This summer, the National Repertory Orchestra is proud to partner with local photographers whose work embodies the spirit of our 2026 American Adventures season. For our upcoming concert, Encountering Nature, we are honored to feature the work and words of the late John Fielder, one of Colorado’s most celebrated landscape photographers and conservationists.
Fielder was also an avid supporter and friend of the National Repertory Orchestra who believed deeply in the ability of the arts to enrich our lives and strengthen our communities. His connection to the NRO makes it especially meaningful to share his work as part of Encountering Nature, a program exploring the ways artists interpret the natural world and our relationship with it.
In celebration of his enduring legacy, we invite you to experience Encountering Nature through John Fielder’s lens—and to read, in his own words, his reflections on the National Repertory Orchestra.
A Letter from John Fielder:
My name is John Fielder. I am a photographer and I am very proud to support the National Repertory Orchestra. Here’s why:
All of us, including photographers and musicians, evolve as unique human beings affected by different stimuli in our development. My spirit and my talents gradually emerged with the guidance of many caring supporters throughout most of my youth.
Music is amazing: without a single spoken word, one soul touches another. But music is an art form, not a science, and you can’t always predict success. Relatively few people are born with the talent to become great musicians. Even fewer respond with a heartfelt passion to play great music. Fewer still apply enough healthy discipline to bring this talent and passion to fruition. And yet with all of this, great music making is still just one element in the making of a successful music career.
A successful career in music requires not just great music making, it requires professionalism, financial management, marketing, promotion, and public relations. It requires sensitivity and outreach into communities. A successful music career requires communication skills and self-awareness. The National Repertory Orchestra trains young musicians in all aspects of career development. The Orchestra auditions hundreds and hundreds of young musicians around the country in order to select the individuals you are enjoying this summer. Invited to Summit County for an intensive, tuition-free, eight-week career development program, they are guided, mentored, and rewarded for their years of discipline and hard work. Their music careers are coached and molded in the broadest and most professional sense.
It is my personal passion to find, develop and support young, hard-working talent. All of these young musicians have a special relationship with music and they are learning to have a special relationship with you and your community as well. I hope you come away from these concerts with a renewed passion for great music and find your way to support these young musicians as they strive for excellence.
John Fielder
Fielder’s words remain a meaningful reflection of the values at the heart of the NRO: mentorship, community, and a belief in the transformative power of the arts. As we celebrate his extraordinary legacy through Encountering Nature, his photography offers another way to experience the world he cared for so deeply—inviting us, much like music does, to pause, connect, and see the beauty around us in a new way.