Culture

In an ongoing effort to keep myself in touch with the population of sophisticated, grownup types, I have decided to go on out and get myself some culture. I sometimes forget that there is another side to Denver, albeit oft overlooked, obscured by the miasma of chain restaurant, suburban banality. There is some culture in Denver damnit! It isn't just a town for sports fans. We have museums, theaters, concerts, lectures . . . some are good, some are bad, some are a comical mix of the two.

One of my jobs that fit squarely in the category of "other" was working for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra as the Guest Artist Liaison. Basically I picked up the guest artists at the airport, got them to their hotel, to practice sessions, and to the concerts, before depositing them back at the airport at the end of their stay. It meant that I had free access to any CSO concert, at anytime, which was a pretty nice benefit. I haven't really been back to the symphony since that season so I figured what the heck and signed up for a seven concert subscription with my friend Melisa. We'll be taking in the Masterworks Series which hits up some of the classic works and then some stuff I have never heard of. Bring on the culture! The subscription is one concert a month with the first coming up this Friday.

September 19 (Fri 7:30)
Jeffrey Kahane, music director
Jonathan Biss, piano
Beethoven - Overture to Fidelio
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21
Mahler - Symphony No. 1, "Titan"

Keep an eye out for the full review after the weekend. I'm looking forward to having a good excuse to put on the fancy clothes since work doesn't really require it. I expect some really good people watching from our cheap seats up by the ceiling.

Never fear, I will dumb the weekend down a couple notches with a planned stop at Oktoberfest on Larimer Square for some more people watching, prior to Deb's housewarming party on Saturday. There is also talk of hitting the cross races on Sunday in Golden. Now if only I can make it to the weekend faster . . .