Ernest Richardson, Steamboat Symphony Orchestra music director and conductor, is excited to combine his love of music and his passion for the river during the orchestra’s performances of ‘A River Runs Through It.”

The concerts take place at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Strings Music Pavilion, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. 

“It’s a great theme because we have a great river,” said Richardson. “In addition to being a conductor, I’m a fly-fisher. I would say one of the primary attractions, initially, for me to come to Steamboat Springs was the Yampa River.”

Richardson said the show opens with music from Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony,” which he noted guides listeners down a path that makes them feel as if they are strolling through nature, with one movement emulating how a person would feel if seated next to a gently rolling brook.

The performance will also highlight music from several other films, including “Ice Age,” which Richardson compares to kayakers and tubers playing in the whitewater of the Yampa River, as well as music from “Out of Africa” that will be paired with art from local photographer Tim Zandee.

“It’s a very diverse program with something for everybody,” said Jennifer Lain Wheeler, Steamboat Symphony Orchestra executive director. “There’s lots of visuals throughout. We have Tim Zandee’s work that is going to be featured in the ‘Out of Africa’ piece, and we also have slides of the Yampa River and Steamboat Springs.”

In a special collaboration, The Little Moon Travelers will join the orchestra to premiere Russell Walden’s arrangements of “Sanctuary” and “Out Chasing Horses.” The arrangements blend bluegrass and symphonic sound. The evening closes with the powerful finale of Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 7” and Copland’s iconic “Hoe-Down.”

“We have a premiere of a brand-new arrangement of orchestral accompaniment to The Little Moon Travelers song called ‘Sanctuary,’ which is about a river,” Lain Wheeler said. “That’s where the impetus came from, and it is actually (band member) Jeremy Campbell’s uncle, Russell, who has written all of the arrangements, so the orchestra can actually play with Jeremy and his band, which they’re very excited about.”

Tickets for the Friday and Saturday shows are still available at SteamboatSymphony.org.

In addition to the collaboration with The Little Moon Travelers, the orchestra will partner with local nonprofit Friends of the Yampa, which will set up a booth in the Strings Pavilion lobby before the show.

Symphony organizers are also excited about several other upcoming events currently in the works.

“Our next event is the first week in December,” Lain Wheeler said. “We are also going to have an Olympic-themed gala right at the end of January, and then we have an Olympic-themed concert the day before the Olympics start in February. We’re partnering with Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club for that one, and we are going to celebrate the past, present and future of the Olympics, which is just so Steamboat.”