It is probably safe to assume that some in the crowd at Folsom Field on Saturday night may have wished they were somewhere else by the third quarter. It is also likely that the University of Colorado's impeccable band provided the best entertainment there in what must have been a depressing evening.

Those who found their way through the crowds to another venue -- Macky Auditorium -- were also given a great show involving drums, but the event was far more joyful. The opening concert in the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra's third season under music director Michael Butterman was themed "Awakening the Pulse" in a season billed as "Bringing Music to Life." These slogans were apropos, as the event was in every way a celebration of vitality.

Butterman's enthusiasm, daring programming and intriguing themes have energized the orchestra since his arrival. The three works on Saturday's program are all examples of musical dynamism, either through adventurous rhythm, colorful scoring or thematic development.

Leonard Bernstein's 1944 ballet score "Fancy Free," one of his earliest compositions, has become a surprisingly frequent choice for concert programs. The heavily syncopated, jazzy score established the concert's theme in an emphatic way. While a virtuoso endeavor for the entire orchestra, BPO principal keyboardist Art Olsen should be singled out for his many solo piano passages, in which he managed to emulate the rough sounds of a bar piano on a nine-foot concert grand.

BPO musicians were also the stars of the program's centerpiece, a 1988 concerto for percussion trio by Russell Peck. Entitled "The Glory and the Grandeur," the short, one-movement work is a virtual dissertation on instruments that are beaten. The three soloists -- Paul Mullikin, Peter Hellyer and Hiroko Okada Hellyer -- all orchestra members, collaborated and competed on a huge battery of instruments placed in front of the orchestra.

Beginning with a throbbing drum cadenza, the work becomes surprisingly tuneful and accessible once the orchestra enters in the background and the soloists begin to spend much of their time on pitched instruments such as marimba and vibraphone.

Often, they all played on the same instrument while at other times they were spread widely apart; but throughout, their deft movement across the stage was as impressive as their playing, especially given Ms. Hellyer's obvious late-term pregnancy. The work garnered an instant standing ovation, which may have been the effect Peck was hoping to achieve with such a composition.

Closing the program after intermission was the Symphony No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saens, the so-called "Organ" symphony. Organist Kenrick Mervine played the prominent, but not soloistic organ part on a fine electronic instrument that was more than adequate, Macky's pipe organ being in a state of neglect and disrepair. Olsen again played a challenging orchestral piano part

Mevine treated the audience to Bach's ubiquitous Toccata in D minor as an encore.

The elaborate symphony is one of the more famous French examples of the genre.

The BPO season continues on Nov. 1 with an all-Mozart concert entitled "Awakening the Mind." For tickets and information, call 303-449-1343 ext. 2 or visit www.boulderphil.org.