Mission
It is the mission of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra to enhance the Boulder region’s artistic and educational cultures through orchestral excellence, embracing diversity, and connecting people to music, music to ideas, and people to people.
Vision Statement
The path to justice begins with empathy, with our ability, however imperfect, to imagine ourselves in the places of others, to fundamentally recognize our common humanity. Music is empathy in sound. To put our lives into musical tones and share them with others is a profound way to know and be known. Music seeks a shared vision to be better.
About the Phil
Founded in 1957, the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra is creating a new model for American orchestras through dynamic performances that reflect our community’s own values, creativity, and sense of place. Voted “Best of Boulder” for the past eight years in a row, today’s Boulder Phil is bucking national trends with growing, enthusiastic audiences, and an imaginative vision for new forms of engagement. Today the Boulder Phil reaches audiences of more than 30,000 through concerts, the Discovery Education Program, and community engagement experiences in Boulder and across Colorado’s Front Range, under the vision and leadership of Music Director Michael Butterman.
The Boulder Phil’s main concert series is presented at Macky Auditorium, a grand historic hall on the University of Colorado campus. From multi-genre productions featuring dance, choral and visual elements to concerts with a unique hometown flavor, the Phil’s imaginative programming has resulted in increasing numbers of sold-out concerts, nationwide notice at the inaugural SHIFT Festival at the Kennedy Center, and a Futures Fund grant from the League of American Orchestras and the National Endowment for the Arts for groundbreaking engagement.
Recognized as “Boulder’s premier orchestra” (Boulder Weekly) and “Boulder’s superb local professional orchestra” (Daily Camera), the Boulder Phil is comprised of the top freelance musicians from Colorado’s Front Range and beyond.
We Aspire to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra values sharing the life-enriching potential of orchestral music with all members of the community that we serve. We want everyone regardless of age, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, physical capacity, income level or educational attainment to have access to the music we make and to feel welcomed by us. Acknowledging the shortcomings of our past efforts and exploring new ways that allow people to recognize something of themselves in and experience a sense of connection to orchestral music, we commit to:
- Present music in ways that evoke a sense of shared humanity among the composers, performers and listeners involved.
- Offer music written by, and performed by, creators of diverse identities.
- Support education and community engagement projects targeted to people in our community who might not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with orchestral music.
- Direct our commissioning efforts to a wide range of composers and collaborate with a wide array of partners.
- Increase the diversity of perspectives brought to bear—by board, staff, musicians, and community members—on organizational decisions and actions.
- Discover and eliminate barriers that limit access to our music.
For more information about the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, please contact us at 303-449-1343, info@boulderphil.org.
The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.