%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en Jack Bradley http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jack-bradley <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Jack Bradley</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-02-08T16:51:14-07:00" title="Monday, February 8, 2021 - 16:51" class="datetime">Mon, 02/08/2021 - 16:51</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jack-bradley" data-a2a-title="Jack Bradley"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fjack-bradley&amp;title=Jack%20Bradley"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Jack Bradley (1919–2000) was a violinist who became one of the first Black members of a major professional orchestra in the United States as well as the first Black member of the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-symphony"><strong>Denver Symphony Orchestra</strong></a> when he played with the group from 1946 to 1949. Bradley came up through the Denver Symphony’s youth and community orchestras before earning a spot in the newly professional symphony after serving in <strong>World War II</strong>. Seeing no future for himself as a Black orchestral musician, he left the Denver Symphony in 1949 to teach music at Texas Southern University, a historically Black school in Houston. He demonstrated the ability of Black musicians to play with the top orchestras in the country but also confronted barriers to Black participation in classical music that still exist today.</p> <h2>Early Life</h2> <p>Jack Carter Bradley was born on March 14, 1919, to Eva and Earl Bradley in Moline, Illinois. His grandparents on both sides of the family had escaped from slavery. Because his two older siblings had died at a young age, his mother’s aunt, <a href="http://www.coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/justina-ford"><strong>Justina Ford</strong></a>, suggested that the family move to <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>, where she was Colorado’s first Black female doctor, so that she could look after Bradley’s health. The family moved in 1926 and lived for several years with Ford in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/five-points"><strong>Five Points</strong></a>. Bradley later recalled the community as “the ‘United Nations’ neighborhood,” a diverse area with “Blacks, Japanese, Chinese, Latins, Greeks, Jews, Italians and Anglos.” By the end of the 1920s, his family had moved east to Whittier, where his father opened a barbershop.</p> <p>Bradley showed musical talent early in his life. He started when his mother gave him piano lessons at home. In 1929 she sent him to the Just Kids Orchestra, a Saturday morning group lesson put on by <strong><em>The</em></strong> <strong><em>Denver Post</em></strong> at the Knight Campbell Music Store downtown. There Bradley took quickly to the violin; after a few months, he won a solo playing award and started private lessons. He played in his local school orchestras, earned a spot in Denver’s All City school orchestra, and performed a variety of solos and recitals at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/zion-baptist-church"><strong>Zion Baptist Church</strong></a>, which his family attended. After graduating from <strong>Manual High School</strong>, he enrolled at the <strong>University of Denver</strong> in 1937, where he studied music and played in the university orchestra as well as a student string quartet.</p> <h2>Denver Symphony</h2> <p>Bradley learned to play violin just as new classical music opportunities were emerging in Denver. In the mid-1930s, the decade-old Denver Civic Orchestra expanded to include a youth group, the Denver Junior Symphony, as well as a more professional orchestra, the Denver Symphony. All three were led by conductor <strong>Horace Tureman</strong> and business manager Helen Marie Black.</p> <p>Bradley was a member of the Denver Junior Symphony from its inception in 1935. In 1938 Tureman gave Bradley a viola and taught him to read the alto clef so he could fill a hole in the Denver Civic Orchestra. Bradley continued to play violin for the Junior Symphony and viola for the Civic Orchestra, with occasional appearances in the Denver Symphony as well, until he graduated from the University of Denver in 1941 and was promptly drafted into the army.</p> <p>Bradley served nearly five years in the army, where he remained stateside during World War II as a member and leader of army bands at bases in Oklahoma, Alabama, and Louisiana. Back in Denver in 1946, he auditioned to play violin for the Denver Symphony, which had become fully professional and hired a new conductor, <strong>Saul Caston</strong>. Caston gave him a spot, making Bradley one of the first Black members of a professional symphony orchestra in the United States. (Some Black musicians had performed earlier as soloists.) Bradley played with the orchestra for three years while also giving private lessons and studying composition at the University of Denver, where he earned his master of music degree in 1949. That year, an article in <em>Ebony</em> identified him as the first Black player in any of the twenty-five major American symphony orchestras.