Listen to the Colorado Symphony every Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on CPR Classical.
Whenever you’re facing stressors and challenges, it pays to put intention into finding beauty to feed your mind and soul. Neurological studies keep revealing that classical music can help with that. CPR Classical listeners regularly tell us the music’s uplifting effect is much of what brings them back time and time again.
But nothing beats experiencing the magic of this music live.
An abundance of mood-enhancing opportunities are on the precipice of bursting to life with the launch of the 2024-25 concert season, none more expansive than the Colorado Symphony’s lineup.
As the region’s only full-time professional orchestra, the Colorado Symphony is the nerve center of our state’s live orchestral music. It provides access to dozens of concerts spanning a wide range of appeal. And the symphony is serious about access, offering discounted and free tickets when cost is a barrier. They also bus in thousands of school children for daytime performances each year to Boettcher Concert Hall. The venue is part of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in the heart of downtown, boasting 10 events spaces under one majestic, 80-foot tall glass roof, the largest complex of its kind in the U.S. after New York’s Lincoln Center.
Peter Oundjian helps shape the season. Named principal conductor in February 2022, he debuted in that role only a few weeks later. Oundjian fans have been able to see him year round since 2019, when he became the music director of Boulder's Colorado Music Festival. In July, he extended that contract through summer 2029.
Oundjian leads the symphony’s season opener September 13-15, when the national anthem brings the crowd to its feet, followed by music of Hector Berlioz, French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet playing George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F and ending with Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony. The year ahead welcomes guest artists from violin legend Itzhak Perlman to Leslie Odom, Jr. of Broadway fame ("Hamilton"). Look for popular returning events like Latin Beats (free) September 26 in partnership with the Mexican Cultural Center, and a wild display of the symphony’s topflight percussion section for Drums of the World December 1.
One of the most successful turns in recent years is the addition of film scores played live by the symphony to the action on “the cube” — four giant screens which accommodate Boettcher’s seating in the round. There are a bunch this year, including movies from the Star Wars and Harry Potter series.
A few meaty standouts:
- Verdi’s Requiem on October 18 and 19, 2024 - This behemoth work marks the 40th anniversary of the Colorado Symphony Chorus and the final performance of its founder and longtime chorus director, Duain Wolfe. He launched the Colorado Children’s Chorale in 1974 and recently retired as music director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. I recommend this concert for the sheer grandeur of Verdi and the rare opportunity to celebrate Wolfe, a legend in Denver and beyond.
- Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony pairs with a thrilling new work titled “Contact” by American composer Kevin Puts, written for and premiered (2022) by Time for Three. Tf3 plays it with the Colorado Symphony November 23 and 24, 2024.
- CPR Classical Presents: “A Colorado Christmas” - The ultimate Scrooge antidote, the stage will be packed with the full orchestra, chorus and Colorado Children’s Chorale, December 14 and 15, 2024. Take your grumpy uncle. If that’s you, then bring a child and watch the joy on their face to see and feel the true meaning of the season.
- Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 - You have two chances to see it. Attend both to discover what two different soloists (and conductors) bring to the same beloved masterpiece, then show off your new smarty-pants opinions about each at the next cocktail party. Yuja Wang on December 18, 2024, and Gabriela Montero, April 25, 26 and 27, 2025.
- Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 - It’s truly sad that this Viennese composer is not better known. Fathoming one of his symphonies is kind of like trying to get your head around quantum physics, but each is like entering an amazing cathedral. To mark Bruckner’s 200th birth anniversary, Peter Oundjian chose one of his finest. You get one chance to witness the awe-inspiring Symphony No. 8, January 31, 2025.
- A winter visit from the Aspen Music Festival's Robert Spano - The AMF music director leads Peter Tchaikovsky’s giant Symphony No. 5. This is the deeper, more personal side of the composer compared to his ballet music. Stephen Hough also joins to play the Grieg Piano Concerto, February 7-9, 2025.
See the Colorado Symphony’s full 2024-25 lineup.
Explore CPR Classical’s new Classical Music Guide to choose from hundreds of classical performances planned across Colorado this season.
Hear CPR Classical by clicking “Listen Live” at the top of this website, or download the Colorado Public Radio app. Listen on your radio to CPR Classical at 88.1 FM in Denver, or on radio signals around Colorado. You can also tell your smart speaker to “Play CPR Classical."
