Author - Eric Bertoluzzi

Eric Bertoluzzi is a native of western Pennsylvania, where he received the Bachelor of Music degree from Duquesne University in 1968. After performing in orchestras in Youngstown OH, Wheeling WV, Johnstown PA, and Huntsville AL, he completed a three-year tour of duty in the US Army. In 1971 he joined the Denver Symphony. In 1990, Eric was appointed to the position of Education Director for the Colorado Symphony, in which he served until 1998. He received the prestigious “Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Arts Education” in 1994.

Eric is the co-founder of Up Close and Musical (UCAM), an ensemble of symphony musicians that has given over 800 performances for more than 300,000 young people and adults throughout the state of Colorado during the past 18 years. The program has expanded its spectrum of activities to include endeavors such as beginning strings instruction, classroom preparation for UCAM performances, chamber music coaching, arts and academics integration projects, and a number of other educational programs.

In his 35th year as a cellist with the Colorado Symphony, Eric is also active in his community on behalf of the arts. He has served as chair of the Englewood Cultural Arts Commission since 1998 and is currently vice-chair of the Englewood Cultural Arts Center Association. He has conducted several concerts with the Up Close and Musical ensemble and the Fort Collins Symphony, and has served as conductor of many collaborative performances involving the David Taylor Dance Theatre and the Museum of Outdoor Arts. This past July, he designed and conducted the Colorado Symphony’s youth concerts during a statewide tour.

Englewood Arts and the Englewood Schools are in the 4th and final year of a federally-funded program (Progressive Education in Arts and Academics for Kids) designed to integrate arts and academics. The same partners have just been awarded $1,000,000 by the US Department of Education for the “New Frontiers of Arts in Education” program, which is to be implemented in the Englewood Schools, as well as in two rural districts. Eric oversees the participation of musicians in these innovative projects.