Denver School of the Arts High School Full Orchestra

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

The Denver School of the Arts (DSA) is the Rocky Mountain Region’s only public 6-12 grade school for the arts. As a member of Denver Public Schools, DSA attracts promising young students seeking a challenging and inspiring environment in which to pursue their musical passion. Acceptance into the program is by completion of a successful audition, portfolio and interview. We welcome students of varying technical levels and ability who demonstrate talent, potential and dedication to the art of making music. The course of study at DSA is a pre-conservatory, project-based model that includes daily rehearsals in large and small ensembles, music theory and musicology classes in cooperation with all the DSA music departments — Orchestra, Band, Guitar, Piano and Vocal. While students are grouped into core majors based on instrument, we support a variety of cross-departmental musical groupings such as our full orchestra, jazz, and chamber ensembles, as well as opportunities to perform in a music theater setting. DSA prepares students who want to become professional musicians but also serves those wishing to pursue music for their own enrichment or to participate in community and college ensembles. Collaboration with other majors at DSA — Creative Writing, Dance, Stagecraft & Design, Theatre, Video Cinema Arts, and Visual Arts — is encouraged and fostered. Regional, national, and international travel is incorporated into the music curricula as a means of providing opportunities to perform at competitions and festivals, expose students to world-class musicians, and promote global awareness and evolving cultural ambassadorship. One of the foundations of the DSA music program is giving students the opportunity to work with Colorado’s most accomplished professional musicians in weekly coaching sessions and sectional rehearsals. The DSA Full Orchestra is composed of all the high school Orchestra majors plus the most advanced students in the DSA Bands department. The group rehearses for 90 minutes weekly plus consecutive rehearsals the week prior to its semester concert. The ensemble displays a high level of rigor in its repertoire and musical execution, playing college and professional level music. Students are required to play their parts with great accuracy and musicianship. In addition, students are encouraged to be familiar with the other instruments’ parts by studying the full score and to actively listen to them. This approach puts more responsibility on the students to achieve ensemble and frees up the conductor to concentrate on balance and phrasing. The DSA Full Orchestra is honored to be representing our school and our state at The Midwest Clinic in 2022.

Denver School of the Arts High School Full Orchestra

Conductor's Bio

Dr. Enrique Lasansky was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and came to the United States at the age of nine. His musical studies began as a clarinetist and was a student of the legendary Anthony Gigliotti, long-time 1st clarinetist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Enrique obtained a B.A. in Music from Swarthmore College in 1978 and upon graduation, received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for clarinet and conducting studies in Europe. Subsequently, he received an M.F.A. in Orchestral Conducting from Carnegie Mellon University. During four summers at the Pierre Monteux School for Advanced Conductors in Maine and in private lessons at Hartford, Enrique studied with his principal conducting influence, Charles Bruck, Pierre Monteux’s main protege. In 1991, Enrique received a Doctor of Musical Arts in orchestral conducting from the University of Arizona. That same year, he founded the Catalina Chamber Orchestra (CCO) in Tucson where he served as Music Director until 2008. For nearly 25 years, Dr. Lasansky has been the director of orchestras at public schools across Texas, Arizona and Colorado. Since 2013, Dr. Lasansky has been the Director of Orchestras at Denver School of the Arts. Under his leadership, the DSA orchestras have appeared as honor performing groups at the Colorado Music Educator Association (CMEA) multiple times and have also been successful in national competitions. The DSA middle school Sinfonia won the American String Teacher’s Association (ASTA) National Orchestra Festival (NOF) in both 2016 and 2018 while the high school ensembles performed at The Midwest Clinic in 2015, achieved second runner-up at the 2018 National Orchestra Cup and in 2019 won first place in the NOF’s high school full orchestra division. DSA was also selected as the country’s best high school orchestra by The American Prize in 2020. In addition to teaching, Dr. Lasansky is an accomplished musician and conductor. He served as clarinetist and bass clarinetist with the Arizona Opera Company and has appeared as guest conductor with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, Tucson-Messiah Sing-In, Pima Community College Opera Theater, The Chandler Symphony, The Orquesta de Avellaneda in Buenos Aires, The Paris Sinfonietta and the La Orquesta del Estado de Mexico.