In Sunday’s (4/20) Denver Post, Ray Mark Rinaldi writes, “Brian Priestman, the maestro who led Denver’s premier symphony orchestra for nine years, died April 18 at his home in Broze, France. He was 87. Priestman stood on the podium from 1970 to 1979, a golden decade for the ensemble, then called the Denver Symphony Orchestra.… He was the orchestra’s public face as it opened its new, and current, home, Boettcher Concert Hall.… The organization eventually changed its name to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.” Born in Birmingham, England, Priestman “worked in the classical music business the world over,” holding conducting posts with London’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre and BBC Orchestra, the Handel Society in New York, and the New Zealand, Edmonton, and Cape Town symphony orchestras. “He was also an educator, with occasional gigs at colleges, including the University of Kansas.” Priestman’s survivors include Ford McClave, his wife from 1972 to 1980; their daughter, Cate Priestman, and son-in-law, Alex John; and two grandchildren, Louis and Eleanor.
Posted April 24, 2014
