The Music of Stephen Scott: A Retrospective

Professor Stephen Scott, director of the world-renowned Bowed Piano Ensemble, will retire from Colorado College at the end of the current academic year. Three separate events will take place over the course of the weekend, highlighting Scott’s unique contributions to music through the presentation of familiar and obscure works — many of which may be heard live for the final time since the Bowed Piano Ensemble will soon retire as well.

A symposium (Saturday, 3 p.m.) will feature talks by alumni of the Bowed Piano Ensemble currently working as academic musicologists around the country. They will provide insights into much of the music to be heard on the two concerts that follow. The first concert (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.) will feature works by Stephen Scott for solo piano as well as for voice in addition to a full performance of “Vikings of the Sunrise,” considered by many to be his magnum opus. The second concert (Sunday, 2 p.m.), will feature a two-bowed-piano ensemble work titled “Double Variations,” with one ensemble (10 musicians) comprised entirely of alumni. Works for bowed piano by former students of Scott will also be included. The festivities will conclude with a performance of Terry Riley’s “In C,” a collaborative and interactive work currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. This final piece has long received annual performances at the college as a part of Scott’s music course offerings and its performance here brings together a large group of alumni performers who have been influenced and inspired by Scott’s tenure with the college.