By Mike Rosso
A chance dinner at a Denver restaurant has led to a commitment by Colorado’s premier symphony for a number of upcoming performances in remote Salida.
Colorado Symphony (CS) president and CEO Gene Sobczak was working with the CS board to develop a new strategy to branch out from the Denver metro area to become more of a statewide, and more accessible orchestra. Sobczak had met Salida resident and KHEN community radio volunteer Irving Kirsch several years earlier and contacted him about a meeting to discuss possible collaborative efforts. Sobczak, a huge fan of community radio, proposed to Kirsch an opportunity for the two entities to join forces in an effort to bring more of the highest quality classical music to Salida. Sobczak considers the collaboration a “laboratory experiment” reflecting on “how we could have a longitudinal, continual presence in the community.”