‹‹ Colorado Matters

Award-Winning Denver Percussionist Keeps The Beat During Pandemic

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10min 32sec

Justin Douté excels in one of the more distinctive areas of classical music -- percussion. Over the course of his career, the Denver native has won the Aspen School of Music Solo Percussion Competition and performed with the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra and Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. While earning his degrees in percussion performance, he survived multiple bouts with leukemia.

Douté spoke with Ryan Warner about playing the bongos as a child, how he fed his love for music while undergoing cancer treatment, and the difficulties of drumming at home during the pandemic.

Above, watch Douté perform "Hoe Down" from Copland's "Rodeo" with the University of Denver's Lamont Percussion Ensemble.