LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy...the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents."
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) is a pivotal hero of Romanticism in music. His musical genius and compositional skill have had an immeasurable influence on multiple generations of composers, performers, and audiences. In addition, his fascinating and heroic personal life story continues to inspire people around the globe. As a representative of a truly Romantic movement, Beethoven held in highest esteem the values of Freedom, Equality, and Brotherhood that we cherish today around the globe.
Joseph Karl Stieler, Portrait of Beethoven, 1819, oil,
Collection Walter Hinrichsen, New York.
Year 2020 marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of this monumental composer. It provided us with a wonderful opportunity to bring his fascinating musical and personal history closer to all audiences of the Northern Colorado region.
We invite all of you to participate in the Series!
Vision:
We envision a future in which diverse communities of the Northern Colorado region collaborate and stimulate artistic creativity and innovation. Economical and political divisions are transformed into constructive dialogues and actions focused on empowering all communities. Musical concerts become events where communities can express and celebrate their individual identities and collective commonalities.
Mission Statement:
Our communities stand at the core of our activities. The Concert Series will focus on providing access to excellent quality performances with an educational component. The series will actively engage and promote artists representing diverse communities of the Northern Colorado region, while also offering the opportunity to our audiences to interact with national and international guest artists and presenters in an approachable setting. Through an innovative programming, the series will draw on the phenomenal musical legacy of Beethoven in a series of musical events.
THE BEETHOVEN IN THE ROCKIES TEAM
Adam Piotr Żukiewicz
Founder and Artistic Director
Adam Piotr Żukiewicz is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed concert pianist. He concertized across Europe, United States, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong, and Macau, and his performances were broadcast in the USA, Canada, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, and Poland. Mr. Żukiewicz consistently receives critical acclaim, while his innovative programming - focused on exploring connections between the popular and the lesser
known gems of the traditional and contemporary repertoire - continues to engage and inspire audiences around the world.
Mr. Żukiewicz is an Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado, where he currently resides. He serves as a Resident Faculty Pianist at the International Music Festival of the Adriatic in Duino (Italy), and is a founder and Artistic Director of the Intercollegiate Piano Competition of the West. He is also a founding member of the Colorado Piano Trio. Prior to his arrival in Greeley, Mr. Żukiewicz served as faculty at the University of Toronto and St Michael's Choir School in Toronto. His students studied in renowned institutions such as Indiana University and Eastman School of Music, and their successes include festival and competition awards in Canada,Italy, Singapore, and USA.
Jubal Fulks
Artistic Co-Director
Concertmaster, Beethoven Camerata
Since his appointment at the University of Northern Colorado in 2013, Associate Professor of Violin Jubal Fulks has become one of the most successful and sought-after violin teachers in Colorado. His students include competition winners at the state, regional, and national levels, many of whom have gone on to lead professional careers as music educators, orchestral musicians, and attend prestigious music festivals and graduate programs throughout the United States and abroad. An acclaimed performer, Dr. Fulks maintains and active and multi-faceted performance schedule.
Along with his UNC School of Music colleagues Adam Zukiewicz and Gal Faganel he formed the Colorado Piano, which performs concerts, outreach, and recruiting activities across the region and nationally. Recent performances include Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and a feature on Colorado Public Radio’s “Colorado Spotlight,” and the trio looks forward to beginning a Greeley-based concert series to bring high-quality chamber music to northern Colorado. Dr. Fulks also serves as a leader and founding member of Sinfonia Spirituosa, a baroque chamber orchestra based in Sacramento, California. Sinfonia Spirituosa is dedicated to presenting bold, historically-informed performances on period instruments, and to bringing to life the broad spectrum of color, affect and rhetoric inherent in the music of the Baroque era.
Dr. Fulks has performed as soloist with orchestras across the United States and has been heard on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.” His orchestral and chamber music experience includes Grammy-nominated performances with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in New York City at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the Jazz at Lincoln Center series, and the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. As a recitalist, he has appeared at numerous summer festivals and concert series in the United States and Asia and has toured extensively in Europe. During the summer months he is on the faculty of Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont and has been a faculty member at Montecito International Music Festival in California, Lutheran Summer Music Festival in Iowa, and Kinhaven Music School in Weston, Vermont.
Dr. Fulks holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in violin performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied with Kevin Lawrence, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where his teacher was Mitchell Stern. He lives in Greeley with his wife, hornist Lauren Varley, and their children Patrick, Finnian, Oliver, and Flannery.
Ryan La Tourette
General Manager
Director of Community Engagement
Ryan La Tourrette is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Northern Colorado seeking a Bachelor's degree in Music Education K-12 and has emphasized classical piano.
Immersed in the brilliance of concert piano players at the university, he felt a heightened desire to enhance his skills and dedication. As a result, he became one of the pioneering undergraduates to
delve into the study of the harpsichord, aiming to further refine his piano expertise.
Ryan has also made a point to work alongside the Classic Piano company in south Downtown Denver as an apprentice to the piano technician at the university. He is committed to mastering the intricate art of tuning and servicing pianos. He aspires to sustain his journey with the company and the university over his future education.
This will be Mr. La Tourrette’s first series with The Beethoven in the Rockies Concert Series. He anticipates gaining valuable insights from the performances. Not only will he observe how his Piano professor orchestrates performances for the public, but he also looks forward to experiencing it from a comprehensive, versatile perspective, from the ticketing office to behind the stage supporting the performers during and after the performances. Additionally, he looks forward to the opportunity to connect with other outstanding performers, including orchestras led by accomplished conductors, and engaging with chamber ensembles.
Hanguang Wang
Production Manager and Artistic Advisor
Hanguang Wang is a highly sought after pianist, harpsichordist, and collaborator in Greeley, Colorado. Born and raised in China, she began her piano studies at the age of six. She has performed in the United States, Italy, Slovenia, and China, and has been an active piano teacher since 2011.
Her most recent orchestral appearance was in 2023 performing W. A. Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos in E-flat Major, K. 365, for Beethoven in the Rockies.
Ms. Wang completed the Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance at Shandong Normal University in Shandong, China. She continued her studies with Dr. Adam Żukiewicz at the University of Northern Colorado where she completed the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and the Performance Certificate in Piano. She is currently pursuing the Doctor of Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Northern Colorado with a secondary emphasis in Harpsichord. She has served as both a Collaborative Piano Graduate Assistant and a class piano Teaching Assistant during her studies at UNC.
Carly Byrd
Outreach Coordinator
Carly Byrd is an accomplished cellist who has expertise with interdisciplinary performances and has played with the Classern Quartet, Tampa Bay Symphony and many other orchestral and chamber ensembles. Carly Byrd, a Master’s in Music student at the University of Northern Colorado, completed her BM at the The University of Central Florida. She has studied with David Bjella, Alfred Gratta and Martin Bernstein and participated in masterclasses with Nick Photinos, Natalie Helm, Susan Moses and Blake Brasch.
An avid orchestral player and chamber musician, Carly has played in the International Music Festival of the Adriatic and many other national festivals. Carly has taught cello, violin and piano at New World Music School of Orlando and in her own studio, she is currently a graduate assistant at UNC.
Carly is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity. Carly is excited to learn, work, collaborate and expand outreach for Beethoven in the Rockies. When she is not playing music, Carly enjoys traveling, cooking, doing craft projects and playing with her dog, Coda and her cat, Disco.