</p> <h2>Later Life</h2> <p>In 1949 Bradley left the Denver Symphony. “I could not see much of a future for a Black violinist in the symphony field,” he later wrote. “I had no evidence that there was, for there were no other Blacks in any of the American orchestras.” Even as a few more African Americans were hired by professional orchestras in the late 1940s and 1950s, aspiring Black classical musicians continued to face widespread educational disparities and cultural messages pointing them toward jazz rather than classical music. If they managed to get the proper training and tried to audition for an orchestra, they still encountered segregated musicians’ unions and discriminatory hiring practices.</p> <p>Amid that cultural landscape, Bradley contacted several historically Black schools and took a teaching position in the music department at Texas Southern University in Houston. He taught there for thirty-five years, serving as department chair for the final nineteen years before his retirement in 1984. After <strong>segregation</strong> ended in the 1960s, he played with the Corpus Christi Symphony and Baytown Symphony and served on the boards of the Houston Friends of Music and Houston Youth Symphony.</p> <p>Bradley died of cancer on February 29, 2000. Although articles on the history of American symphony orchestras occasionally mention his role with the Denver Symphony, he tends to be neglected today. His pioneering role with the Denver Symphony is often assigned instead to bassist <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/charles-burrell"><strong>Charles Burrell</strong></a>, who joined the symphony in 1949, just after Bradley left, and had a long career with the organization. Bradley’s neglect is attributable in part to the fate of the Denver Symphony, which experienced decades of turbulence before declaring bankruptcy in 1989. But it also owes something to the ongoing racial disparities in nearly all American orchestras—including the Denver Symphony’s successor, the Colorado Symphony—where even today, despite the rise of blind auditions, less than 2 percent of musicians are Black.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jack-bradley" hreflang="en">Jack Bradley</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-civic-orchestra" hreflang="en">Denver Civic Orchestra</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-symphony" hreflang="en">Denver Symphony</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-symphony-orchestra" hreflang="en">Denver Symphony Orchestra</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/dr-justina-ford" hreflang="en">Dr. Justina Ford</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/justina-ford" hreflang="en">justina ford</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-symphony" hreflang="en">Colorado Symphony</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/horace-tureman" hreflang="en">Horace Tureman</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/saul-caston" hreflang="en">Saul Caston</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>James Michael Bailey, “Orpheus on a Roller Coaster: A History of the Denver Symphony Orchestra” (master’s thesis, University of Northern Colorado, 1991).</p> <p>Terry Barnes, “African-Americans Striving to Break Classical Barriers,” <em>Billboard</em>, October 24, 1992.</p> <p>Jack Bradley Papers, BCL ARL21, Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, Denver Public Library.</p> <p>Bob Jackson, “Jack Bradley, Symphony’s 1st Black Musician,” <em>Rocky Mountain News</em>, March 21, 2000.</p> <p>Marilyn Marshall, “What’s Behind the Shortage of Blacks in Symphony Orchestras,” <em>Ebony</em>, September 1985.</p> <p>“Symphony Player,” <em>Ebony</em>, January 1949.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Aaron Flagg, “<a href="https://americanorchestras.org/images/stories/symphony_magazine/summer_2020/Anti-Black-Discrimination-in-American-Orchestras.pdf">Anti-Black Discrimination in American Orchestras</a>,” <em>Symphony</em>, Summer 2020.</p> <p>Alex Ross, “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/21/black-scholars-confront-white-supremacy-in-classical-music">Black Scholars Confront White Supremacy in Classical Music</a>,” <em>New Yorker</em>, September 21, 2020.</p> <p>Anthony Tommasini, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/arts/music/blind-auditions-orchestras-race.html">To Make Orchestras More Diverse, End Blind Auditions</a>,” <em>New York Times</em>, July 16, 2020.