Musical Hikes
Celebrating 13 years with David Sutherland.
In 2013, the Boulder Philharmonic’s concert season featured the theme “Nature in Music.” Kevin Shuck, the Executive Director at the tinme, reached out to Dave to create a series of “Nature in Music” hikes on Boulder Open Space lands as pre-concert experiences to draw connections between works on the concert program and Boulder’s natural environment. The very first program highlighted Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Cantus Articus, a concerto for birds and orchestra that used recordings of birds from marshes near the Arctic Circle in place of a solo instrument. Armed with portable speakers and an iPod, Dave took groups of nature enthusiasts and concert-goers on a birdwatching walk at a local marsh, playing selections of Rautavaara’s music and comparing it to the sounds of birds in a Colorado wetland.
Other hikes followed. The performance of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony (#6) and Smetana’s Moldau were featured in a hike along Boulder Creek to explore how rivers influenced composers. The premiere of Jeffrey Nytch’s symphony Formations was celebrated with a geology hike along the NCAR trail, co-presented by Dave and the composure, to sample the music while delving into the geology of the Front Range.
Over the last decade, Dave’s musical nature hikes have explored insects. birds, stars, rocks, rivers and lakes, and landscapes as sources for musical inspiration and helped bring the Boulder Philharmonic’s performances to a wider audience.
Upcoming Hikes
The Music of Landscapes
Saturday October 17, 10 AM – 12:30 PM
Rich with meaning and memories, our favorite landscapes speak to us in many ways: joy, beauty, nostalgia, awe, even dissonance. How do composers capture the essence of the land in music? Join Community Naturalist Dave Sutherland for a beautiful hike to sample pre-recorded music that invokes our sense of place, including Jean Sibelius’ 2nd Symphony which will be performed live by the Boulder Philharmonic, plus Devil’s Thumb and Majesties by home-grown composers Kristin Kuster and Jeffrey Nytch . How would you express your memories of your favorite landscapes through music? Meet at the Lehigh Street entrance to Shanahan Ridge (map search 1903 Lehigh in Boulder, where Lehigh and Lafayette Streets intersect). The location is served by the southbound SKIP bus. This is a free pre-concert hike for the Boulder Philharmonic’s October 23 & 24 Performances, jointly sponsored by the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and Boulder County Audubon Society.
RSVP directly to Dave at dsutherland4747@gmail.com.