“Close to You” – A Symphonic Celebration of Love
February 15, 2025 - February 16, 2025
Experience a concert of live classical music and songs celebrating love in its many forms.
The concert opens with the heart-pounding “Bacchanale” from the opera Samson and Delila, depicting a party of drunken revelry and seduction. The Los Angeles Philharmonic calls it an “orgiastic, percussion-driven dance,” and one music critic described it as “a full-on nightclub banger…[that] just happened to be written in 1877.”
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet is THE music you hear in movies and TV shows when the hero sees that special someone, full of soaring melodies and drama. You’re sure to recognize it and be moved.
Finally, vocalist Gabrielle Razafinjatovo joins the ASO to perform a collection of classical and popular songs, including “(They Long to Be) Close to You” by the Carpenters and “Moon River” by Henry Mancini.
Repertoire
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture – by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Duration: 21 min
Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah – by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns
Duration: 7 min
“(They Long to Be) Close to You” – by The Carpenters
“Moon River” – by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer
“Voi che sapete” from The Marriage of Figaro – by Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Samson and Delilah – by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns
Sung by vocalist Gabrielle Razafinjatovo
Dates & Location
Saturday, February 15, 2025 @ 7:30 PM
Sunday, February 16, 2025 @ 3:00 PM
APS Avenues – 12310 E Parkview Dr, Aurora, CO 80011
Enjoy a free Pre-Concert talk with Maestro Jeremy Cuebas 30 minutes before each performance.
Featured Artist
Gabrielle Razafinjatovo, Vocalist
Guest Artist:
Gabrielle Razafinjatovo is an American mezzo-soprano known for her versatile singing style, expressive musicality, and rich tone. She is an active performer and teacher in the Front Range of Colorado.
As a competitor under the guidance of Abigail Nims, Gabrielle has taken high honors in multiple competitions for young artists. She most recently won the first-place prize in the Bach Vocal Competition for Young American Singers sponsored by the American Bach Society and the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. She also received notable awards as a finalist in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition for Colorado Singers in 2021, 2022, and 2023 and was a finalist in Colorado Bach Ensemble’s Competition for Young Artists in 2023. She also took second place in the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music Honors Competition. During her undergraduate years, Gabrielle won high awards in the North Dakota Chapter NATS Competition and earned Encouragement and Audience Choice Awards in the North Dakota-Manitoba MET Auditions. During her undergraduate career under the tutelage of DeVera Bowles, Gabrielle won the Minot Symphony Orchestra’s Senior Honors Competition and performed as a soloist with the Minot Symphony Orchestra.
Gabrielle has also tackled a wide range of opera roles, showcasing her versatility. Her most recent roles include Iolanthe in Loveland Opera Theatre’s Iolanthe and chorus member in La Bohème with Bravo! Vail Festival under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Past roles include Sally in Barber’s A Hand of Bridge, Third Lady in Boulder Opera Company’s production of Die Zauberflöte, Dido (cover) with Opera Fort Collins, Abuela (Cover) in Manuel de Falla’s La vida breve with Opera Fort Collins, Lady With a Hat Box/A Foreign Singer in Eklund Opera’s production of Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, Javotte in Boulder Opera Company’s production of Manon, Flora in La Traviata, Narciso in Agrippina, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mercedes in Carmen, Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, and Anna Leonowens in The King and I.
In addition to opera, Gabrielle is an accomplished choral singer, contributing both as a soloist and chorus member with groups including Colorado Bach Ensemble, Seicento Baroque Ensemble, and the Boulder Philharmonic Chorus. She has also been a featured soloist in concerts with Central City Opera, Art Song Colorado, the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, and Boulder Chamber Orchestra. She is currently a member of Boulder Bach Festival’s Fellowship Artist Vocal Quartet as well as an Apprentice Artist and section leader with Seicento Baroque Ensemble. Recent engagements include alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, alto soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat mater with Boulder Chamber Orchestra, and La Frugola in Boulder Opera’s double bill performance of Gianni Schicchi and Il Tabarro.
In addition to her performance career, Gabrielle maintains a private voice and piano studio in Lafayette and occasionally works as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach. Gabrielle holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from University of Colorado Boulder (2022) and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Minot State University (2017).