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 08 Feb 2021 23:51:14 +0000 yongli 3534 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Colorado Symphony http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-symphony <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Colorado Symphony</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-02-08T16:31:34-07:00" title="Monday, February 8, 2021 - 16:31" class="datetime">Mon, 02/08/2021 - 16:31</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-symphony" data-a2a-title="Colorado Symphony"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fcolorado-symphony&amp;title=Colorado%20Symphony"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>The Colorado Symphony is <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a>’s main orchestra and one of the few major orchestras in the Rocky Mountain<strong> </strong>region. The organization traces its roots to the Denver Symphony, which was established in 1934 under Horace Tureman and became fully professional in 1945. Led by conductor <strong>Saul Caston</strong>, the Denver Symphony grew in size and reputation over the next two decades, thanks in part to national media coverage of its summer concerts at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/red-rocks-park-and-amphitheatre"><strong>Red Rocks Amphitheatre</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After Caston was forced out in the mid-1960s, the organization lacked stable administration and funding. Management fell into a series of labor disputes with symphony musicians, including numerous lockouts. In 1989 the musicians resisted a proposed salary cut by forming a rival group, the Colorado Symphony, and the Denver Symphony promptly declared bankruptcy. Today the Colorado Symphony plays in Boettcher Concert Hall, its home since 1978, and is led by music director Brett Mitchell, concertmaster <strong>Yumi Hwang-Williams</strong>, and CEO Jerome Kern.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Early Symphonies in Denver, 1890s–1910s</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The first symphony orchestra in Denver started in March 1892, when P. E. Collins established the Denver Symphonic Music Society. The group played concerts at the <strong>Colorado Mining Exchange</strong> in April and October but then disappeared. It may have been a casualty of the <strong>Panic of 1893</strong>, which devastated Colorado’s economy. Denver’s classical music scene for the next few years consisted largely of concerts at <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/elitch-gardens"><strong>Elitch Gardens</strong></a> by musicians such as <strong>Raffaelo Cavallo</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Denver’s first symphony with any staying power was English organist Henry Houseley’s orchestra, which started in the fall of 1900. Not content to play second fiddle, Cavallo launched a rival group, the Denver Orchestra Association, in 1903. Cavallo’s orchestra won out. In 1911 Cavallo left his orchestra in the hands of cellist <strong>Horace Tureman</strong> while he went to the East Coast. By the time Cavallo returned, Tureman had taken control of the group. Tureman then helped start the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra in 1912 and led it for about five years, until it dissolved when its musicians were drafted into <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-world-war-i"><strong>World War I</strong></a>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Civic Orchestra and Denver Symphony, 1922–45</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>After World War I, Denver’s classical music scene began to stabilize. In 1922 Tureman started the Denver Civic Orchestra, a ninety-member semiprofessional group. Meanwhile, through fundraising and organizational development,<strong> Jean Cranmer</strong> helped to create the Civic Symphony Society. The orchestra gave its first concert in November at <strong>Municipal Auditorium</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Civic Orchestra flourished, but the <strong>Great Depression</strong> made it hard for the group’s semiprofessional musicians to survive. To provide an opportunity for better pay, Cranmer worked with Helen Marie Black and others to start a professional orchestra called the Denver Symphony in 1934. Like the Civic Orchestra, the Denver Symphony had Tureman at the helm and was under the umbrella of the Civic Symphony Society. It was smaller than the Civic Orchestra, only forty-three members, and its season was shorter, only three concerts, but it paid its musicians higher wages. The group made its debut on November 30, 1934, at the Broadway Theatre.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Caston Era, 1945–64</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The Civic Symphony Society experienced a major shakeup at the end of World War II. Tureman retired from the Denver Symphony. To replace him, business manager Black hired Saul Caston, then an associate conductor under Philadelphia’s renowned Eugene Ormandy. Black also worked with the Denver Symphony Guild to launch a major fundraising campaign to turn the symphony into a full-size professional orchestra. It worked, thanks largely to contributions from <strong>Lawrence</strong> and <strong>Margaret Phipps</strong>, and Caston took the baton in October 1945. Caston stood at the head of an expanded ensemble that was the only major symphony orchestra for hundreds of miles. Black, meanwhile, was the only female manager of a major orchestra in the United States. The semiprofessional Civic Orchestra folded a few years later.