Soon your would-be musical phenom will have a chance to train with a real professional from the Boulder Symphony.

The lessons, provided by orchestra members, create revenue both for musicians and the symphony. They are available to anyone over the age of 4, but are mainly catered to school-aged kids and teens.

Hughes said the academy can serve to build upon skills that students learn as part of the school band or other musical activities.

The academy is designed to “give younger musicians an all encompassing experience,” he said. “… If a kid decides they want to become a musician or a music teacher, that’s one of the greatest things we can see evolve from the students we work with.”

While 2020 presented numerous obstacles for arts organizations, Boulder Symphony managed to deliver several in-person performances.

“This will be a symphonic concert, the same great composers, the same great performers, with one exception — about half of the orchestra will be sitting this one out,” said Devin Patrick Hughes, conductor of Boulder Symphony. “The only performers this week are our string players and then our solo harpist, Hillary Schefter. This is for the safety of all participants, so we can ensure everyone will be masked and not playing particle-dispersing instruments — winds, brass, et cetera.”

No holiday would be complete without a proper soundtrack and Boulder Symphony has teamed up with the Arts in the Park series to offer a Fourth of July show featuring nostalgic favorites and fresh works with plenty of edge.

“We’re so thrilled to bring to life Gregory’s ‘Dream N. the Hood,’ for rapper and orchestra,” Hughes said. “The piece features extended techniques — paperclips rattling on the violin string, glissandos imitating a siren, playing behind the bridge on strings, musicians’ improvisations — that we come to expect from Gregory’s art, but also it carries a message of oneness, equality and liberty, with the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.”

I am so excited today to be speaking with the globetrotting mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung. One of the most exciting artists of her generation, Michelle appears frequently with the world’s top orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sao Paulo Symphony, and the Concertgebouw orchestra.

I’m excited to share with you my interview with the fantastic composer and educator Edgar Girtain. I had a blast recording this interview, and I’m sure you’ll get a kick out Edgar’s passions and insights. I wanted to give all my listeners a heads up on this episode that there is some more colorful language and a depiction of a historical murder during the show. So if you have kids in the room or may find this content at all offensive, you may want make necessary adjustments. That being said, I hope you enjoy the interview!

The highly regarded maestro Devin Patrick Hughes is Music Director and Conductor of the Boulder Symphony and Arapahoe Philharmonic, and Arts & Culture Commissioner for the City of Boulder. The maestro’s mission is to make symphonic music more universally assessable to all walks of life. Using his platform to showcase new music created by minority demographics, he incorporates diversity by targeting people who don’t know they love symphonic music. Hughes can also be heard on One Symphony, a new podcast amplifying the voices of composers and other artistic entrepreneurs.

(KUSA/NBC News) Masked musicians sat six feet apart and began tuning their violins and cellos, as Colorado's Boulder Symphony and conductor Devin Patrick Hughes prepared Monday for their first performance in months.