The Denver Philharmonic Orchestra continually redefines the way our community experiences and engages with classical music.
To continually redefine the way our community experiences and engages with classical music.
We may be one of Denver's oldest orchestras, but we certainly don't act our age.
Dr. Antonia Brico, the first woman to conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestras, founded our organization in 1948 as the Denver Businessmen's Orchestra. Antonia settled in Denver after conducting professional orchestras across Europe and the U.S. She debuted our orchestra to a packed auditorium explaining the need for a classical music venue to showcase the talents of local, classically trained musicians "with no place to play." Twenty years later, we'd be known as the Brico Symphony, and Antonia would remain at the helm of the orchestra until her retirement in the mid-1980s.
After nearly 40 years under Antonia's baton, the orchestra chose Russian-American conductor Julius Glaihengauz as its second music director. A graduate of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Julius led the newly renamed Centennial Philharmonic for 11 seasons.
In 1999, Professor of Music at the University of Denver Dr. Horst Buchholz took the baton. Our most recent name change came in 2004, and we became the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra. Horst served as music director and conductor through 2009, after which he was appointed the orchestra's first Conductor Laureate.
Adam Flatt came onboard as music director in June 2010. Adam's dynamic and inspiring leadership over the next three years continued Horst's legacy and further increased the artistic quality of the orchestra.
We selected award-winning conductor Dr. Lawrence Golan as our conductor and music director when Adam left in 2013. Lawrence, a professor and music director at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music, continues to produce innovative and quality programming, challenging musicians and audiences alike.
2018-2019 Season patron quotes:
"HEROES" patron, September 28, 2018
"One of the most wonderful concerts I have ever seen!"
"GLORIA" patron, April 20, 2019
"Thank you so much for making the concerts at the Philharmonic a true family event…we all fell in love with classical music again."
"VICTORY" patron May 17, 2019
"I am so impressed with DPO; your group does such a fantastic job making classical music fun, relevant, and joyful."
