Live classical music. Poetry.
Good Eats.
Summer 2025 Season
Returning to the Outdoor Patio
3 pm shows
3rd Sundays
at Avogadro's Number Restaurant
605 S. Mason St.
Fort Collins, CO
The Church of Beethoven is "...a 'church' with no preaching, just gorgeous music, poetry and two minutes of silence in an all-too-busy world." The goal of the Church of Beethoven is to build a sense of community around the arts, by removing the typically formal atmosphere of classical music, and breaking down the proverbial "fourth wall" between the audience and the performers.
Dates:
• Sunday, June 15, 3 p.m. Craig Winston, Classical Guitar with Poet Michael P. Hill
• Sunday, July 20, 3 p.m. Old Machines Duo (Violin/Cello) with Poets Aby Kaupang & Matthew Cooperman
• Sunday, August 17, 3 p.m. Synesthesia Chamber Trio with Poet Jackie White
• Sunday September 21, 3 p.m. 3 p.m. - Zephyr Brass Collective with Poet Bryan Roth
• Sunday, October 19, 3 p.m. Cellist Barbara Thiem and Violinist Erik Peterson with Poet Lew Forester
Show begins at 3 p.m. outside on the patio at Avogadro's Number Bar and Grill, Fort Collins. Food and beverages available for purchase.
No refunds and all sales are final unless performance is cancelled.
Season Tickets Available $70 for all 5 performances
Dates:
• Sunday, June 15, 3 p.m. Craig Winston, Classical Guitar with Poet Michael P. Hill
• Sunday, July 20, 3 p.m. Old Machines Duo (Violin/Cello) with Poets Aby Kaupang & Matthew Cooperman
• Sunday, August 17, 3 p.m. Synesthesia Chamber Trio with Poet Jackie White
• Sunday September 21, 3 p.m. 3 p.m. - Zephyr Brass Collective with Poet Bryan Roth
• Sunday, October 19, 3 p.m. Cellist Barbara Thiem and Violinist Erik Peterson with Poet Lew Forester
Show begins at 3 p.m. outside on the patio at Avogadro's Number Bar and Grill, Fort Collins. Food and beverages available for purchase.
No refunds and all sales are final unless performance is cancelled.
Season Tickets Available $70 for all 5 performances
Sunday June 15, 3 pm - Craig Winston, Classical Guitar with poet Michael Hill
$15.00
Craig Winston is a classical guitarist and teacher in Denver, CO. He holds a Master of Music degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.
His classical guitar performances offer a range of music, from upbeat Latin American music, to the virtuosity of the Baroque, and intimate, emotive modern compositions.
Poet Michael P. Hill is the author of three collections of poetry, Where That Leaves Us (Kelsay Books, 2024) Not Just Passing Through (Main Street Rag Publishing, 2022) and Junk Drawer (Kelsay Books, 2021), which was named an Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist. His poems have also appeared in Midwestern Gothic, Briar Cliff Review, Spillway, Gray’s Sporting Journal, Barstow & Grand, Opossum, Plainsongs, Jelly Bucket and Talking River Review, among others. Michael has worked as a journalist, toured and recorded with rock’n’roll bands, earned a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science, and wet a line in more rivers, lakes and streams than he can possibly remember. A near-native Midwesterner, he grew up in Wisconsin near the Minnesota border and spent a number of years in both Texas and Washington before settling in Colorado, where he lives with his wife, their two children and their dogs Harold and River.
Food and drink available for purchase.
All sales are final and no refunds will be issued unless performance is cancelled.
Sunday July 20 3 p.m. Old Machines Duo with Poets Aby Kaupang & Matthew Cooperman
$15.00
Old Machines Duo (Sarah Off, violin and Mathieu D'Ordine, Cello) delights in sharing their interpretations of works, new and old, with their audiences. They specialize in the performance of newly written and obscure works for violin and cello and find great artistic inspiration in working with living composers. They take their name from composer, Dylan Fixmer’s piece “Old Machines” written for them in 2020.
Aby Kaupang is the author of & there’s you still thrill hour of the world to love, Radiant Tether, NOS, (disorder not otherwise specified) (w. Matthew Cooperman), Little “g” God Grows Tired of Me, and multiple other collections. She holds master’s degrees in creative writing and occupational therapy.