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Buoyed by Colorado’s growing postwar population of aspirational middle-class workers, the Denver Symphony saw a decade of success. The symphony’s tours of local schools and small towns built support throughout the Rocky Mountain region, while its summer concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre starting in 1947 earned it a national reputation. In these years, Caston hired two of the first Black musicians to play with a major American orchestra, violinist <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/jack-bradley"><strong>Jack Bradley</strong></a> in 1946 and bassist <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/charles-burrell"><strong>Charles Burrell</strong></a> in 1949. Burrell later recalled that he didn’t feel fully accepted by his fellow musicians, who sometimes used derogatory slurs, but he was always confident that Caston and Black had his back.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>By the mid-1950s, the symphony’s shiny reputation hid deeper problems. It was still run as a kind of social club for Denver’s old-money elite, with the Phipps family and the debutante cotillion serving as the most important funding sources. The organization had a growing deficit as expenses outpaced donations. There were also complaints about Caston’s conducting from both the audience and the musicians. Under mounting pressure, Caston retired at the end of the 1964 season. Longtime business manager Black went with him, and <strong>Allan Phipps</strong>, president of the Denver Symphony Society, followed.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Turbulence, 1964–89</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1964 the Denver Symphony welcomed a completely new slate of leaders, including a new music director, seventy-year-old Vladimir Golschmann, a veteran of multiple orchestras in Europe and the United States. The shakeup immediately spurred a successful fundraising drive and soaring ticket sales. A year later, the organization got a massive Ford Foundation grant: $150,000 per year for five years, plus $1 million in Ford stock toward the endowment. The city’s civic and business leaders increasingly saw the symphony as a vital asset that helped distinguish Denver from regional rivals, marking it as a first-class city ready to receive businesses fleeing old East Coast hubs.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>But far from providing a stable cultural foundation, the symphony remained on rocky ground. In a situation common among American orchestras after the 1960s, expenses rose much faster than ticket sales and donations, particularly as young people turned toward genres such as jazz and rock. Large, onetime grants like the Ford Foundation’s also led to the mistaken belief among the public that the symphony had enough cash. Yet Denver lacked a deep bench of wealthy donors and philanthropic foundations; when old-money families stepped away as the symphony became less of a social club, new business elites didn’t make up the difference.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The result was two decades of fiscal instability and conflict between musicians and management over pay. In the mid-1960s, the Denver Symphony had the lowest average weekly minimum salary of any major American orchestra. As the musicians worked with their union, the American Federation of Musicians, to negotiate better contracts, they were met with stonewalling and lockouts, the first of which happened in 1969.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>As with Caston, concerns about finances coincided with complaints about conducting. Orchestra members carped that Golschmann pushed the tempo and cut slow movements to keep concerts short. Golschmann was out after 1969, replaced by a young Englishman named Brian Priestman, who brought a relentless drive to improve and promote the symphony. He revived the group’s regional tours, took it on national tours in 1972–74, and led its first recording in 1973. The orchestra’s artistic reputation increased even as its management careened from crisis to crisis.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Despite a growing rift between musicians and management, everyone agreed that the symphony needed to move out of Municipal Auditorium, which had been built as a multipurpose venue in 1908 and had horrible acoustics. Voters agreed, too, and approved funding for a new hall in 1972. The symphony folded its project into <strong>Donald </strong><strong>Seawell</strong>’s plan for a vast <strong>Denver Performing Arts Complex</strong> around the existing auditorium, and Boettcher Concert Hall opened six years later as the first piece of the new campus. Named for Denver philanthropist <strong>Claude K. Boettcher</strong>, the venue was the first symphony hall in the United States to have seats completely surrounding the stage. The striking postmodern design by architects Hugh Hardy, Malcolm Holzman, and Norman Pfeiffer and Associates of New York dismissed the ornate decoration seen in most concert halls for a starkly utilitarian building without luxury boxes. Priestman conducted the symphony’s first concert there on March 5, 1978.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>After that triumph, the next decade was mostly downhill. Priestman left in frustration after the board continually failed to support the orchestra. In 1986 musicians agreed to pay cuts to stave off bankruptcy, but shortfalls continued. In 1988 the season opened three weeks late, and the symphony’s leadership resigned. Eventually the board cut the season short on March 25, 1989, because of deficits.