World premiere of symphony 'Flying On the Scaly Backs of Our Mountains' has Colorado inspiration

The Colorado Music Festival Orchestra prepared to play a new symphony that is inspired, in part, by the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Composer symphony Wang Jie drew from her experience as a rock climber to write the piece.

"It's called 'Flying on the Scaly Backs of Our Mountains,'" Wang explained.

It's one of three pieces that premiered at this summer's festival at Chautauqua Auditorium.

"The experience of listening to a world premiere, a piece you're meeting for the first time, it's the same as walking up to a route I've never seen…ever. And then I'm looking at it, I'm like, 'How am I, 5'5", how am I going to interpret this route? This route has been here for millions, billions of years. I showed up today. How am I going to connect with this route in my way?'" Wang said.

She is an avid rock climber, and this symphony, "Flying on the Scaly Backs of Our Mountains", is inspired by her time climbing in Colorado.

"In my daily work as an artist, my creative process, it is in the metaphor of the mountain – climbing the mountain, and trying to envision reaching the top of the mountain, so reaching the top for me would be finish the piece," she told CBS4.

A native of China, Wang said that the piece is also inspired by a classical Chinese poem written by Su Dongpo, which also seems to be about mountains. She equates the feelings of climbing with the feelings of composing.

"The concentration of calmness. The concentration of breathing. And, the concentration of how do you stay calm, how do you stay effective, and make the best decision that you can, with a cool head, while the body is saying…actually not saying…the body is screaming, 'I'm going to fall! I'm going to fall! I'm going to fall!,'" she said. "Then every once in a while, I get to lock into a hold. That is the moment I feel, 'Ahh.' Everything is great again. Everything is good again."

Wang said that while she's working in Boulder, the mountains are calling to her every second of every day.

"There is only one question that I can think about. 'Jie, why aren't you on that mountain?'" she said.

Wang Jie's "Flying on the Scaly Backs of Our Mountains" opens the August 4, 2022 concert at the Colorado Music Festival. You can also enjoy clarinetist Anthony McGill and Stravinsky's "Firebird."

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