Choosing to work outside of academia, she practices as an occupational therapist and nurse’s aide specializing in the treatment of neurodivergent and special needs children.
Aby lives in Fort Collins, CO where she assists in organizing an annual book festival, hosts the reading series, EveryEye, and has served as Poet Laureate. &
Poet, educator, editor and ecocritic, Matthew Cooperman is the author of, most recently, the atmosphere is not a perfume it is odorless (Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, 2024) and Wonder About The, winner of the Halcyon Prize (Middle Creek, 2023) as well as NOS (disorder, not otherwise specified), w/Aby Kaupang, (Futurepoem, 2018), Spool, winner of the New Measure Prize (Free Verse Editions/Parlor Press, 2016), the text + image collaboration Imago for the Fallen World, w/Marius Lehene (Jaded Ibis Press, 2013), Still: of the Earth as the Ark which Does Not Move (Counterpath Press, 2011), DaZE (Salt Publishing Ltd, 2006) and A Sacrificial Zinc (Pleiades/LSU, 2001), winner of the Lena Miles Wever-Todd Prize. His ninth book, Time, & Its Monument, is forthcoming from Station Hill Press.
Food and drink available for purchase. All sales are final with no refunds unless show is cancelled.
Sunday, August 17, 3 p.m. - Synesthesia Chamber Music with Poet Jackie White
$15.00
Church of Beethoven presents Synesthesia with poet Jackie White
Sunday Aug 17, 3 p.m at Avogadro's Number, 605 S. Mason St. Fort Collins.
Synesthesia presents eclectic chamber music from Northern Colorado ~ Experience a "Union of Senses" with this unique ensemble.
- Copper Ferreira, clarinet
- 'Cille Lutsch, flute
- Becky Kutz Osterberg, cello
Jackie K. White earned her PhD in Creative Writing (poetry) from UIC with concentrations in Latinx/Latin American and Women’s Studies and was a Professor of English, now Professor Emerita, at Lewis University for fifteen years. She has served as an editor for the literary journals RHINO and Jet Fuel Review, and is the co-translator, with Frances Aparicio, of César Rondón’s The Book of Salsa (UNC Press, 2008) as well as an assistant editor of They Said: A Multi-Genre Anthology of Contemporary Collaborative Writing (Black Lawrence Press, 2018). She is the author of three chapbooks: Bestiary Charming, 2006 Anabiosis Press Award; Petal Tearing & Variations, Finishing Line (2008); and Come Clearing, Dancing Girl Press, 2012. Her poems and translations have appeared in ACM, Bayou, Fifth Wednesday, Folio, Quarter after Eight, Spoon River, Third Coast, and Tupelo Quarterly, among others.
Food and drink available for purchase.
All sales are final and no refunds will be issued unless performance is cancelled.
Sunday September 21, 3 pm - Zephyr Brass Collective with Poet Bryan Roth
$15.00
Based in Denver, Colorado, the Zephyr Brass Collective is a bold new voice in brass chamber music, uniting technical mastery with a fresh, genre-blurring approach. This dynamic quintet thrives on reinvention—breathing new life into classical favorites, championing cutting-edge contemporary works, and reimagining modern pop and jazz with brass-driven ingenuity.
Collaboration lies at the heart of Zephyr’s mission. The ensemble works closely with composers to expand the brass quintet repertoire while engaging audiences through performances that radiate spontaneity and virtuosity. Deeply rooted in Colorado’s creative community, they balance artistic ambition with approachability, pairing riveting musicianship with workshops and outreach initiatives that inspire budding musicians and listeners alike.
From fiery premieres to inventive arrangements of today’s hits, the Zephyr Brass Collective crafts experiences that are both intimate and electrifying. With a commitment to originality and connection, they invite audiences to discover brass chamber music reimagined: vibrant, daring, and irresistibly alive.
Featuring
- Ben Fausch
- Amanda Hernandez
- John Pirillo
- Ryan Sargent
- Joe Smith
Poet Bryan Roth is a literary editor, writer, poet, manuscript consultant, and teacher. His prose has been published internationally; his poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, The Flying Island, Fringe, Paradigm, Southern Indiana Review, and other publications. He published three chapbooks in 2024: The Church of Beethoven, Triptych, and What You're Up Against. He is also working on a full-length poetry collection, called Building the Day, as well as a novel.
