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The Boulder Chamber Orchestra (BCO) will once again bring a special performance toÌýMacky Auditorium—this time, in a concert titledÌýMay the 4thÌý(Be With You)Ìýfeaturing the music ofÌýStar WarsÌýby composer John Williams.Ìý

The opportunity for the orchestra to perform at ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ impressive gothic theater came about due to support from ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ Chancellor Philip DiStefano and local donors.Ìý

The Boulder Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2004 and comprises professionally trained musicians who appreciate the opportunity to be involved with a chamber ensemble. Now in its 14thÌýyear, the BCO has scheduled 12 main concerts this season, plus a New Year’s concert, a dance-style concert, and theÌýStar Wars-themed special concert atÌýMacky.Ìý

The connections between BCO and ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ are many. Bahman Saless, founder and music director of the BCO, is an ex-physicist who received his PhD at ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ in 1987.Ìý

Silas Huff, associate director of the BCO, previously served as the conductor of the U.S. Army Band and is now a conducting students at ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ under the guidance of Gary Lewis,Ìýdirector of orchestras and music professor in the College of Music.ÌýHuffÌýis also pursuing a doctoral degree in musical arts at ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½Æƽâ°æÏÂÔØ.

Saless and Huff also run the International Conducting Institute (ICI), which invites young conducting students from around the world to attend workshops allowing them to work and study with some of the world’s best conductors. While the premier ICI workshops is held in the historic city of KroměřížÌýin the Czech Republic, the institute has one of its pillars in Boulder, where dozens of young conductors gather each year to conduct members of the BCO.Ìý