Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn have been working on a new Song Cycle with the Colorado Symphony that will premiere Thursday at the Vilar Arts Center in Beaver Creek, then play Friday and Saturday at the Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver.

“You betcher, we’ll be at the Boettcher,” said Fleck — a pun so bad it just had to be repeated here. 

You might be wondering what a “Song Cycle” even is.

“Well, we were wondering the same thing,” Fleck said. “But we’ve been working really hard on creating it. It’s a set of songs and stories that go together, written by us as well as some traditional material.”

It also includes, Washburn added, some contributions from the late Hazel Dickens, a true coal-miner’s daughter and one of the first women to record a bluegrass album.

The program will include Bartók’s “Dance Suite BB86a,” Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring: Suite” and the premiere of Fleck and Washburn’s “Dreams in Flight.”

“This piece is going to have some classical elements, some old-time dead Appalachian elements, and some things I wrote for the orchestra,” said Fleck, perhaps the world’s best-known living banjo player. He’s the namesake of Béla Fleck & the (mighty, mighty) Flecktones and a 16-time Grammy Award winner — most recently for 2022’s Best Bluegrass Album, “My Bluegrass Heart.” His wife, with whom he won the 2016 Grammy for Best Folk Album, is not only an acclaimed clawhammer  banjo player, she is a graduate of Colorado College in Colorado Springs. The couple have been referred to as “banjo royalty” since their marriage in 2009, and they are now the parents of two sons.

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The new Song Cycle, Washburn said, will play out in three movements conducted by Scott O’Neil.

“The first is about how we are always searching for something better and we don’t often find it the way we thought we would,” she said. “The second is about regret, and the third is about finding the spark to keep going, and finding peace in the human condition.”

And if that sounds at all like a bummer, Fleck interjected: “Everything works out in the end.”

Fleck and Washburn responded to email questions from The Denver Gazette in advance of their return to Colorado this weekend:

John Moore: What is the secret to your — or any — successful musical partnership?

Béla Fleck: It’s about respecting your collaborator and really listening to each other. The fact that we are married can make that complex, because one can take things personally when your idea is rejected. But if you can get past that hurdle, there are a lot of great things about being a couple making “beautiful music together.” (See what I did there?)

John Moore: Abigail, having attended Colorado College, is there any added personal significance for you to be making this appearance with the Colorado Symphony?

Abigail Washburn: Yes! I never could have imagined when I was an undergrad at CC that music would be my career and that I would play with the Colorado Symphony someday. I believe CC trained me to have the curiosity, skills and courage to try new things and walk through daunting doors as they opened throughout my life.

John Moore: Béla, what is special to you about playing in Colorado?

Béla Fleck: Colorado has been one of the places that seemed to “get me” from the start. I know that it’s a great audience for a lot of unusual music, and I’m so thankful that it is so supportive to the non-centrist music community. That’s probably why it’s a place where having me and Abigail do a song cycle with the Colorado Symphony is a great match. There are towns where it wouldn’t work at all. Thank goodness for Colorado!

John Moore: Béla, who else do you absolutely love to watch play the banjo?        

Béla Fleck: I always love to hear my teacher Tony Trischka play. I always have, always will. Earl Scruggs and J.D. Crowe, both no longer with us, were incredible to watch.

John Moore: For those who are more used to seeing you at Red Rocks and seeing the Colorado Symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall, what are we in for when we see your new Song Cycle come to life backed by a full orchestra, all under one roof? 

Béla Fleck: This piece is truly unique. Whether you like it or not, you’ll have to say you’ve never heard anything quite like it. We’ve been working hard on this music for quite a while, so we are deeply invested in it — and we like it! 

John Moore: Any specific insight on your selections of Bartók and Copland?

Béla Fleck: This will be the orchestra’s chance to shine without the banjo players!