# Denver asks Colorado Symphony to cancel bring-your-own-pot concert series



## Lunasong

As announced on April 29, 2014:
_The concerts, organized by pro-pot promoter Edible Events, will start May 23 with three bring-your-own marijuana events at the Space Gallery in Denver's Santa Fe arts district and culminate with a large, outdoor performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Sept. 13. The events are being billed as fundraisers for the CSO, which will curate a themed program of classical music for each show.

While acknowledging that the arrangement is unusual, even ground-breaking, CSO executive director Jerry Kern said the concerts will help the orchestra reach beyond its conservative, fine arts demographic while raising money for an organization that has struggled financially in recent years.

"We see ourselves as connecting classical music with all of Colorado," said Kern. "Part of our goal is to bring in a younger audience and a more diverse audience, and I would suggest that the patrons of the cannabis industry are both younger and more diverse than the patrons of the symphony orchestra."_

*TODAY'S BUZZKILL*
A hand-delivered letter prepared by Denver city attorneys, along with licensing and police officials, urged the CSO to cancel the concerts. But it doesn't stop there.

Should the orchestra ignore the city's instructions, the letter says, "We will exercise any and all options available to the city of Denver to halt the event and hold the business owners (and) event organizers responsible for any violations of law."

Those options include potentially denying special-event permits that are under consideration for the first two performances.

The city's stance has the CSO reviewing its plans, announced last week, for "Classically Cannabis: The High Note Series."

The CSO said in a statement that it "takes the issues raised by the city of Denver very seriously."

"We're reviewing the issues with our legal team," the CSO said. "When the Colorado Symphony accepted support from the legal cannabis industry - as a means of supporting our financial operations and connecting with a culturally diverse audience - we believed we did so in full compliance with the law."

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25723815/denver-asks-colorado-symphony-call-off-bring-your


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## Lunasong

*Colorado Symphony cannabis concerts will go on, by invitation only*

Dateline 13 May 2014 - Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver _Post_

The Colorado Symphony Orchestra will go on with its "Classically Cannabis" concert series - changing the bring-your-own marijuana events to invitation-only fundraisers so they will not be construed as public events that potentially could break the law.

The CSO on Monday stopped selling tickets to the high-profile series in response to a letter from the city of Denver warning that the events could run afoul of regulations forbidding marijuana consumption "openly and publicly in a manner that endangers others."

Instead, concerts now will be open only to "a closed list of VIP guests" managed by the concert's promoter, Edible Events, according to a statement from the CSO.

The three-concert series, which kicks off May 23 and costs $75 each, will take place at Space Gallery in the Denver's Art District on Santa Fe.

About 120 people who purchased tickets since the events were announced April 29 will receive refunds and "no reservations will be accepted from the general public," the CSO statement said.

Symphony CEO Jerry Kern on Tuesday said the changes came after the organization approached City Attorney Scott Martinez asking for guidance in how it might proceed with the series and not violate laws.

"We said, 'If you think this is a public event rather than a private fundraiser, tell us what to do,' " Kern said.

The events are to feature music, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a patio where attendees could smoke marijuana if they choose. Guests must be at least 21 years old.

The CSO, which has suffered financial distress in recent years, hopes to raise as much as $200,000 from the events, which wrap up with a fourth concert Sept. 13 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Sponsors already pledged more than $36,000, according to Jane West, the owner of Edible Events, which has hosted a series of cannabis-friendly gatherings since the beginning of the year.

The orchestra set up the concerts believing they were legal because marijuana consumption is now legal in the state and Space Gallery is privately owned. Kern said the CSO would prefer to negotiate with the city, rather than turning the issue into a legal matter.

"The symphony does not want to be the poster child for determining the distinction between public and private," Kern said.


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## Ukko

Leaving completely aside the actions of Denver's official dinosaurs, offering tickets for sale to _the public_ should have provided a clue to the arbitrariness of the public/private question. Maybe the organizers thought Denver officialdom was 'with it'? [:lol:]


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## Blancrocher

Ukko said:


> Leaving completely aside the actions of Denver's official dinosaurs


To give them the benefit of the doubt, they may be prehistoric mammals--perhaps they're just afraid of the dinosaurs in the federal government.


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## Couac Addict

That's not a bong. It's a bassoon.


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## Ukko

Couac Addict said:


> That's not a bong. It's a bassoon.


Hey, if we're going that route, how about serpent?


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## Vaneyes

Okay, then it's river-rafting.


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## Guest

If classical music needs the support of potheads to further itself, classical music is already dead.


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## Bulldog

You got a problem with folks who use weed for recreational purposes? As for classical music, it needs support from every source including the homeless. :tiphat:


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## PetrB

arcaneholocaust said:


> If classical music needs the support of potheads to further itself, classical music is already dead.


Why? Classical music has the support of many "an alcohol head" now... you now, those who have a drink before attending the concert and / or during the interval?

Many people use marijuana as moderately as those who take alcohol moderately, with as little or no detectable or detrimental change in their behavior.

That sixties cliche of the stoner pothead too high to react to anything is a sixties cliche, and that is like generalizing about any who take an occasional drink are all impossibly sloppy and non-responsive lushes 

Maybe one good idea to help fund symphonic organizations is to direct all the tax revenues gleaned from alcohol _and_ legal marijuana sales to those symphonic organizations.

ADD: _P.s. Alcohol is known to be near the top rank of the most extremely deleterious of commonly taken drugs._


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## Guest

I am aware of the notion of moderation, as I occasionally indulge myself. Hell, last week I had a glass of wine, and just yesterday, I finished off the last bit of these two kids' joint. I then proceeded to finish up my work and throw on some Norgard as soon as I got home, still a little "toasty" - it was excellent. I don't buy the stuff, but if I'm offered it once in a while, I'm not against it either.

But that's not the point. I simply find it really damn sad if classical music actually needs to reach out to potheads with anything more than the offer of good music.

And yes. The cliches are obviously generalizations, as are most cliches. However, there are *plenty* of youngsters still encouraging these cliches.


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## Ukko

^ ^ My 'problem' with pot is that way too many young folks are spending their hard-come-by money on it. There are better buys - like learning a way out of the minimum wage trap.


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## Guest

Yes indeed. Thank god I've never bought the stuff.


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## Guest

I guess my only point is:

Some of us don't need the motivation of drugs to buy a symphony ticket. And I've never seen classical music as the sort of art form that caters to those that do.


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## Couac Addict

I hope it's not too late to return that giant Pink Floyd projector screen.


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## Whistler Fred

Although I'm not a pot smoker, I've enjoyed a glass of wine during intermission, so I understand that using marijuana in a similar fashion isn't a problem.

I have a bigger issue with attempts to "reach beyond (the orchestra's) conservative, fine arts demographic while raising money for an organization that has struggled financially in recent years." In other words, try to build an audience (and raise money) for some other reason than because we are playing beautiful and meaningful music. It comes off as yet another marketing ploy, and may be a short-term way to raise some money but, I suspect, will do nothing to build an audience who will genuinely appreciate classical music.


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