Today’s DMA Holiday Party is now canceled because of the snow storm and related risks. We hope to reschedule the party for some time in January, which will be announced in an upcoming email bulletin.

From the staff and board of the Denver Musicians Association, we hope you’re having an enjoyable Holiday. Please be safe and have a Happy New Year!

Don’t miss the opportunity to see Colorado Ballet’s fabulous production ofthe Nutcracker, and support the 40-pc orchestra that is such an integral part of the production. Remaining performances in December are:

The Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra Association announces the appointment of their next Music Director and Conductor, Glen Cortese. Glen will begin scheduling and programming for the 07- 08 season next week. His contract begins on June 1, 2007.

Every December for 30 years, Northern Colorado audiences have looked forward to the Canyon Concert Ballet’s (CCB) presentation of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” ballet. The dancers have always been accompanied by live musicians in the orchestra pit. But this year, the musicians are silent.

1,900 children from area elementary schools will attend a free student matinee presentation of Colorado Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” on Thursday, December 7 at 11:00 a.m. at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The company, along with the Colorado Ballet Orchestra musicians and the city division of Theaters and Arenas, have all arranged to donate their respective services for the performance.

The Country Music Association (CMA) has elected country music recording pioneer and legendary session musician Harold Bradley to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Bradley is international vice president of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and president of Local 257 (Nashville, TN).

Mayor John Hickenlooper and the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs are seeking nominations for the 2006 Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts.
Nominations may be for:
Individual artists, other individuals or collaboratives
Educators and educational institutions
Service and/or support to the arts
Arts organizations

The Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association (MEISA) will host a conference on topics of importance to the music and entertainment industry including live music and touring, current trends in the music industry, innovations in media technology and how to get started as an artist. Speakers include representatives from Live Nation, Billboard Magazine, Mania TV and 93.3 KTCL.

Don’t miss your chance to see Bram Stoker’s legendary 1897 vampiric novel, Dracula, brought to life by Colorado Ballet. Beware: choreographer Michael Pink’s sensual adaptation will chill and thrill audiences. So why not scare yourself and someone you love this Halloween season? It could even be love at first bite!

When: October 19th – 22nd
Where: Ellie Caulkins Opera House

Click on the following link to listen to an interview with AFM President Tom Lee:
http://www.musicianscast.com/Episode.aspx?id=141

Saturday, October 21, 9:00-6:00 PM at the University Of Colorado, College Of Music, 18th And Euclid, Boulder. Events include performances, technique classes for improving left and right hand tecnique, master class lessons for classical and jazz bass, and the huge MONSTER BASS ENSEMBLE in which all festival participants can perform.

Arts advocate, DMA member and unaffiliated candidate for Governor, Paul Noel Fiorino, spent the entire weekend performing. Fiorino has owned and operated the Ballet Arts Center studio for the past 13 years, down the street from the new Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building, in the Golden Triangle. The opening of the Art Museum included a brochure of the Golden Triangle Museum District, with a prominent picture of Fiorino (president emeritus) with Mayor Hickenlooper, greeting every guest.

The Boulder Philharmonic’s 49th Season brings extra excitement with newly appointed music director, Michael Butterman, who takes the stage for the first time with the orchestra on November 4, 2006, at Macky Auditorium.

The Federal Communications Commission plans to hold a series of hearings on media ownership around the country. The idea of these public hearings is to initiate a public discussion on the effects of media consolidation after the 2003 rule change that made it easier for media conglomerates to control more of the media outlets.

Colorado Ballet’s 46th season opens with the romantic classic, GISELLE at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Choreography by Jean Coralli & Jules Perot, as revised by Marius Pepita. Original score composed by Adolphe Adam and performed by the Colorado Ballet Orchestra.
Costumes and Sets: Anna Anni
Scenic Design: Gianna Quaranta
More info at www.coloradoballet.org

The Colorado AFL-CIO and its Central Labor Councils host extensive interviews of all candidates who seek an AFL-CIO endorsement. These endorsements begin at the local level and are ultimately approved by delegates at the Colorado AFL-CIO’s Political Convention. This is an extensive and open process that focuses only on issues that are important to working families. Endorsements are:

The Colorado Chamber Players’ is pleased to announce its 13th season titled “Chamber Music Conversations.” The ensemble will perform throughout the Metro Denver area, including performances at the King Center in Denver, a series at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, and a series at the Highlands Garden Café in Denver, as well as concerts at the Children’s Museum of Denver, the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster and the Douglas County Libraries.

