When horn player Nicolee Kuester took the stage at Chautauqua last summer with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, it was more than just a performance.
It was a homecoming. As a child in Boulder, Nicolee spent summers in the audience, listening to the orchestra at that same venue. Her father loved classical music and filled their home with recordings of Mahler, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky. Music was always there. “I grew up with these big orchestral sounds in my ears,” Nicolee says.
In fifth grade, she was eager to choose an instrument. She wanted something unique. “I knew I didn’t want to play a ‘normal’ instrument,” she laughed. “I wanted something a little off the beaten path.” She chose the horn.
Finding the Right Teacher
Soon after she began, Nicolee took lessons at the Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts (now the Center for Musical Arts). There, she met horn teacher Devin Park, who guided her through middle and high school. For six years, she met with him nearly every week. “He was a steady presence,” she remembers. “Very calm, very encouraging. I was the kind of student who needed material, and I’d practice it. He guided me through so much of the horn repertoire.” Looking back as a professional, she appreciates that mentorship. “It’s remarkable to have a relationship like that with a teacher when you’re growing up.”
The Sound of a Music School
Nicolee recalls another unique part of the Center for Musical Arts: the sound. Community music schools have a special energy, she says. As you walk through the halls, you hear beginners learning notes. Advanced students practice pieces, while adults rediscover music. “You hear sounds bleeding through the walls,” she says. “Everyone is practicing. Everyone is at a different place.” This environment creates something powerful. “The energy from that sound is contagious.”
Life in Music
Nicolee studied horn performance and creative writing at Oberlin College. She then pursued graduate studies at UC San Diego, exploring experimental music. Today, she lives in New York City. She performs with top groups like the International Contemporary Ensemble. She is building a career in contemporary music, chamber music, and orchestral work. But Boulder is still a key part of her story. She returned last summer to perform with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. Her family filled the audience, which was rare after many years. “My parents hadn’t heard me perform live in about seven years,” she says. “It was special to have them there.” The experience felt surreal: the same venue, the same orchestra, but a different role. “As a kid, you show up, and the concert happens. It feels magical,” she says. “Now I know what goes into making that magic.”
Why Community Music Schools Matter
Community music schools connect students with great teachers. They help students grow over the years and enjoy making music together. “Music is a collective art,” she says. “You’re creating spaces where people gather and make something together.” That kind of experience is rare and valuable.
Sometimes, it leads a young musician to come full circle.