‘We need to earn the right to be named the Colorado Symphony,’ CEO says of upcoming downtown displacement
By John Moore | Sept 24, 2026
Daniel Wachter is the kind of guy who could talk you into building a data center in your own backyard. Fortunately for you, all he wants is for you to fully embrace the joy of live classical music in your everyday life.
See? You’re getting off easy. The affable, enthusiastic German-born President and CEO of the Colorado Symphony is the unofficial Minister of (Classical) Music.
“Symphonic music is the most beautiful expression of human collaboration,” he effused. “It bypasses my brain and touches my soul while connecting with hundreds if not thousands in the same room and at the same time.” See what I mean?
Wachter can make all things symphony sound as consequential as the status of J.K. Dobbins’ hamstring. Even, say, Stravinsky’s 1913 “The Rite of Spring.” (As if!)
And there are many consequential Colorado Symphony matters unfolding at once right now.
There is the Symphony’s just-launched 103rd season, which celebrates the coming 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death. The opening-night party, which included a monumental take on Symphony No. 9, ended much more successfully than the Broncos’ face-plant in Kansas City. It was also an opportunity to celebrate a landmark funding agreement with the city of Denver that will ensure that the city-owned Boettcher Concert Hall will have the full facelift it has needed pretty much since it opened as the country’s first in-the-round concert hall in 1978.
“Improving the acoustics, obviously, is our No. 1 priority,” Wachter said. “Activating the space for audiences, patrons, donors and our education programs is No. 2. We also want to take better care of our musicians and guest artists backstage.”
How necessary are the coming improvements?
“Last year, we had to rent an outdoor bathroom container because we don’t have accessible bathrooms backstage,” he said. “There’s just an awful lot of stuff that needs to get done after 48 years.”
Tempering the enthusiasm is the reality that the company will eventually have to hit the road, Jack, for about 15 nomadic months while the work is completed. But, first things first.
The city’s commitment to renovate means that, after decades of gradual decline and growing complaints, the improvements can move forward with the Symphony on the hook for raising “only” the final $15 million. That money, Wachter said, will come from separately selling all sorts of naming rights, starting with the building itself and including the stage, a new education center, a donor lounge, the lobby and the bar area.