Boulder Phil wraps virtual season with a collaborative piece featuring Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance

Apr. 22—Throughout the pandemic, Boulder Phil has brought pre-recorded concerts — many of which were filmed at a plane hangar at Boulder Municipal Airport — to the living rooms of classical music enthusiasts.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, its musicians — along with members of Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance — will wrap up the digital season with a highly anticipated closing performance via Vimeo. Details can be found at boulderphil.org.

Boulder Phil's part of the performance was recorded at Boulder's Mountain View United Methodist Church in March. The portion by Frequent Flyers was filmed at the Dairy Arts Center on April 14. Michael Quam, Boulder Phil's recording engineer, beautifully fused the two for a cohesive premiere of the streamed production.

"We began rehearsing in December," said Nancy Smith, founder and artistic director of Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance. "We're all excited to see the final edit of our collaboration."

While viewers can expect to hear compositions by Beethoven and musical pieces that conjure flavors of spring, a homage to French female sculptor Camille Claudel (1864-1943) also helps this intriguing event take shape. Condensed and reworked original pieces by modern-day composer Korine Fujiwara for the ballet "Claudel" — that originally featured choreography from Columbus Dance Theatre — will serve as the soundtrack as members of Frequent Flyers leap from the ground, spin and soar.

Claudel was known for her striking bronze and marble figurative works, but her decision to follow an artistic path was met with disapproval by her mother. The trailblazer was also the lover, confidant and model of renowned artist Auguste Rodin, but never resided with the famed creative, as he was in another relationship.

"We are performing the 'Suite from Claudel,'" Smith said. "We are doing three sections — of a much larger work — drawn from aspects of Claudel's life. 'Women's Studio' is based on the studio where Claudel worked on her sculptures — which was very unusual in that time for a woman to be an artist and have a studio space. 'The Waltz' and the 'The Mature Age' sections are based on sculptures by those names that Claudel created."

In addition to crafting choreography to fit the compelling score and pay tribute to specific pieces of Claudel's art, Smith felt the call to learn more about the innovative muse that inspired Fujiwara's music and the ballet that bears her name.

"I did not know about her and did a little research into her life, which was quite tragic, especially the fact that her brother, and possibly Rodin, had her committed to an asylum from which she was never released and she died there," Smith said. "Her work did not become famous until after her death. She challenged the patriarchy — and Rodin, in particular."

Shows by Frequent Flyers always manage to emote plenty of stirring and dramatic moves and given the layered subject matter and backstory of Claudel — who spent the last 30 years of her life institutionalized — this weekend's piece will certainly deliver ferocity and fervor.

"As a violist and chamber musician, many of Korine Fujiwara's works are written for either string ensemble or string orchestra and since we were especially looking to program works for smaller ensembles during this COVID year, I reached out to her last summer in the hope that she might have something else that could work for us," said Michael Butterman, music director of Boulder Phil. "I was immediately struck by the music that she wrote for her ballet, 'Claudel' based on the life of the French artist."

Butterman narrowed down three favorite segments of music from the original ballet and asked Fujiwara to create a kind of concert suite for a string orchestra, as the original composition was crafted for a string quartet.

"Korine's (Fujiwara's) writing for strings shows an expert's touch — she explores the full range of sonic possibilities for string instruments while writing works that fit the instruments well," Butterman said. "I was especially pleased by the stylistic range that she shows in this short suite. One movement is a high-energy take on minimalism, one a languid waltz with French undertones and the other a world-weary take on old age. All very descriptive, vivid music."

Before the performance, viewers can tune in to hear more from creators with a Zoom talk featuring Butterman, Smith and Fujiwara starting at 7 p.m.

"I am not sure what questions the maestro might pose, but I hope to speak about Camille Claudel's work, her life and how we approached making the three aerial dances based on her," Smith said.

Prior to the pandemic, the Boulder Phil and Frequent Flyers shared performances spaces in real time. While the two longstanding arts organizations haven't yet planned an upcoming in-person collaboration, fans can look forward to catching both live at area venues throughout the Front Range.

"The professional company has two outdoor shows this summer," Smith said. "Denver Fringe Festival July 26-27 and at the Boulder Bandshell on July 10. We're creating a show called 'Cirque de Minuit' — the midnight circus — which is loosely inspired by Erin Morgenstern's 'The Night Circus.' We're creating a magical and beautiful show for all ages."

Virtual programming will still be part of the repertoire with a student company production of "The Little Mermaid," featuring dancers ages 10 to 18, streaming in June. In August, Frequent Flyers will host its 23rd annual international Aerial Dance Festival that will deliver streamed performances by artists from around the globe.

"We do indeed plan to announce a 2021-2022 season that includes a return to concerts in Macky Auditorium," Butterman said. "The first concerts of the season, though, in October and November, are planned for Mountain View, with somewhat more limited audience and seating."

Butterman is open to the idea of perhaps hosting some small groups for shows at Boulder Municipal Airport, but admits logistics could play a part.

"The challenge is that the airport is quite active," Butterman said. "It just happened that the runways were being repaired during the period of our recordings last September, so there were no takeoffs and landings to contend with."

He is enthused about returning to area venues safely.

"We're thinking of the season as something of a crescendo, beginning with somewhat smaller presentations," Butterman said. "We're certainly hopeful about conditions allowing a return to live audiences and larger orchestras and can't wait to reconnect — in person — with our community in that way."

For now, folks can purchase a $40 household ticket to Saturday's show. On-demand viewing will be available until May 8.

"Frequent Flyers are among our very favorite collaborators," said Butterman. "I think it will be fascinating to see ballet music reinterpreted as aerial choreography. Saturday's concert also includes a deeply moving work by George Walker that is both elegiac and comforting, which seems a perfect complement to the current moment."

While Colorado's weather this week proved to feel more like winter, the nature of the upcoming virtual show is sure to invoke images of sprouting buds and blossoming trees.

"We have a staple of the symphonic repertoire, Beethoven's 'Pastoral Symphony No. 6' in a fascinating arrangement for string sextet," Butterman said. "This version was created during Beethoven's lifetime by a colleague of his, presumably as a way to spread this music far and wide in the days before recordings. The piece is a kind of hymn to nature and has always felt like springtime music to me."