Mr. Roth has won awards for his poetry, his editing, and his writing, including a journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of a new poetry press, Carpe Diem! Press, which began publishing poetry chapbooks in 2024.
Food and Drink Available for Purchase
All sales final. Non refundable tickets unless concert is cancelled.
Sunday, October , 19, 3 p.m. - Barbara Thiem, Cello and Erik Peterson Violin with Poet Lew Forester
$15.00
Church of Beethoven presents Barbara Thiem, Cello with violinist Erik Peterson.
An internationally acclaimed cellist, Barbara Thiem combines teaching cello and chamber music with her active schedule of performances in Europe and the United States, playing solo recitals with orchestra, and chamber music.
Lew Forester is a social worker, poet and painter who lives in Arvada, Colorado. The author of Dialogues with Light (Orchard Street Press, 2019) and The Rooms Between (Kelsay Books, 2024), Lew’s poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, Sky Island Journal, Pinyon, Main Street Rag, Blue Mountain Review, The MacGuffin, Slipstream, and other journals, magazines, and anthologies. Lew is on the poetry editorial staff of The MacGuffin. He is winner of the 2024 Malovrh-Fenlon Poetry Prize, and The Rooms Between is currently nominated for the Eric Hoffer Awards. While no stranger to the microphone, Lew is more frequently found hiking in the mountains just west of his Arvada, Colorado home.
Food and drink available for purchase.
All sales are final and no refunds will be issued unless performance is canceled.
An internationally acclaimed cellist, Barbara Thiem combines teaching cello and chamber music with her active schedule of performances in Europe and the United States, playing solo recitals with orchestra, and chamber music.
Lew Forester is a social worker, poet and painter who lives in Arvada, Colorado. The author of Dialogues with Light (Orchard Street Press, 2019) and The Rooms Between (Kelsay Books, 2024), Lew’s poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, Sky Island Journal, Pinyon, Main Street Rag, Blue Mountain Review, The MacGuffin, Slipstream, and other journals, magazines, and anthologies. Lew is on the poetry editorial staff of The MacGuffin. He is winner of the 2024 Malovrh-Fenlon Poetry Prize, and The Rooms Between is currently nominated for the Eric Hoffer Awards. While no stranger to the microphone, Lew is more frequently found hiking in the mountains just west of his Arvada, Colorado home.
Food and drink available for purchase.
All sales are final and no refunds will be issued unless performance is canceled.
The Church of Beethoven is a ‘church’ with no preaching, just a one-hour-long program presenting classical music (45 min), spoken word art (10 min), and a two-minute celebration of silence. We'll begin at 3 PM sharp, and end by around 4:15 PM. Book signings will be available by featured spoken word artists and Avogadro's delicious menu is available for dining.
Not just a concert, not quite a church, the Church of Beethoven was originally founded by American cellist Felix Wurman, in Albuquerque in 2007. Wurman started this organization “to create a new concept in classical music… to get rid of the ‘fourth wall’ between the players and the audience and create a more familial feel… a community.” The Church of Beethoven aims to nurture community through culture, and elevate the soul through art: “Really, the idea is to find spirituality through culture, through the cultural gifts that so many people have suffered for and created over so many generations. There’s so much information there that’s useful.”
Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
Tickets under age 30: $9 in advance, $10 at the door
Volunteers Needed: Would you like to help organize and run Church of Beethoven? Volunteers receive free tickets and a drink of choice at concerts. Email: churchofbeethovennoco.com with subject line: "Volunteer"
Not just a concert, not quite a church, the Church of Beethoven was originally founded by American cellist Felix Wurman, in Albuquerque in 2007. Wurman started this organization “to create a new concept in classical music… to get rid of the ‘fourth wall’ between the players and the audience and create a more familial feel… a community.” The Church of Beethoven aims to nurture community through culture, and elevate the soul through art: “Really, the idea is to find spirituality through culture, through the cultural gifts that so many people have suffered for and created over so many generations. There’s so much information there that’s useful.”
Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
Tickets under age 30: $9 in advance, $10 at the door
Volunteers Needed: Would you like to help organize and run Church of Beethoven? Volunteers receive free tickets and a drink of choice at concerts. Email: churchofbeethovennoco.com with subject line: "Volunteer"