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Colorado Symphony, 1989–2011</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>The Denver Symphony’s March 25 concert was its last. In September, when management pushed for another salary cut, the musicians voted to leave. The American Federation of Musicians blacklisted the Denver Symphony, which canceled its season and declared bankruptcy. The former Denver Symphony musicians formed their own orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, which performed its first concert on October 26, 1989, at <strong>McNichols Sports Arena</strong>. Former music director Brian Priestman returned as guest conductor.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>At the end of its first season, the Colorado Symphony absorbed the assets of the Denver Symphony Association. In 1993 the symphony named Marin Alsop as its music director; she served until 2005, when she became the first conductor to receive a MacArthur “genius” grant.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Yet as before, the group’s artistic reputation outpaced its funding. The <strong>Scientific and Cultural Facilities District</strong> provided some taxpayer support starting in 1990, but the symphony received far less than organizations such as the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver-botanic-gardens"><strong>Denver Botanic Gardens</strong></a> and Denver Center for the Performing Arts. A rescue came in the form of Jerome and Mary Kern, who donated $1 million in 2000. As a condition of the gift, Jerome, a former New York corporate lawyer, and Mary, the symphony’s former director of development, became co-chairs of the board. They replaced the CEO, brought in new corporate donors, and instituted tighter budgets before resigning in 2006, when they thought the symphony was on stable footing.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>The Kern Era, 2011–Present</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Soon after the Kerns stepped away, the <strong>Great Recession</strong> caused the symphony’s finances to tank, leading to a tense relationship between musicians and the board. Musicians resented pay cuts and increased work schedules, while board members grew tired of balancing the budget with their own donations. The situation reached a breaking point in October 2011, when musicians rejected new board proposals, leading most of the board to resign and the season to be delayed.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The musicians still trusted the Kerns from their previous tenure and brought them back to chair the board. A year later, Jerome also became CEO. He instituted many changes proposed by the previous board, but this time the musicians went along because they believed he had their interests at heart. The organization continued to lose money for several years, even with the musicians’ base salary at half that of their counterparts in similar cities, but by the mid-2010s the symphony was seeing surpluses and building an endowment.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>New artistic leadership helped drive the turnaround: Andrew Litton served as music director from 2013 to 2016, followed by Brett Mitchell starting in 2017. Mitchell brought a youthful energy to the organization and helped it continue to diversify its concert offerings, drawing larger and more casual crowds. The symphony played a series of Classically Cannabis fundraisers in 2014, not long after <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cannabis-marijuana"><strong>marijuana</strong></a> was legalized in Colorado, and has added movie nights (the orchestra plays the score), rock tribute concerts, and collaborations with local artists such as <strong>DeVotchKa</strong> and <strong>Gregory Alan Isakov</strong>.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Today</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Today the Colorado Symphony faces a long-term problem as well as an immediate crisis. The first, long-simmering problem concerns Boettcher Concert Hall. The hall’s huge size—it has 2,700 seats, much larger than other halls in similar cities—makes it impossible to fill and expensive to heat. Most important for the symphony, the hall’s acoustics, though initially praised, have made it hard for the musicians and audience to hear. Currently the city of Denver plans to tear down the hall as part of a broader renovation of the aging arts complex, and the symphony is exploring possible new locations.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Plans for a new home were complicated by the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/coronavirus-colorado"><strong>COVID-19 pandemic</strong></a> in 2020. The pandemic wreaked havoc on arts organizations across the country—including the Colorado Symphony, which relies on large indoor gatherings for its survival. On March 13, the symphony started to cancel concerts, first through the end of the season and then through the end of the year. In the summer and early fall, it was able to play a few outdoor shows with stripped-down ensembles and small audiences at Red Rocks, the Denver Botanic Gardens, and the Denver Performing Arts Complex Galleria. As of October 2020, it remains unclear when the symphony will be able to resume regular concerts and how it will be affected by the long-term loss of performances and ticket sales.