Rivers & Streams

The Program

The season begins at the Source

Our 41st season opens with Rivers & Streams, a program that features two modern masterworks for choir and classical guitar. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s iconic Romancero Gitano, Op. 152, based on the vivid poetry of Federico García Lorca, is a landmark of the choral repertoire, blending folk-inspired melodies with the evocative, virtuosic voice of the guitar. Corrado Margutti’s Rivers was commissioned by Nicolò Spera in 2020 and is specifically intended to be paired with the Romancero. A secular oratorio on the theme of plurality, Rivers explores the fluid textures of a range of poetic texts set against the intricate, shimmering colors of the guitar. Corrado Margutti is versatile Italian composer, tenor, and choral conductor whose music is celebrated for its lyrical beauty. His seven-movement work, Rivers, addresses the very timely, multifaceted theme of migration, the search for a homeland, and the construction of identity through a plural human experience.

Featured Artist

Nicolò Spera

Guest artist Nicolò Spera joins Ars Nova Singers for all three performances.

[ Artist bio and photo to be added — awaiting materials from Kim ]

Italian guitarist Nicolò Spera brings to his teaching and performing a unique synthesis of European and American traditions.  

Nicolò is one of the few guitarists to perform on both six-string and ten-string guitars. He has  published recordings of new works for guitar and choir, for solo 6-string and 10-string guitars, and for guitar and tenor; the complete guitar works of Maurice Ohana; his own transcriptions of Bach’s Cello Suites; selected works by Catalan composers Federico Mompou and Enrique Granados; a recording focused on the passacaglia form; and the complete works with guitar of Christopher Theofanidis. 

A primary goal of Nicolò’s creative work is to expand the guitar repertoire. He has commissioned, performed, and recorded new works for guitar ranging from solos to programs with choirs, small ensembles, and orchestras. He has collaborated with composers from Europe and the Americas, including Carlo Boccadoro, Martin Bresnick, Carlos Cordero, Filippo Del Corno, Steve Goss, Corrado Margutti, Roxanna Panufnik, Annika Socolofsky, Giacomo Susani, and Christopher Theofanidis.Nicolò’s passion for choral music and his interest in new works for guitar and choir have also led him to a close collaboration with Tom Morgan and Ars Nova Singers, and Eugene Rogers and EXIGENCE Vocal Ensemble in the US, and with Giovanni Cestino and ITER Research Ensemble in Italy.

He has presented solo and chamber recitals, concerti with orchestra, and performances with choir for some of the oldest concert series in Europe and for major guitar events worldwide, including the Sanremo Guitar Festival, Festival Mediterraneo della Chitarra, and Festival Corde d’Autunno in Italy; Festival de la Guitarra de Sevilla in Spain; International Guitar Symposium at the University of Surrey in the UK; and concert series at the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, Wolf Trap Filene Center, University of Michigan, University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, University of Rhode Island, Vanderbilt University, and Belmont University in the US.  

His most influential teachers are Oscar Ghiglia, Jonathan Leathwood, and Lorenzo Micheli. Nicolò holds degrees from the Conservatory of Bolzano and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy; an Artist Diploma in Guitar Performance at the University of Denver; and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder. 

In 2011, Nicolò was appointed to the faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he is Associate Professor of Classical Guitar and Director of the Ritter Family Classical Guitar Program.