MUSICAL HIKES

Celebrating 12 Years of Musical Hikes 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 Musical Hikes

Meet the Planets: Music and Telescopes (November Hike)

**This event will take place on ONE of the following dates (on the night with the clearest sky forecast):** 

Friday November 1, 7:15 – 10 p.m.
OR
Saturday November 2, 7:15 – 10 p.m.
OR
Sunday November 3, 7:15 – 10 p.m.

Composer John Heins will join us! 

The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra’s November 10 concert showcases Gustav Holst’s glorious work The Planets and John Hein’s Moons of the Giants about the icy moons of the outer solar system. Take a pre-concert tour through space with a large telescope with community naturalist Dave Sutherland while sampling excerpts from this stirring music. After seeing the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, you will be fully prepared to enjoy the concert like an expert!

  • Meet at Joder Ranch trailhead. 
  • Sign up by emailing dsutherland4747@gmail.com.
  • Attendees will notified of the night chosen via email.

 

This field trip is jointly sponsored by Boulder County Audubon Society, and the Boulder Philharmonic as part of the Musical Nature Hikes program.

Musical Hikes with David Sutherland

The Boulder Phil and the Boulder County Audubon Society partner to connect community members with the natural world through music, as Interpretive Naturalist Dave Sutherland leads music-themed hikes in Boulder’s beautiful outdoor spaces. The Audubon Society is one of the world’s oldest non-profit environmental organizations dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitat. These hikes are free and open to the public.

Per the CDC and State of Colorado and Boulder County Public Health, public health orders are now lifted. Face coverings are no longer required, but for the safety of all participants, Covid vaccinations are strongly encouraged.