Arapahoe Philharmonic

The Arapahoe Philharmonic’s mission is to engage, enrich, and inspire our community through musical performance, education, and outreach. Founded in 1953 by late conductor T. Gordon Parks, the Arapahoe Philharmonic (AP) is one of Colorado’s longest operating musical resources. Our second music director, Vincent C. LaGuardia, Jr, led the ensemble from 1993 until his passing in 2012. Our third music director, Devin Patrick Hughes, was appointed to the position in summer of 2013 and has brought a renewed focus on artistic excellence to the organization. The AP is dedicated to presenting high quality classical music performances to the south metro Denver region. The orchestra comprises mostly volunteer musicians playing for the love of music, with a core of professional section leaders who provide technical leadership and support the quality of performance. Repertoire includes works by the greatest names in classical music spanning the baroque, classical and romantic eras, as well as those of more recent times. The Philharmonic has an ongoing composer residency program (the Vincent C. LaGuardia, Jr. Composition Competition), through which we premiere and commission new works by emerging composers from across the country. The Philharmonic is committed to educating and fostering the next generation of classical music lovers, presenting an annual Children’s Discovery Concert, coaching auditions and sectionals for area honor orchestras, hosting a Play-In side-by-side rehearsal and performance opportunity for high school band and orchestra students, a Family Concert, a small ensembles music therapy-inspired program to bring music to individuals with developmental disabilities and dementia, and in-school coaching for middle and high school musicians by our music director and AP players. Additionally, we present two other competitions to promote young performers: the annual T. Gordon Parks Concerto Competition and the Vincent C. LaGuardia, Jr. Conducting Competition.