Colorado Music Fest 50th Anniversary Season Begins July 9

Colorado Music Festival’s 50^th Anniversary Season Opens in Boulder on July 9

Peter Oundjian, Music Director

“Mr. Oundjian has a true believer’s infectious zeal, and he and the orchestra bestowed not just expected lushness on this score [Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3], but also an authoritative sweep that made at least one listener yearn to hear this piece much more frequently.”
–The Wall Street Journal

BOULDER, CO: June 29, 2026 - The Colorado Music Festival (CMF) in Boulder, Colorado, celebrates its 50th anniversary season with world premieres, exciting international artists and all-American programming to honor the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The festival runs from July 9 to August 9, with 19 concerts presented at the historic Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder, at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Under Music Director Peter Oundjian, the Festival’s programming is characterized by a thoughtful mix of world premieres, a diverse roster of guest artists, and sustained engagement with unusual and beloved works across 300 years of orchestral repertoire. The Colorado Music Festival Orchestra gathers together musicians from dozens of orchestras across more than 20 U.S. states and Canadian provinces and beyond.

CMF season announcement with a complete, chronological list of concerts, click HERE.

Festival highlights:

July 9 and 10: the world premiere of a new orchestral work by Colorado-based composer Carter Pann and Himari, the 15-year-old violinist whose rapid ascent has drawn global attention, in Sibelius’s Violin Concerto.
July 12, Free Family Concert — This free event features Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, offered in both English and Spanish. A Family Lawn Fair in partnership with the Chautauqua Association follows the performance.
July 14, Canadian Brass — The world-renowned brass quintet performs selections from Bizet's Carmen, plus works by Mozart, Bach, Brahms, The Beatles and Coldplay.
July 16 and 17, Festival Orchestra — Pianist Yuja Wang makes her Festival debut with Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto. Oundjian conducts the Barber and Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Wang conducts Saint-Saëns' Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah.
July 19, Festival Orchestra — Former Colorado Symphony Music Director Jeffrey Kahane leads all six of Bach’s celebrated Brandenburg Concertos.
July 23 and 24, Festival Orchestra — Six-time GRAMMY®-winning conductor and Music Director of the Nashville Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducts an all-American program, including Aaron Copland’s Rodeo and John Corigliano’s Chaconne from The Red Violin, played by Njioma Grevious. Slatkin will also lead a conducting workshop on July 24 at Chautauqua. More information at coloradomusicfestival.org/education.
July 26, Festival Orchestra — Pianist Tony Siqi Yun performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in an all-Mozart concert, which also includes the composer’s Haffner Symphony, Peter Oundjian, conductor.

July 30 and 31, Festival Orchestra — Music Director Peter Oundjian helms one of music’s grandest spectacles: Holst’s The Planets. Cliburn Gold Medal-winning pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii performs Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, and the program begins with a world premiere by composer Leigha Amick, a Boulder native.
August 2, Festival Orchestra — Philadelphia Orchestra principal clarinetist Ricardo Morales performs Copland’s Clarinet Concerto as well as Rossini’s challenging Introduction, Theme and Variations. The program, conducted by Gemma New, concludes with Ravel’s beloved Ma mère l’oye (“Mother Goose”) suite.
August 4, Danish String Quartet — By audience request, the Danish String Quartet returns to CMF with a program of Mozart, Shostakovich and Ravel.
August 6 and 7, Festival Orchestra — Pianist Michelle Cann returns to perform the world premiere of a concerto by composer Valerie Coleman, and the evening concludes with Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.
August 9, Festival Orchestra Season Finale — Music Director Peter Oundjian closes this landmark season with Mahler’s Third Symphony.

Tickets start at $31. CMF offers $15 tickets for youth (ages 18 and under) and students with a current school ID.

For more information about CMF: ColoradoMusicFestival.org