FoCoMX, Fort Collins’ annual two-day music festival is back this weekend. Plus, there are new initiatives in Grand Junction and the Roaring Fork Valley to support local creatives. And local band, Tennis, is headed out on a farewell tour.
Read on for your weekly arts and culture recap, plus find things to do and places to be.
Students in Routt County learned Black Spirituals in Opera Steamboat’s hands-on education program
Opera isn’t the most accessible art — especially for K-12 students. And in the past, Opera Steamboat has taken a traditional approach to youth opera education.
“We've hired adults. They go into a school, they perform for as many kids as possible, but it's very passive participation from the kids,” said Julie Maykowski, Opera Steamboat’s general director. “So I got this idea … about trying to make it more active.”
In an effort to enliven the youth opera program, Maykowski brought in teaching artist La’Shelle Allen, fondly known as “Sistah LaLa.” She’s a professional singer, music producer, and educator. And in Steamboat, she was tasked with teaching students the art of the Black Spiritual.
Over the course of a 6-week stay, Sistah LaLa held 53 sessions with a total of 1,000 students from schools across Routt County.
With younger kids, Sistah LaLa got them up out of their seats, singing, dancing, and learning traditional Spirituals.
With older students, she taught them traditional songs, then helped them write their own lyrics for reimagined Spirituals.
Some of the songs were light-hearted with a local twist — featuring lyrics about skiing and snowboarding. Others took on a deeper meaning.
“Some of them got really serious,” Maykowski said, “they didn't want their family or their friends or their freedom taken.”
In a predominantly white community like Routt County, Maykowski said, collaborating with an artist like Sistah LaLa is especially important.
“They have this really positive experience with somebody who doesn't look like them and is talking about something that they don't know — we're ultimately creating empathy.”
She said students and teachers loved Sistah LaLa and the program was a huge success.
“This is a big sports and cowboy area, and if you don't fit into either of those two categories, there's not a lot for you,” Maykowski said. So she was delighted to see that “there were some kids that were like, ‘Wow, that was really fun. I would do that again.’”
Students' and teachers’ positive feedback has changed the way Maykowski views the future of the “Opera in the Schools” program. She wants to keep working with teaching artists — especially from communities that will help to expand students’ worldviews. But there is a catch.
“Individuals talk about the importance of education, but there are not a lot that step up and write big checks for it,” Maykowski said.
“Opera in the Schools” is funded, in part, by the Steamboat Springs Education Fund. The rest comes out of Opera Steamboat’s general budget. Maykowski explained that funding the program diverts funding away from Opera Steamboat’s stage productions, but the sacrifice is well worth the reward.
“It was a pretty big risk for Opera Steamboat to take on something like Spirituals,” Maykowski said. But it brought “joy, just absolute joy.”
Local band ‘Tennis’ is releasing a new album and going on a farewell tour
Tennis was formed by husband-and-wife duo Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore in 2010 when they were young newlyweds.
They both dropped out of music programs but didn’t learn that about one another until shortly after they married. However, when they started playing music together, something magical happened.
“We had just found out that we both played music and so we were showing each other what we could do,” Riley said. And thus, Tennis was born.
Those early songs, recorded in their Denver apartment, will appear as a collection of unreleased demos to accompany their seventh and final album, “Face Down in the Garden,” which drops on April 25.
“I think running a business together is not great for a marriage,” Moore said. “But we're really lucky that that's something we've been able to do. There's no turning off from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed. We're worrying about, thinking about, making decisions for the band or the business of the band, and I think it has changed our dynamic as a married couple.”
But don’t worry, divorce isn’t the reason for Tennis’ farewell.
“The band is inextricably linked to our relationship. That's actually what's been so profound about it,” Moore said. ”It's also, honestly, one of the motivations for taking a break.”
It’s time, Moore said, to rediscover what her and Riley’s marriage is — and can be — beyond Tennis.
But first, a farewell tour. Tennis will be on the road from May 16 through Sept. 4, with a stop at Denver’s Mission Ballroom on Aug. 26.
FoCoMX returns to Downtown Fort Collins for its 17th annual local music festival
The “Fort Collins Music Experiment,” fondly known as “FoCoMX,” is a two-day festival celebrating live music with hundreds of Colorado bands and artists.
The festival starts at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 18, and runs past midnight on Saturday, April 19. Over these two days, more than 400 local bands will play dozens of venues throughout Old Town Fort Collins.
“We are grateful to have a vibrant music community supported by music lovers and filled with talented musicians,” said a statement from the Fort Collins Musicians Association. The festival “has showcased thousands of bands, helped grow new live music fans, garnered national media attention, and has earned the unofficial title of: ‘The Biggest Little Festival in America.’”
Weekend passes are $60 presale and $75 for day of. Tickets aren’t available for individual shows.
Grand Junction is looking for artists to create a mural for the city’s new rec center
The City of Grand Junction is looking for artists to create an original mural for the city’s new Community Recreation Center, which is currently under construction.
The project has a budget of $2,000 and the deadline to submit proposals is May 30.
