STORIES OF NOTE
THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED How innovation, determination, and the power of music drove the Colorado Symphony’s pandemic success story By Nick Dobreff
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dversity is as revealing as it is inevitable. While unpredictable, overwhelming, disruptive, and chaotic, it nonetheless has the power to illuminate a wellspring of resolve previously obscured or unknown to us altogether. The entire world has spent much of the last year and a half grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 health pandemic, causing disruption on a previously unimaginable scale; isolating people from their families, friends, and loved ones; and irrevocably altering the lives of countless millions. Against a seemingly endless series of obstacles, the Colorado Symphony Association (CSA) refused to go dark, fold, or cease music making even as the pandemic surged around it. From the very beginning, the CSA pledged to bring desperately needed entertainment, comfort, and distraction in the form of virtual and live symphonic music as a salve for the seemingly endless deluge of uncertainty and emotional distress being endured by society. While being cognizant of those in greatest need, the CSA played on, taking a leading role in the community by raising funds for other organizations in need, bringing awareness to the realities facing performing arts and live music organizations, and pioneering methods for safe, in-person performances when deemed safe to do so by state and local health officials. So where were we back in March 2020? With an incredible concert lineup that included the likes of Kristin Chenoweth and Cynthia Erivo, the dulcet tones of the Colorado Symphony were once again bringing joy to countless Coloradans as the orchestra continued to be seen and heard by a growing and more diverse audience than ever before. The 2019/20 season was on track to expand the orchestra’s presence to projected record-breaking numbers, as 276,466 patrons enjoyed live symphonic music in Boettcher Concert Hall and across the state from July 2019 through March 2020. Everything was on track for one of the most memorable and successful Colorado Symphony seasons in recent memory, including the fifth straight fiscal year with a healthy operations reserve. On February 28, the 2020/21 Season schedule was released and the future for live symphonic music in Colorado had never looked brighter. 14
C O L O R A D O SY M P H O N Y.O R G