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/colorado-symphony" hreflang="en">Colorado Symphony</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-symphony" hreflang="en">Denver Symphony</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-symphony-orchestra" hreflang="en">Denver Symphony Orchestra</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-civic-orchestra" hreflang="en">Denver Civic Orchestra</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/horace-tureman" hreflang="en">Horace Tureman</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/helen-marie-black" hreflang="en">Helen Marie Black</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/saul-caston" hreflang="en">Saul Caston</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/vladimir-golschmann" hreflang="en">Vladimir Golschmann</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/brian-priestman" hreflang="en">Brian Priestman</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/marin-alsop" hreflang="en">Marin Alsop</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/andrew-litton" hreflang="en">Andrew Litton</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/brett-mitchell" hreflang="en">Brett Mitchell</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jerome-kern" hreflang="en">Jerome Kern</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/jack-bradley" hreflang="en">Jack Bradley</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/charles-burrell" hreflang="en">Charles Burrell</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/yumi-hwang-williams" hreflang="en">Yumi Hwang-Williams</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boettcher-concert-hall" hreflang="en">Boettcher Concert Hall</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/municipal-auditorium" hreflang="en">Municipal Auditorium</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-center-performing-arts" hreflang="en">Denver Center for the Performing Arts</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/denver-performing-arts-complex" hreflang="en">Denver Performing Arts Complex</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/rafaello-cavallo" hreflang="en">Rafaello Cavallo</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>James Michael Bailey, “Orpheus on a Roller Coaster: A History of the Denver Symphony Orchestra” (master’s thesis, University of Northern Colorado, 1991).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Charlie Burrell and Mitch Handelsman, <em>The Life of Charlie Burrell: Breaking the Color Barrier in Classical Music</em> (Parker, CO: Books to Believe In, 2015).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Gary and Joann Goble, “<a href="https://archives.denverlibrary.org/repositories/3/resources/8445">Historical Note</a>,” Denver Symphony Orchestra and Association Papers, WH941, Western History and Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://coloradosymphonyguild.org/history">History</a>,” Colorado Symphony Guild, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>“<a href="https://peabody.jhu.edu/faculty/marin-alsop/">Marin Alsop</a>,” Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, n.d.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Calvin Trillin, “Survival,” <em>New Yorker</em>, January 23, 1978.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Joel Warner, “<a href="https://www.westword.com/music/jerry-kern-has-made-a-lot-of-noise-with-the-cso-but-can-it-survive-discord-with-the-city-5690647">Jerry Kern Has Made a Lot of Noise With the CSO, but Can It Survive Discord With the City?</a>” <em>Westword</em>, August 27, 2014.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Bruce Weber, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/theater/donald-r-seawell-theater-newspaper-and-civic-leader-dies-at-103.html">Donald R. Seawell Dies at 103, Leaving His Stamp on Denver</a>,” <em>New York Times</em>, October 7, 2015.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>John Wenzel, “<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/08/23/clyfford-still-museum-director-colorado-symphony-red-rocks/">Clyfford Still Temporary Closes, Colorado Symphony Adds New Red Rocks Shows and More Arts News</a>,” <em>The </em><em>Denver Post</em>, August 22, 2020.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Neil Westergaard, “<a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2019/03/15/colorado-symphony-future-concert-hall.html">Colorado Symphony Beats Money Woes and Contentious Past, Lays Bold Plans</a>,” <em>Denver Business Journal</em>, March 15, 2019.</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Philip Hart, <em>Orpheus in the New World: The Symphony Orchestra as an American Cultural Institution</em> (New York: W. W. Norton, 1973).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Mon, 08 Feb 2021 23:31:34 +0000 yongli 3533 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org