When its performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo, and Splinter, by Composer-in-Residence Jack Frerer were canceled at the beginning of the pandemic, the Arapahoe Philharmonic kicked into high gear. The canceled events were more than just concerts - one would have featured the orchestra’s concerto competition winner Ethan Blake on the Bloch concerto. The performance of Frerer’s piece had even more profound societal importance. The piece was written to raise awareness of gun violence in our schools and was a tribute to the Colorado STEM school shooting victim. The orchestra’s community needed these types of events. 

“We did everything we could to re-engage with all of our communities, our musicians, our school partners, our patrons, and stakeholders immediately,” remembers Music Director and Conductor Devin Patrick Hughes. “We asked, ‘what does our community need from the orchestra at this moment in time?'"