As we welcome you to a new season at Boettcher Concert Hall, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the extraordinary momentum carrying the Colorado Symphony into the year ahead.
Over the past twelve months, we’ve celebrated remarkable artistic achievements, strengthened our connection to the community, and earned national recognition that has elevated the Colorado Symphony to new heights. Each milestone has reinforced something we’ve long believed: when a community invests in the arts, everyone benefits.
Perhaps no moment better symbolized that momentum than Denver voters’ overwhelming approval of the Vibrant Denver Bond in November 2025, which included a historic $20 million investment toward the future renovation of Boettcher Concert Hall. The measure represents a vote of confidence in the power of the arts to strengthen our community and create a vibrant downtown, city, and state for generations to come.
We celebrated that milestone alongside Mayor Mike Johnston, members of Denver City Council, and civic leaders from across the city during a sold-out performance with Colorado favorites DeVotchKa. As Mayor Johnston joined President & CEO Daniel Wachter on stage that evening, it served as a reminder that the Colorado Symphony is an essential part of Denver’s future.
“When the Colorado Symphony thrives, Denver thrives.”
Mayor Mike Johnston
That vision took another major step forward on August 24, 2026, when Denver City Council approved a landmark funding agreement between the City of Denver, Denver Arts & Venues, and the Colorado Symphony that establishes the foundation for Boettcher Concert Hall’s future. Under the agreement, the City of Denver has committed $105 million toward the approximately $120 million renovation, while the Symphony has committed to raising $15 million through naming opportunities within the renovated hall. The agreement gives the Symphony the ability to offer these naming opportunities and establishes the framework for how the fundraising and investment will work together.
Mayor Mike Johnston with Colorado Symphony President & CEO Daniel Wachter at Boettcher Concert Hall on November 15, 2025.
In practical terms, it turns the community’s $20 million Vibrant Denver Bond investment into a clear path toward a transformational renovation that will preserve Boettcher Concert Hall as the home of the Colorado Symphony while creating a more welcoming, accessible, and vibrant place for audiences, artists, and the entire Denver community.
The Colorado Symphony’s 2025/26 Season was one of the orchestra’s most memorable, with a number of memory making events and community collaborations.
In January, the Colorado Symphony embarked on one of the most significant moments in its history: a landmark New York City tour. After a sold-out sendoff concert at Boettcher Concert Hall, the orchestra performed two sold-out evenings with Gregory Alan Isakov at Radio City Music Hall before taking the stage at Carnegie Hall with violin legend Itzhak Perlman. It was, in many ways, our Super Bowl moment, and a once in a generation chance to showcase the artistry of Colorado’s orchestra on some of the world’s most iconic stages.
The Colorado Symphony performs with Gregory Alan Isakov at Radio City Music Hall in January 2026.
The community’s support was equally evident in May during the Symphony in the City Gala, when a sold-out performance featuring the incomparable Jon Batiste helped raise more than $1 million in support of the Symphony’s artistic, educational, and community programs. That extraordinary generosity ensures we can continue bringing world-class music to audiences throughout Colorado while inspiring the next generation through music education and community engagement.
Jon Batiste performs at the Symphony in the City Gala at Boettcher Concert Hall on May 9, 2026.
The orchestra also found itself at the center of some of Colorado’s biggest cultural moments. Musicians performed at the first kit reveal for Denver’s new National Women’s Soccer League club, the Summit, at Denver’s Union Station; performed the National Anthem at the club’s inaugural home match at Empower Field at Mile High which was played before the largest crowd in NWSL history; and heralded the opening of the team’s new CommonSpirit Performance Center. Colorado sports fans also saw the Symphony featured in the Colorado Avalanche’s pregame entrance video, with the orchestra performing Grieg’s iconic In the Hall of the Mountain King as part of the team’s dramatic pregame presentation.
As the season drew to a close, Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony, “Resurrection,” provided a fitting finale. The work’s themes of renewal, hope, and transformation resonated, not only for the orchestra, but for downtown Denver itself. Following years of change and challenge following the COVID-19 pandemic, both the Colorado Symphony and the city we proudly call home are experiencing a renewed sense of optimism, energy, and possibility.
Just days later, a remarkable season concluded beneath Colorado skies with two unforgettable performances of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto featuring the legendary Yo-Yo Ma at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs. These were memory-making celebrations of music and the extraordinary places that make Colorado unique.
Yo-Yo Ma with Music Director Peter Oundjian and the Colorado Symphony at Red Rocks Amphitheatare on June 3, 2026.
These milestones are worth celebrating not simply because they are memorable moments, but because they demonstrate the growing role the Colorado Symphony plays in the cultural and economic life of our state.
Each year, the Colorado Symphony generates more than $57 million in economic activity for downtown Denver while supporting 377 jobs. Beyond the concert hall, our education and community engagement initiatives serve nearly 35,000 students annually, helping ensure that the next generation can discover the transformative power of live music.
The future is even brighter. Studies consistently show that renovated concert halls often experience attendance increases of 10 to 25 percent, underscoring the tremendous opportunity that lies ahead for the planned renovation of Boettcher Concert Hall and the audiences we serve.
Those numbers tell an important story, but they only capture part of our impact.
Every standing ovation, every student discovering an instrument for the first time, every visitor dining downtown before a concert, every family making memories together, and every musician stepping onto our stage contributes to something larger than any single performance. Together, they create a stronger, more connected Colorado.
As Peter Oundjian begins his second season as Music Director, we are inspired by where this journey has already taken us and even more excited about where it is headed.
Thank you for being part of it. The future of the Colorado Symphony has never sounded brighter.
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