2014 preview: Art, music and dance travel in from Buffalo, Boise and beyond

By Ray Mark Rinaldi
The Denver Post Fine Arts Critic

Local and visiting talent bring a generous slate of music, dance and visual arts to the area to light up (and enlighten) the grays of winter.

Jan. 7

French Quartets, Dazzle Classical Music Series

The new classical series at Denver's top jazz club is an exciting turn for folks who want their music high-end, intimate and close to downtown. The programming is full of adventure, kicking off 2013 with a concert weird enough to couple Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" with Eugene Bozza's "Nuages" saxophone quartet. Four gigs follow through May 7. 303-839-5100 or dazzlejazz.com

Jan. 17-18

"Return to Paris," Colorado Symphony Orchestra

The CSO has built its best programming of the season around the Denver Art Museum's "Passport to Paris" exhibits, and this looks to be a highlight. Talented, young and watchable Jan Lisiecki solos on Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, inside a program that includes Ravel's sublime orchestral poem "La Valse." Jeffrey Kahane conducts. 303-623-7876 or coloradosymphony.org

Jan. 17-April 30

Ian Fisher and Joel Swanson at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver

The MCA is offering a power-packed twofer with separate exhibitions from a pair of Denver's most admired artists. Swanson works with language, abstracting keen observations from text-based material. Fisher paints grand skyscapes, playing with images and colors and guiding viewers through irresistible atmospheric wonders. These are important shows for artists on the edge. 303-298-7554 or mcadenver.org

Jan. 25

Dianne Reeves with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra

We love to describe Dianne Reeves as a "Denver native and East High School graduate" because we're so proud to call her our own. She sings well with her hometown orchestra, and this time there is the added bonus of hearing new material. Reeves plans to premiere six songs she worked up for the event. 303-623-7876 or coloradosymphony.org

Jan. 31

Trey McIntyre Project, Newman Center for the Performing Arts

This is the dance company we've all been waiting to see. TMP makes its home in the West — Boise, Idaho, to put it on the map — but travels its contemporary moves around the world. A recent Los Angeles Times review described McIntyre as "a bright light, a brainy ballet choreographer whose best works fuse visceral physicality with a deep and true humanism." One night only. 303-871-772 or newmantix.com

Feb. 14-June 8

"Modern Masters: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery," Denver Art Museum.

and

"The Albright-Knox Art Gallery Exhibition Re-created," at the Clyfford Still Museum

DAM and CSM show what next-door neighbors can do, teaming up for a rich look at abstract expressionism. DAM borrows Picasso, Dalí, Kahlo and Warhol and other names from the mighty Albright-Knox, the toast of Buffalo. CSM seizes the moment, re-creating Clyfford Still's landmark exhibition — one of the few in his lifetime — that the Albright-Knox put together in 1959. 720-865-5000 or denverartmuseum.org.

Read more: 2014 preview: Art, music and dance travel in from Buffalo, Boise and beyond - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_24798421/2014-arts-preview-music-dance#ixzz2owjwRkEh
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