For decades — including much of the 20th century during their peak in popularity — American orchestras performed their music in predictable patterns that were easy for fans to comprehend. They announced a series of programs, all built around major works by such composers as Beethoven, Mozart or Brahms, and presented them on successive three-day weekends from September until May.
The only real challenge for ticket buyers was whether they preferred to go to the concert hall on Friday and Saturday nights or Sunday afternoons. There were exceptions, of course — some pops concerts or the occasional one-off show — but audiences could easily choose what they wanted to hear without so much parsing of the details.
But musical tastes have changed dramatically, especially in the last decade, as entertainment options have expanded. Orchestras, like the Colorado Symphony, have had to adapt. Pleasing the public and keeping seats filled has required a nimbleness that includes adding programs built around movie soundtracks and video games, or that feature small ensembles and celebrity musicians, or that make the most of holidays, or that try to incorporate newer music by living composers.
Itap a whole new world, and I have to say, a better one, as the lineup for the Colorado Symphony’s about-to-start 2026/27 season demonstrates. The offerings are looser, more diverse and democratic, and even more fun for today’s concertgoers. The orchestra will, of course, continue to produce the timeless warhorses its core audience craves, but they are just part of the mix, no longer at the top of the concert food chain.
The downside is that audiences have to work a little harder to scope out the season. Matching personal tastes to what actually happens on stage takes some work. Though I would say that is a good problem to have.
I pulled out a few concerts for your consideration this go-around, starting early next month. The events here look promising from an artistic standpoint, but they also demonstrate the breadth of what this orchestra, and many of its peers across the country, are playing for their varied public these days.
There is plenty more to choose from on the organization’s website: .
Sept. 4: “An Evening with the Colorado Symphony Cello Ensemble”
This special event is a swell example of how the orchestra manages to make life more interesting for audiences and musicians at the same time. The concert features regular members of the orchestra, but broken off into a separate ensemble and given the spotlight on their own at Boettcher Concert Hall. The actual programming of this chamber concert is less important than the fact that fans get a chance to know this versatile instrument better and the players, who can be overlooked when the full orchestra is performing, get an opportunity to show why they love their craft.
Sept. 11-13: Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Peter Oundjian
The kick-off of the season’s larger, orchestral works is this big homecoming concert built around Beethoven’s most sophisticated symphony, and featuring the full ensemble, the symphony chorus and Music Director Peter Oundjian on the podium. It would be an old-school opener, if not for the addition of “Yanga,” a contemporary companion piece written by composer Gabriela Ortiz in 2019, that is based on the life of Gaspar Yanga, an African who escaped slavery in Mexico and founded one of the first black settlements in North America. There is something old and something new here, but a rich connection between those two halves.
Oct. 4: Chamber Music Concert at the Studio Loft
For a performing arts institution that long relied on massive orchestral works in formal concert halls, this is a very appealing departure and a good example of how the organization is moving forward, though not too radically. The show takes place around the corner from the main headquarters at the intimate loft space above the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The evening features a relative handful of musicians performing a work rarely heard in Denver: Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du soldat.” Itap an hour-long, multi-media composition that, back in 2018, changed the way classical was viewed by incorporating elements of jazz, folk and live theater. A century later, it remains an exciting piece of music to hear.
Oct. 9-11: Bernstein & Ravel with Vadim Gluzman & Andrew Litton
The composers on this program may be familiar, but the actual selections in the lineup offer a good challenge even to their longtime fans. That comes through Bernstein’s “Serenade,” which will be performed by violinist Vadim Gluzman, a renowned specialist who gives his own personal readings of the music he performs. The Ravel is equally interesting — his 1920, dance-inspired “La valse,” as dramatic a work as you’ll hear from an orchestra. Andrew Litton, the ensemble’s former music director, returns for the show.
Oct. 16-17: Joe Hisaishi with the Colorado Symphony
Composer Joe Hisaishi has emerged as an unlikely classical music superstar. In the U.S., he is best known for his movie soundtracks, including for filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 “Spirited Away.” But lately, the wider world has come to know the classical compositions that he is also revered for in Japan. At 75, he is emerging as a global phenomenon, drawing large crowds to hear his minimalism-inspired pieces, performed live with major orchestras in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. This is his moment, and the kind of event that makes a season sparkle.
Jan. 21, March 18 and May 20: Outside the Box
The Colorado Symphony is diving head-first into its new Outside the Box series, giving fans of off-beat classical a chance to go deep. The concerts take place on Thursday nights and the organization is billing the fare as something “that pushes beyond the traditional repertoire to spotlight music that is daring, immersive and deeply connected to pivotal moments in art.” The lineup, over the season, includes lively offerings from well-known composers, like Vivaldi, Handel and Philip Glass, but also sounds from Caroline Shaw and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Itap all over the map in the best of ways, and demonstrates a commitment by the organization and its top talent to new music presented in a manner that actually makes it palatable to admirers of traditional sounds. OK, classical fans, this is your chance to support something new — seize it.