Arts and Humanities Month will be launched from the Mile Hi Step on the West side of the Capitol, Sunday, October 1 at noon. Arts advocate and unaffiliated candidate for governor Paul Noel Fiorino will speak and perform. Additionally, Paul Fiorino will be featured in a production for the Art Museum expansion opening activities on October 8 at 4 PM.

Single ticket sales and regular subscriptions for the 2006-2007 season are now on sale. Visit our website for details: www.boulderphil.org. Please join us for our season opening gala on November 3, 2006. Enjoy a fine dinner and preview concert with a view at the Skyboxes at Folsom Field.  Also, we hope you will attend Michael Butterman’s inaugural concert on November 4th, 7:30pm at Macky Auditorium.

In recognition of his 55 years in music, September 23, 2006, Saturday, from 2-6 pm, many people will gather at the Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Parkway, Broomfield, Colorado, as we honor jazz guitarist Dale Bruning with his own Dale Bruning Celebration Day.

Colorado Ballet and the Denver Musicians Association are extremely pleased to announce an affirmative agreement which includes providing live music at three Colorado Ballet productions during the 2006-2007 season, an upcoming joint fundraiser, from which part of the proceeds would be used for the orchestra in Colorado Ballet productions and a student matinee presentation of The Nutcracker for which the musicians will donate their talents.

Sunday, September 10th, 4 p.m. at the Boulder Public Library’s Canyon Theater, Michael Butterman, piano, takes the stage with his wife and violinist Jennifer Carsillo. They will be performing light chamber music with members of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. Featured work will be the Bach Brandenburg Concerto, No. 6 in B flat Major, BWV 1051.

Ideal for a small business! 
If you or someone you know is interested in renting office space in a central Denver location, please contact the DMA at (303) 573-1717 or email your inquiry to pvriesenga@aol.com

The new issue of the Finnish Music Quarterly reveals that the Finnish government is spending 359.5 million euros on the arts this year, of which 60.5 million goes to music. The population of the U.S. is sixty times larger than that of Finland. The current appropriation for the National Endowment for the Arts is $124,406,353, or 99 million euros. So the ratio of Finnish per-capita arts spending to American per-capita arts spending is more than two hundred to one.

Don’t forget to tune in to the CBS television network August 22 for a broadcast of the star-studded “JC Penney Jam: A Concert for America’s Kids,” which took place at Los Angeles’ historic Shrine Auditorium on June 14. Hosted by TV personalities Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw, the music event aims to raise awareness about the need for America’s working families to have access to quality afterschool programs.

The Eleventh Annual Alexander Technique Summer Program sponsored through the CU College of Music will be held July 10-15. Thousands of musicians have used Alexander’s principles to find greater ease and efficiency in their work. The Summer Course runs Monday July 10 through Friday July 14 from 9:00 a.m. to noon daily.

The following (or similar) email message has been received by several members of Local 20-623 – Denver, Colorado. DO NOT RESPOND to this email should you receive it as it has proven to be an attempt to draw you into a fraudulent business transaction.

The location and identity of the venue noted in the emails:
Westside Assisted Living Inc
816 West Kiowa Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80905

and

9655 Sheridan Blvd Westminster, CO 80031

The Colorado Symphony Orchestra has announced details of its CSO Presents 2006 Wells Fargo Summer Season, including Colorado concerts in Breckenridge, Colorado Springs, Alamosa, Greeley and Denver, plus an appearance with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico.

