Witness the spectacle of a colossal musical ensemble instead

So, the big question this weekend: Are you a Chiefs fan or an Eagles fan? If the answer to that question is one of those teams, then I’m sure you already have plans for how you are going to spend your Sunday. But if the answer is just “no,” then read on because I have another way for you to spend the afternoon.

Before I go any further, let me preface this by saying that I am old enough to remember a few things, OK? Like the very rst “Big Game”…Nobody referred to it as that until the NFL started ling copyright lawsuits whenever someone published anything with the words “super” and “bowl” together as a single entity. I don’t think that applies to me mentioning it in a column like this, but…Let’s not tempt fate, right? It’s “ e Big Game,” but you know what I’m talking about here. Anyway, the rst one was back in 1967, when I was just 7 years old, so I’ve seen quite a few of them. I’ve seen almost all of them if you want to know the truth. Probably missed about ve of them for one reason or another. Of course, we all have our favorite teams so when one of them makes it to the end, we want to tune in to see the nal result, but sometimes two teams end up doing battle that we just don’t care about. Some of those games were great while others, not so much.

AVENUE FLASHES e Je erson Symphony Orchestra holds its 2023 Winter Concert Feb. 12 at the Green Center on the Colorado School of Mines campus. Kick-o will be at 3 p.m. Come witness the spectacle of this colossal musical ensemble doing battle on the stage with some of the world’s most challenging compositions from such formidable opponents as “Fabulous” Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Max “ e Crush” Bruch and Hector “ e Spectre” Berlioz. e home team is coached by conductor Arturo Gonzalez, who comes to Golden with a winning record as musical director and conductor of both major and minor league teams such as the El Paso and Las Cruces Chamber Orchestra, the Ballet & eatre of the Border, and Colorado Light Opera. For two seasons and three national tours, he had the tremendous honor of conducting the National Youth Orchestra of Mexico. In addition he is on loan from the Flatirons Symphony Orchestra and has guest conducted several neighbors including the Boulder Opera, Longmont Symphony, Youth Orchestra of the Rockies, and Evergreen Chamber Orchestra. e team will also be quarterbacked by concert violinist Erasmo Solerti, whose college career included the Castella Conservatory and he earned his Masters of Arts with emphasis in violin at the University of Costa Rica under the tutelage of Eddie Mora. He then went on to play as a soloist and member of the Castella Conservatory Orchestra, the School of Musical Arts Orchestra, the Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra, and the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Heredia.

I think most adults have memories of really good games as well as the ones where it’s such a blowout you end up wondering how one of those teams got to the game in the rst place. So, I’m just reminding folks that these games aren’t always the clash of the titans they are hyped up to be. When you nd yourself running into the kitchen to get a snack while the plays are happening so you don’t miss the commercials, you know it’s one of those “not so much” games, right? Now, I have no idea what this year’s match up is going to turn out to be like, but if it really doesn’t matter to you, then here’s another alternative to check out.

OK, well that might be a little bit too much football style pre-concert hype. No one is actually doing battle, but it should be a pretty exciting concert. It starts with MendelssohnHensel’s Overture in C Major which is a charming miniature full of sparkling melodies and evocative orchestrations. at’s followed by Bruch’s Violin Concerto No 1, featuring Solerti as the soloist, that remains an audience delight with soaring, endearing melodies and dazzling virtuosic passages. e concert will conclude with the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, about which he wrote “ e composer’s intention has been to develop various episodes in the life of an artist, in so far as they lend themselves to musical treatment.”

Tickets and more information are available at www.je symphony.org and as a bonus, the concert should end just in time for you to rush home and catch Rihanna’s halftime performance and watch the second half of the game. Or the commercials, depending on the score. It’s a big weekend ahead!

John Akal is a well-known jazz artist/ drummer and leader of the 20-piece Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra. He also is president of John Akal Imaging, professional commercial photography and multimedia production. He can be reached at jaimaging@aol.com.