National Repertory Orchestra
| National Repertory Orchestra | |
|---|---|
| Full-fellowship summer orchestra and academy | |
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| Former name |
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| Founded | 1960 by Walter Charles |
| Location | Breckenridge, Colorado |
| Concert hall | Riverwalk Center |
| Music director | Carl Topilow |
| Website | nromusic |
The National Repertory Orchestra (NRO) is an American summer symphony orchestra and academy that offers full fellowships to train young musicians for professional careers in music through performances, master classes and workshops. Based in Breckenridge, Colorado since 1993, its members, who range in age from 18 to 29, are selected from auditions held each year throughout the United States. NRO presents an eight-week series including two orchestral programs per week conducted by its Music Director Carl Topilow (conductor and director of the orchestral program at the Cleveland Institute of Music) as well as guest conductors. The orchestra was founded in 1960 by cellist and conductor Walter Charles. The orchestra was formerly known as the Blue Jeans Symphony based in Estes Park, Colorado, and later as the Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra based in Evergreen, Colorado.
The National Repertory Orchestra was founded as the Blue Jeans Symphony in 1960 by cellist and conductor Walter Charles. It was originally based in the summer resort town of Estes Park, Colorado. Charles had conceived the idea for an intensive summer training camp for aspiring orchestral musicians in the 1950s when he was the conductor of the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra and chose Estes Park after vacationing there with his wife. The program was launched with 55 musicians and a $2000 grant from the town's chamber of commerce. In its early days, the young musicians worked all day in jobs at the resort and rehearsed from 10 p.m. to midnight. This was a requirement for all the musicians, regardless of their ability to pay for their room and board, and one which Charles described at the time as "part of the philosophical training of the Blue Jeans program." The orchestra performed their concerts in blue jeans, and Charles conducted in a denim white tie and tails especially made for him by Levi-Strauss.
The program became increasingly successful in attracting students and looked to attracting a wider audience. In 1966, it changed its name to the Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra and moved to Evergreen, Colorado. At the end of the 1977 season, a disagreement between Charles and the orchestra's board of directors led to his dismissal. The board had disagreed with his emphasis on classical music and wanted to broaden the repertoire to include lighter music. After a restructuring in 1978, the conductor and clarinettist Carl Topilow was appointed Music Director and Conductor. The orchestra hired its first business manager and placed an emphasis on stipends and scholarships which allowed the students twelve-hour days devoted to practising, rehearsing and performing in concerts. In addition to the classical concerts, they also began giving concerts which depended heavily on pops programming in open meadows, city streets, shopping centers and parks. In 1985, the orchestra performed at the Kennedy Center in a concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts in a varied program of 20th-century music that included Billy Taylor playing his own Jazz Suite for Piano and Orchestra, Joel Hoffman's serial piece Between Ten, and Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait.
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