When maestro Jeffrey Kahane takes the stage at Boettcher Concert Hall tonight, he won’t be the only one to make his official debut with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
Three new, full-time musicians – Stephen Dombrowski, Fritz Foss and Christopher Still – will join the new music director for the third annual CSO Season Spotlight concert that will preview the official start of the symphony’s 2005-2006 season on Sept. 16.
“There aren’t many orchestra auditions for tuba,” said Dombrowski, the CSO’s new principal tubaist. “And only a few of these positions pay enough to make a living. This is one of them.”
The 23-year-old said he played eight auditions last year alone, finally beating out more than 50 competitors for the CSO job.
“I got hooked on the tuba in the sixth grade,” said the recent graduate of Indiana University School of Music, where he earned a master’s degree in music. Before that, Dombrowski – a native of Massachusetts – graduated from Boston University College of Fine Arts, where he majored in tuba performance. “For me, to make a living this way is the best possible outcome.”
Dombrowski’s most recent orchestral position was as principal tubaist of the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra at Indiana. His performance experience includes stints with orchestral and chamber ensembles at Boston University and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, among other appointments in Indiana and Massachusetts. He has also performed at the prestigious Tang- lewood Music Center and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival.
Drombrowski relocated to Colorado with his fiancée, violinist Angela Millner. The couple plans to wed next August.
Fritz Foss, the CSO’s new assistant principal hornist, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from Boston University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in horn performance.
“I ended up staying in Boston for a while as a freelancer,” he said. “I played with a touring brass quintet (Paramount Brass) and I was lucky enough to play in the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson
Thomas.”
During his four-year tenure with the Miami-based NWS – an all-expenses-paid training orchestra for top graduates of music programs nationwide – Foss won the NWS concerto competition and performed as concerto soloist at the Spoleto Festival USA last year. He has also performed with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland.
“Musicians go where the work is,” said the 31-year-old, who has relatives in Colorado.
Foss moved here solo, while his girlfriend is in Japan teaching English on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program.
Christopher Still, 34, rounds out the trio of musicians in their inaugural season with the CSO. Originally from New York, he will juggle his last season as associate principal trumpeter of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with his new job as the CSO’s principal trumpeter.
“Things are winding down for me in Dallas,” said Still, whose wife, clarinetist Amanda McIntosh, will remain there this season. “It’s exciting to come on board the CSO just as it’s beginning a new cycle under a fantastic new music director.”
Armed with a master’s degree in trumpet performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and an undergraduate degree in trumpet performance and education from The Crane School of Music, Still has not only performed with orchestras on the East Coast and in Spain, but advocates arts-related community outreach.
“My job is to be a good communicator, to help people understand why music should be a part of their lives,” he said.
Colorado Symphony Orchestra
SEASON SPOTLIGHT|Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets|Jeffrey Kahane, conductor|TONIGHT |7:30 p.m.|$12.50-$25|303-623-7876 or coloradosymphony.org
