Eric Bertoluzzi established Englewood Arts in 2001. The organization will perform the Shafer Showcase on March 29 at Hampden Hall in Englewood. Credit: Photo by Willie Peterson

Let’s face it — heading to downtown Denver for live entertainment has become a hassle. Traffic is usually a mess. Parking, when available, is expensive. Crowds can be crushing. Ticket prices are becoming out of reach. Better to just stay home. Or…

For local music lovers, Eric Bertoluzzi has provided a welcome alternative, establishing Englewood Arts in 2001. Since then, he’s organized a series of monthly concerts in the intimacy of the 200-seat Hampden Hall, 1000 Englewood Parkway, presenting high-quality chamber music by members of the Colorado Symphony. Tickets are reasonably priced — and parking is free.

“My goal has always been to utilize the (Colorado) Symphony as a resource in the community — to have it interact with local residents,” said Bertoluzzi, the orchestra’s former cellist.

In describing the years it took to get Englewood Arts off the ground, it’s obvious that Bertoluzzi is one dedicated cultural activist.

His passion for building audiences actually began while he was still with the orchestra. Using funds awarded from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, in 1990 he launched Up Close and Musical, which brought groups of schoolchildren to Boettcher Concert Hall for symphony programs. After his retirement from the orchestra in 2013, he joined the Cultural Arts Division of his hometown, Englewood.

“At that point, I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I knew Cynthia Madden Leitner of the Museum of Outdoor Arts, and she gave me an office (at the Englewood Civic Center) — so I had to figure out something.”

Having so many friends in the orchestra, and discovering an unused storage space in the building, he put two and two together and set out to create a multi-use hall for concerts. His next task was to round up the funds to make it happen. Which he did.

“All that grunt work is necessary,” he said. “You have to get good at raising money.”

Through a number of sources, he collected $83,000.

Hampden Hall is now used for more than chamber concerts, he said. There are church services, lectures, parties and other events. But for Colorado Symphony’s principal clarinet Jason Shafer, the intimate hall is the perfect place for Brahms.

At 1:30 p.m. on March 29, a contingent of five orchestra members and pianist Forrest Howell will present a chamber concert in Hampden Hall, concluding with a heavenly masterpiece, one that is rarely heard live.

“I’ve wanted to play Brahms’ ‘Clarinet Quintet’ for so long, and there aren’t too many opportunities to perform it,” Shafer said.

He’ll be joined by fellow orchestra players Kate Arnt and Dmitri Pogorelov on violins, Leah Kovach on viola and Dakota Cotugno on cello.

“We appear regularly on Eric’s series, and when we do, we love to mix it up,” Shafer said.

A glance at the group’s program confirms Shafer’s remark about mixing things up. The concert opens with Hindemith’s “Clarinet Sonata,” followed by Haydn’s “Lark String Quartet” — and ending with the Brahms Quintet. Quite a variety. The musical choices were assembled by the clarinetist.

“It’s what Eric loves to do, appoint a leader and leave everything up to him. He asked me to choose the repertoire. That’s how open Englewood Arts is. Actually, Eric asked for the Haydn — and he really loves the Hindemith. I’ve taught it, but I’d never played it,” Shafer said.

A rarely heard work like Hindemith’s “Clarinet Sonata” — or the challenging Brahms Quintet, for that matter — reminds one that live chamber music doesn’t appear around town every day. It requires an intimate venue and expert players. While the latter are in plentiful supply in Denver, there are precious few places for music lovers to gather for performances. The Newman Center on the University of Denver campus stands as the city’s finest, and is nationally recognized. But Hampden Hall and its monthly series provides a fine alternative, often drawing capacity audiences.

Shafer spoke for his orchestra colleagues about their mutual love of playing music away from the vast spaces of Boettcher Hall.

“I think all the (orchestra) musicians want to be involved in chamber music. We don’t have to ask (management) to play these programs — we do these on our own free time. It’s our way of adding to Denver’s classical music scene,” he said.

And, lest we forget, parking is free.

This coverage comes courtesy of a grant from the Littleton Arts and Culture Program. As a matter of policy, funders exercise no control over editorial decisions.

If you go

Englewood Arts will present the Shafer Showcase at 1:30 p.m. March 29 at Hampden Hall, 1000 Englewood Parkway in the Englewood Civic Center. For more information, visit englewoodarts.org/performances.

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