“Two years into the leadership of Denver businessman Jerry Kern, both CEO and chairman, the shifts have been fundamental” at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, writes Ray Mark Rinaldi in Sunday’s (9/15) Denver Post. “The CSO’s image is rapidly being democratized, commercialized and, for lack of a better term, Colorado-ized. ‘No one has the right to be haughty in any situation anymore,’ said Kern, who guided the orchestra out of a financial crisis last year.… New events like the 5K walk/run on the morning of Sept. 21 … tap into the younger, more active Front Range lifestyle, same as the ‘Beethoven and Brews’ parties set for Sept. 27 and Nov. 8…. The city of Denver has big plans for Boettcher Concert Hall, and they don’t necessarily include keeping the orchestra there, at least not as the sole tenant…. ‘Other kinds of music events should happen in Boettcher Concert Hall,’ said Arts & Venues executive director Kent Rice. The master plan, due next month, ‘will frame the conversation about whether or not the symphony will stay there.’ Where would the CSO go? Perhaps two doors down to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House [or] a smaller venue…. Rarely does the orchestra fill all 2,362 seats at Boettcher.… Change has been good for the CSO’s bottom line, and more of it in terms of concerts, fundraisers, even its home, could bring it new fans.”
\Posted September 18, 2013
