Augustana Arts

Augustana Arts bridges the gap between artists and audience, ensuring that all feel welcome and are able to experience the arts in deeper and more meaningful ways. We do this through two main programs:

Music Encounters

Music Encounters brings instrument instruction into Title I schools and community sites around Denver. These small-group lessons focus on instruments like violin, guitar, ukulele, and general percussion. Our programs have a low optional tuition so that no child is ever turned away due to an inability to pay and all instruments and supplies are included with each registration. There are three branches of this program running during the 2024-2025 season:

1. Music Encounters at School Sites: There are two program types we bring into schools:
   1. Small-group instrument instruction, typically during after school hours: School administrators help identify and gather participating students. These programs typically run for the whole school year.
   2. School-day Teacher Support: We send specialized teachers into schools to support and supplement the work of the music teacher and exisiting programs. One example of this is sending in a mariachi professional to supplement a new student-led mariachi program at a Denver high school
2. Music Encounters for Underhoused Populations: We bring programs directly to community sites that provide services to youth and families that are unhoused/underhoused for a variety of reasons. This branch of our programming provides adaptive lessons. Adaptive lessons are a cross between traditional lessons and music therapy sessions. Led by board certified music therapists or interns under their supervision, this program presents music as a tool for trauma recovery, social emotional growth, and overall mental health preservation and improvement. 
3. Music Encounters Public Sites: These Music Encounters programs occur at community sites on weekends and are open for public registration.Concert Series

Concert Series

Our programs give audiences new ways to interact with music and live arts performances. We present programs that challenge convention: from silent films with live accompaniment to immersive-seating concerts, from wine tastings with music pairings to guest artist collaborations. We’re committed to creating space for all voices and we feature diverse artists and genres in our programs alongside our own Stratus Chamber Orchestra. And thanks to our Pay What You Can ticketing policy at many of our events, our programs are accessible to a larger portion of our community who might not otherwise be able to attend live performances. During the 2023-24 season, over 70% of our audience attended a concert at a free or reduced rate.