For 30 years, the Denver Young Artists Orchestra has provided top Front Range music students with training and performance opportunities, propelling some to careers in such ensembles as the Atlanta and Colorado symphonies.
To celebrate this milestone, the DYAO is presenting a special concert at 7 p.m. Sunday that will be broadcast live on Colorado Public Radio (90.1-FM in Denver) — a first for the organization.
It will feature the premiere of “Thirty by 5 x 8,” an 8-minute work by Belinda Reynolds of San Francisco. She is serving as the DYAO’s 2007-08 composer-in-residence through Music Alive, a program sponsored by the League of American Orchestras and Meet the Composer.
Executive director Christopher Silberman spoke to The Denver Post about the DYAO, which serves students ages 12-23 from 60 Front Range schools, and the upcoming concert.
Q. What kind of financial health is the orchestra in?
A. We’re in a really good position right now. We’ve had a tremendous amount of growth the last five years or so. Back in October, we got something called a Catalyst Partner grant from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. It’s a commitment to funding us over three years, with the goal of moving us from things we’re doing well to be able to do them better and do them great. And what that means is really beefing up what we’re doing artistically.
We’re looking to hire major guest artists starting next year. We’re starting a new partnership with the Aspen Music Festival to kind of adopt one of their composition students each year and have one of their pieces performed on a DYAO concert.
Q. The work commissioned for Sunday’s concert was created through an unusual collaborative process in September.
A. The orchestra goes on an annual retreat to Estes Park, and she (Reynolds) joined us. In this process, she brought 60 measures of a draft of the new piece with her, and the orchestra members got to play through that. They provided their feedback in terms of instrument ranges, fingerings and what parts they liked — really everything, and some of that she incorporated into the final version. So, the ultimate result is a product of all that work and something that is very much our piece.
Q. Adam Flatt has announced that he is stepping down at the end of this season as music director. How do you plan to replace him?
A. Our board created a search committee to appoint a new music director for next season, so that process is just getting underway. He’s going to be finishing out the season, and the new music director would start in September.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
“Thirty Years Young”
The Denver Young Artists Orchestra celebrates its 30th anniversary with a program that includes Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suite No. 2.” 7 p.m. Sunday at the Boettcher Concert Hall, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. $12-$18. 303-433-2420 or
