The Colorado Symphony Orchestra has appointed Peter Oundjian as its new music director. Oundjian, who previously served as principal conductor, assumes a role that expands his responsibilities and deepens his commitment to the orchestra.
Oundjian explained the importance of his transition from principal conductor to music director.
"Once you become the music director, people really see you as having made a true commitment, a kind of exclusive commitment to that symphony orchestra," Oundjian said. "And that's very, very important for any orchestra."
He noted that the Colorado Symphony is "emerging out of the pandemic with great success."
As the Colorado Symphony enters this new phase under Oundjian's leadership, it aims to expand its reach and contribute to Denver's cultural scene. The orchestra's upcoming seasons will feature a mix of classical repertoire, contemporary works and collaborations with artists from various genres.
Though he has filled many of the functions of music director already, Oundjian described his expanded role as a confirmation of his commitment to the Colorado Symphony.
The transition comes at an exciting time for the Colorado Symphony. Oundjian highlighted recent developments. "We just got a beautiful new Steinway and sometime in the next hopefully three to four years, we will have a beautifully renovated Boettcher Concert Hall."
As Music Director, Oundjian's responsibilities extend beyond the podium. "You take on a responsibility, which is a very serious one of trying to make sure that everything goes in the right direction, that you are always making progress that is artistically, that you are in a nice way pushing the orchestra to be as good as you think you can possibly make them." he said.
Artistically, Oundjian plans to keep the Colorado Symphony's programming diverse and engaging.
"Being eclectic nowadays is very, very important because people love all kinds of music and we never want to be perceived as elitist that play only sort of the classical repertoire," he said.
He mentioned that the orchestra collaborates with RZA, a rap artist, as part of their efforts to broaden their musical offerings.
The upcoming season also includes a mix of popular and lesser-known works. Oundjian highlighted the upcoming November performance featuring Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto alongside Mahler's Seventh Symphony.
The orchestra is set to host several high-profile guest artists including Itzhak Perlman who will play Beethoven's Violin Concerto in January.
Oundjian also discussed plans to raise the Colorado Symphony's profile beyond Denver.
"There are plans in discussion to take the orchestra to different communities across the U.S., hopefully to New York, perhaps to the Far East, perhaps to Europe," he said. "These things are very important. They are the elements that I think differentiate the extremely good orchestras in the United States from the truly great orchestras."
The Colorado Symphony is also enhancing its recording capabilities. Oundjian revealed that the orchestra will utilize a special set of Schoeps microphones from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
"We are going to start recording all of our concerts, which we've been doing anyway, but now we're going to be using these extraordinary microphones," he said. The microphones belonged to Oundjian's late father-in-law, a Grammy-winning recording engineer.
Reflecting on Denver's cultural landscape, Oundjian expressed optimism about the city's artistic growth.
"I remember many years ago, people used to say, ‘Oh, Denver, it's a kind of a cow town,’ and I could never really understand that because I mean, it's just an extraordinary city with the most wonderful museums and all kinds of activity in the arts and wonderful universities surrounding it," he said. "I really also feel that this attitude is changing and that there's a tremendous amount of respect and feeling that this city has the potential to become truly one of the great cultural artistic centers."
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove a musician whose upcoming performance has not yet been confirmed.
