Ian Cooke, Land Lines, Megan Burtt to Perform with CSO during “Turn Over The Keys”

Colorado artists Ian Cooke, Land Lines, Megan Burtt to perform with orchestra; original arrangements by Jay Clifford

Thursday, May 28, 7:30 pm, Boettcher Concert Hall

All tickets $25, now on sale

Emerging Colorado artists Ian Cooke, Land Lines, and Megan Burtt will perform individual sets with musicians from the Colorado Symphony, each with a unique style, sound, and symphonic approach.

Longtime CSO collaborator Jay Clifford, leader of the seminal South Carolina-based band Jump Little Children, will work with each artist to create original orchestral arrangements of their music for a complement of 26 string players. Clifford will also perform.

“Turn Over the Keys” builds on a tradition of creative collaboration with emerging independent artists in Colorado, which boasts one of nation’s liveliest music scenes. Beginning with a now legendary pairing of the orchestra and DeVotchKa in 2012, the Colorado Symphony has joined with up-and-coming regional musicians including the Lumineers, Gregory Alan Isakov, Nathaniel Rateliff, Otis Taylor, Flobots, Elephant Revival, and more.

The Colorado Symphony’s collaborative spirit has helped to cement the orchestra’s reputation as one of the most innovative and artistically adventurous in the United States. Westword has twice selected CSO collaborations for “Best of Denver” awards.

“Colorado has an incredibly vibrant and talented pool of artists who live and work in our community, and ‘Turn Over the Keys’ provides us with unique opportunity to work with some of these amazing musicians,” says Tony Pierce, Senior Vice President of Program Innovation for the Colorado Symphony. “It’s also a chance to give back. The community makes a huge investment in us, and in Boettcher Concert Hall, and we want to make everyone has access to the hall, and to the music.”

“Turn Over the Keys” closes the inaugural Colorado Symphony Presents contemporary concert series, which opened in November 2014 with a performance from Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Los Lobos, The Chieftains, and Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock are among the artists who have appeared at Boettcher Concert Hall under the Colorado Symphony Presents banner. “Zappa Plays Zappa,” featuring Dweezil Zappa performing music of his iconic father, Frank, will be presented April 23.

Tickets for “Turn Over the Keys” are on sale now at www.coloradosymphony.org. All seats are $25, general admission. Service fees and taxes apply.

“Turn Over the Keys” is the first of its kind — and a chance for promising artists to realize a musical vision; the “keys” to the orchestra are in each artist’s creative control. That’s an exciting prospect, they say.

“We’re on the verge of releasing a new album of dense, classically-influenced music, so this opportunity to work with the Colorado Symphony comes at the perfect time,” says Ian Cooke.

“To this day, one of my favorite sounds is of a symphony orchestra tuning up,” says Megan Burtt. “It’s profound; just a few notes can unite everything and everyone in that space, and induce the kind of anticipation a child has on Christmas Eve.  I have always considered symphony players the epitome of musicians, and I’m beyond humbled for this opportunity to share the stage with such talent. It is certainly a dream come true.”

“I can’t think of a single reason not to be excited to play with the Colorado Symphony,” says Martina Grbac of Land Lines. “As a band, we’ve been playing around with arrangement and harboring hopes of performing with larger groups for some time; some of our songs have had string arrangements waiting in the wings for years. This is something we’ve wanted to do for a very long time and we are thrilled and overjoyed about getting an opportunity to share such an incredible stage with such an incredible ensemble.”