According to a statement from the city’s Commission on Arts & Culture, “The design should incorporate water elements and utilize the color palette outlined in the call. The final submission will be a digital design file that will be printed and installed by a specialized vendor.”
Once proposals have been submitted, a panel of representatives from the City of Grand Junction and the Grand Junction Commission on Arts and Culture will make a selection.
Funding for the mural comes from the city’s “One Percent for the Arts Program,” which “expands opportunities for residents and visitors to experience high-quality art by facilitating the acquisition and display of art in public places, budgeting one percent for public art from certain city capital improvement projects.”
A new initiative to support local talent in the Roaring Fork Valley begins in May
The Wheeler Opera House in Aspen is launching “Roaring Fork Rising,” a new initiative to uplift local talent in the Roaring Fork Valley.
The program, hosted in “The Vault” at the historic Wheeler Opera House, offers local artists an opportunity to perform original work and connect with the community through live events.
“We are excited to spotlight the incredible talent of the Roaring Fork Valley,” said Wheeler Opera House Executive Director Mike Harrington in a press release. “With Roaring Fork Rising, we’re creating a space where local artists can showcase their originality and passion in the heart of Aspen’s vibrant arts scene.”
Eligibility is limited to residents of Roaring Fork Valley communities, including Aspen, Snowmass Village, Woody Creek, Old Snowmass, Basalt, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and New Castle, according to a statement.
Shows include:
- Singer-songwriter Emery Major with comedian David Uhlfelder on Friday, May 16.
- Indie folk musicians The Sopris Sisters and Rai Omri on Saturday, May 17.
- Singer-songwriters Dan Sheridan and Valley Roses on Friday, May 23.
- A live music medley with Feeding Giants and Salmon Daze on Saturday, May 24.
- A live music medley with Olivia Pevec with John Hatanaka on Friday, May 30.
- Stand-up comedy for “Patio Night Live” on Saturday, May 31.
Tickets are available at the Wheeler Opera House box office and online.
Opera Colorado names Barbara Lynne Jamison as new general director and CEO, following the departure of longtime leader Greg Carpenter
After over two decades of leadership, Greg Carpenter will step down as the general and artistic director of Opera Colorado at the end of the 2024-2025 season.
“As I approach my 20th anniversary with Opera Colorado, I believe that the time is right for a change in leadership, enabling the Board of Directors to establish a new vision for Opera Colorado and hire a new General Director that will bring that vision to life during this new chapter,” Carpenter said in a statement.
Barbara Lynne Jamison, who has served as CEO of Kentucky Opera for the past seven years, will join Opera Colorado as the new general director and CEO on Aug. 1, 2025.
“Jamison is known for her visionary leadership, commitment to civic engagement, and passion for connecting communities with opera in bold and meaningful ways,” Opera Colorado said in a statement. “The search committee was impressed by her track record of innovation, strategic leadership, and her ability to grow audiences while honoring the traditions of the art form.”
Jamison was selected following a national search conducted by Management Consultants for the Arts in partnership with Opera Colorado’s Board of Directors.
"I am honored to join Opera Colorado at this meaningful moment in its history," Jamison said in a statement. "The company’s long-standing commitment to artistic excellence and to serving its community has built a strong and respected foundation. I look forward to working in collaboration with the board, staff, and artists to continue that legacy and shape the company’s next chapter in partnership with the varied and diverse communities of Colorado."
Things to do in Colorado this weekend
Thursday, April 17
- Mortified: Spring Fever, a live show featuring performers sharing real-life embarrassing stories in front of total strangers, at the Oriental Theater in Denver. Show at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $22.
Friday, April 18
- Rewriting the West: Where We Come From / Where We Are, a literary showcase at the University of Colorado Boulder that explores the power of narrative in shaping the past, present, and future of the American West. 4 p.m. in the Cofrin Auditorium on the first floor of the ATLAS Building. Free and open to the public with pre-registration.
Saturday, April 19
- Denver’s Four Mile House Family Egg Hunt is back with two sessions: one at 8:30 a.m. and another at 1:30 p.m. Tickets start at $23.
- Día De Los Niños y Libros event at the Pueblo City-County Library, featuring a talk by Children’s book author Ana Crespo, book giveaways and more. Event from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Free and open to the public.
Sunday, April 20
- Local rock band, The Velveteers, at the Belly Up in Aspen. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Tickets starting at $18.
Multiple dates
- Cirque du Soleil’s “Crystal,” the company’s first-ever acrobatic performance on ice, in Loveland. Shows are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets start at $66.
- The indie and folk-rock Bluebird Music Festival returns to Boulder on Friday, April 18, through Sunday, April 20. Single-day general admission tickets start at $49.
Next week, Tuesday, April 22
- Ukrainian folk band, YAGÓDY, at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder. Show at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $45.
Some groups mentioned in the CO Arts Spotlight may be financial supporters of CPR News. Financial supporters have no editorial influence.
How we pick our events: CO Arts Spotlight highlights events around the state to give readers a sense of the breadth of Colorado’s arts and cultural happenings, it is not — and can not possibly be — a comprehensive list of all weekly events. Entries are not endorsements or reviews. Each week’s list is published on Thursday and is not updated.
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