This is familiar territory for all three parties: This is the third installment of an annual series featuring DeVotchKa with the CSO. Isakov has never played this particular venue with the ensemble, but their joint efforts at Boettcher Concert Hall last November were met with sold-out adulation.
See also: -Gregory Alan Isakov at Boettcher Concert Hall -- REVIEW -DeVotchKa and the Colorado Symphony at Red Rocks -- REVIEW
As classical music struggles worldwide to capture a new, younger audience, outreach efforts like these are becoming more common. They can be incredibly patronizing (no, we don't want to hear 75-ish of the most talented one percent of musicians in the world interpret the four chords of early Beatles songs). But this series is anything but superficial. For example, DeVotchKa's Tom Hagerman wrote arrangements of Isakov's already orchestral catalogue for this exact purpose. It realizes a unique vision; when Isakov went on tour early this year with Josh Ritter, he referred to November's performance with the CSO as the greatest experience of his professional life.
Each full band -- Isakov's and DeVotchKa -- will play a set with the CSO on July 17, independently of the other. Though it seems not unlikely that there might be some guest appearances.
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