For more information: http://www.coloradosymphony.org/

DMA member and gubernatorial candidate Paul Noel Fiorino (I-U=CO) will Ride The Rockies from Cortez to Canon City (June 18-23), with an emphasis on his campaign for physical fitness through health education. A musician/songwriter and former USA Cycling coach for the 1984 Olympic Teams, Fiorino worked with both junior and senior elite athletes in a watershed year for championships and medals.

On 5/18/06 the House of Representatives voted to increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts by $5 million in the 2007 budget. Congress approved the bipartisan amendment that will increase the NEA’s budget to $129.4 million. Later in the debate, an effort to cut the NEA’s funding by $30 million was soundly defeated.

Jesse Ceci, exceptional practitioner of the violin who filled concert halls throughout the world with beautiful music, passed away on Wednesday, May 10, 2006. For over twenty years he graced Denver’s own performing arts center as concertmaster for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and former Denver Symphony Orchestra. Jesse was also an outstanding humanitarian who touched many lives, which are forever changed from having known him.

WASHINGTON (April 25, 2006) The four leading organizations representing recording artists today joined together to support copyright reforms introduced by a bi-partisan group of senators that will protect compensation to artists and ensure a thriving environment for the legal digital music marketplace.

LCPL Joe F. Kaniatobe, USMC, is serving active duty as a prison guard in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. His hope is that he and a half-dozen of his fellow marines may obtain a donated guitar to help them through the remainder of their service in Iraq. The American Legion, Post #1, Denver, has agreed to serve as a conduit in this effort to see that any donated guitars, harmonicas, or even sheet music, are delivered to LCPL Kaniatobe’s 1-14 Alpha Battery, 1st Platoon.

By formal proclamation signed on March 14, 2006, Governor Bill Owens has declared the month of April as “Jazz Appreciation Month” in the State of Colorado. We thank Governor Owens for his support, and also recognize Joe Anderies, President of the Colorado IAJE, who has worked so diligently to raise attention to Colorado’s rich and vibrant jazz heritage.

Featuring some of the best Big Bands in town…

Bob Montgomery Big Band
Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra
University of Denver Lamont School of Music Big Band
Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts Big Band
Rumble Seat

Sunday, April 9, 2006
Hours 2PM – 8PM @ The Walnut Foundry, 3002 Walnut St.

Developing and sustaining audience interest for live symphonic music is a top priority for orchestras the world over. The CSO is meeting this concern head-on with a plan to establish a consortium of orchestras within the state to address audience development and related matters. The Jefferson Symphony Association (JSA) joins the CSO as its first partner in this effort.

We are rarely presented with such an opportunity to advance our issues as now, when we suddenly find that one of our own members is running for Governor of Colorado.

Paul Fiorino wears his arts advocacy on his shirtsleeve, along with his proper coat, scarf and fedora. He is a class act, and he is determined to carry our message and power of the arts to the State Capitol.

The Colorado Ballet Orchestra remains one of Denver’s great performing institutions for over 30 years. We encourage you to support your Colorado Ballet through purchase of single tickets, subscriptions or donations. For more information, please go to www.coloradoballet.org

Colorado legends and newcomers take stage at event’s 20th Anniversary

The Denver Office of Cultural Affairs is pleased to announce the exciting entertainment line-up for the 2005 Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. This free community celebration will be held on Tuesday, February 21, 2006, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

The CSO, conducted by Associate Conductor Adam Flatt, presented Hands Across the Sea – a musical journey that begins in America with John Philip Sousa’s Hands Across the Sea March and ends in South America with Alberto Ginastera’s “Malambo.” Before the concert, teachers receive written preparation materials and a CD including all the music in the concert. This concert has been one of the most popular because of its broad curricular appeal – 11,700 children from 115 schools are signed-up for one of four remaining Youth Concert performance days.

Are you an artist, gallery owner, musician, filmmaker, performing artist, theatre company, neighborhood representative or creative individual? Are you concerned about the future of affordable and available creative space in Denver? If so, now is your chance to voice how best to make Denver the creative center of the West!

Hosted by the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs, Department of Community Planning and Development
Tuesday, January 24, 4pm – 6pm
Walnut Foundry, 3002 Walnut Street