{"id":128712,"date":"2026-02-10T12:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T12:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/128712\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T12:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T12:49:12","slug":"can-70k-keep-the-colorado-symphony-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/128712\/","title":{"rendered":"Can $70K keep the Colorado Symphony going?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If symphonies had Super Bowls, the Colorado Symphony\u2019s kicked off Jan. 30 at Radio City Music Hall<\/a> and ended Feb. 1 at Carnegie Hall,<\/a> both in New York City.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the orchestra took to those stages for the first time, with Boulder\u2019s Grammy-nominated folk singer Gregory Alan Isakov <\/a>and virtuoso violinist Itzhak Perlman<\/a>, who, among other things, played for Queen Elizabeth in the George W. Bush White House and at the first inauguration of President Barack Obama.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Playing Carnegie had been the Colorado Symphony\u2019s goal for years, said Daniel Wachter,\u00a0 who became president and CEO in April. But when the dates aligned with the lead-up to Super Bowl LX they saw an opportunity to supersize their visibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOver so many years, the Colorado Symphony has increased the artistic caliber, the artistic level through auditions, guest conductors and the artistic leadership,\u201d said Wachter. It\u2019s also \u201cwatched nationally,\u201d for its innovative programming and collaboration with other musical genres, he said. Think Sting, Wu-Tang Clan, the Flaming Lips and Tenacious D\u2019s Post Apocalypto<\/a> tour stop, all at Red Rocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut classical music, at times, has had a little bit of a stigma and barriers about etiquette,\u201d Wachter said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t know when to clap, what to dress in and so on and so on. So it perceives a little bit like an elite thing. I mean, it\u2019s a bit historic and that\u2019s a stigma.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Enter football and smart marketing, no ad agency needed. Wachter told The Colorado Sun he was hoping to reach \u201ca sports community who loves the Broncos and the Nuggets, to have them really realize we have the same caliber people in the performing arts community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quincey Trojanowski is on the team. She was introduced to the bassoon when a woodwind quintet performed at her elementary school in the Chicago suburbs. She was in second grade and knew she had to play it. A bassoon looks like an extra long clarinet with a twisty metal piece about a third of the way down that has a double reed. It is not the instrument kids drift toward naturally. \u201cIn general the bassoon is a less commonly played instrument,\u201d Trojanowski said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s not criminally uncommon, but, you know, compared to a violin or a trumpet, it\u2019s not really the most friendly instrument for accessibility reasons.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Itzhak Perlman plays with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Feb 1, 2026, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. (Courtesy Amanda Tipton Photography)<\/p>\n

The kids weren\u2019t allowed to play instruments until fourth grade, but when the time came she begged until she got one. Then it was lessons at the Merit School of Music.<\/a> Summer programs at Interlochen Center for the Arts<\/a> and Tanglewood<\/a>. Studying under principal bassoonists in college and grad school. And in 2025, she was hired by the Houston Grand Opera<\/a>, which she calls \u201can orchestra, just not a symphony orchestra,\u201d as second bassoon, which provides the essential harmonic foundation, rhythmic stability and sonic support for an orchestra\u2019s woodwind section<\/a> (flutes, oboes, clarinets, saxophones).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But first bassoonists get the more melodic riffs and Trojanowski said \u201cthe position of principal bassoon is an absolute dream to me. Personally, I\u2019ve always been drawn to being able to play those really out-there and expressive, just free types of things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

So when the principal bassoonist spot opened in the Colorado Symphony, she jumped. \u201cAlso Colorado\u2019s undeniably a beautiful place to live. I knew that I wanted to be working with really great people living in a really great place. It was just like a no-brainer for me to apply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seventy four other bassoonists did too, which Trojanowski says was a large number.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve only ever been on the auditioning end, which means I usually don\u2019t get to see all the numbers, but I think it was definitely a big audition. It was really competitive, as most are, but especially for the bassoon, there\u2019s just fewer (players) in general. We run into each other all the time. I feel like at this point, there\u2019s few faces that I don\u2019t recognize at an audition. Which, you know, can be either terrifying or comforting, depending how you look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her audition must have been good because, taking it back to sports, Wachter said, \u201ceveryone has a little bit of an idea that it\u2019s less than 1% of the people who play football ever made it to the NFL, or NBA. The same applies to earn a seat in an orchestra like the Colorado Symphony. There may be 70 or 80 orchestras in the country of our caliber. So we are in the top tier.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t always been easy attracting talent, however. The symphony is in its 102nd season<\/a>, and Wachter said even though they\u2019ve \u201cdeveloped an incredible artistic level, the challenge and the opportunity is financially,\u201d as in figuring out how to pay musicians a living wage in the third most expensive U.S. state<\/a> with housing costs approximately 15% higher than the national average.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boettcher Concert Hall<\/a> is also in need of renovations, which $20 million of the $950 million voter-approved Vibrant Denver Bond<\/a> that passed in November will help address. But the symphony has said<\/a> $20 million \u201cis not the final solution. \u2026 The final solution would be a new world-class concert hall built from the ground up.\u201d And Wachter said \u201ca meaningful $120 million renovation\u201d would address the \u201cessential and functional needs of this iconic music hall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Colorado Symphony conductor Christopher Dragon doing his thing to help the orchestra sing in New York City. (Photo Courtesy of Amanda Tipton Photography)<\/p>\n

But first he wanted to address musician pay, so when he took his role in April, \u201cone of my first big things that I had to get accomplished was to extend our collective bargaining agreements with the musicians,\u201d he said. He did, creating a three-year contract in which the symphony agreed to meet \u201ca very important threshold of $70,000 base pay for every musician and then there is another 5% increase next year, and another 4% increase in the year after.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That may not exactly ease the burden for artists needing to live in the state ranked 48th for housing affordability<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trojanowski wouldn\u2019t say how much she makes; only that it\u2019s enough for her to be \u201cjust fine living with this salary, which is another huge part of why I applied. I was very clearly going to be able to live a steady life, which is obviously in this day and age a very important thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a \u201cmassive range of how much you could be paid in an orchestra,\u201d she added, \u201cbut especially in the music world, things can be very inconsistent. So a salary in general is something to celebrate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wachter is pleased about the new union contract, but understands the cost of living in Colorado isn\u2019t declining. Still, he said, \u201cit was encouraging to see\u2026 we\u2019re able to attract\u2026so many people for a principal bassoon role. And by the way, the same happened for the timpani.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Type of Story: News<\/p>\n

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If symphonies had Super Bowls, the Colorado Symphony\u2019s kicked off Jan. 30 at Radio City Music Hall and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4982,7672,2538,9,24,55,54,56,55501],"class_list":{"0":"post-128712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-denver","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-city-news","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-polis-administration"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}