Charles Denler is a man of many talents - and many Emmys

Charles Denler has won five Emmys and several gold medal awards for his compositions.

By Nancy Thompson

You may not have heard of Charles Denler, but chances are you have heard his music.

One of the town’s newest residents, Denler has composed more than 200 film and television scores and his combination of classical and modern music can be heard throughout the world.

He’s an accomplished carpenter, currently in the process of restoring his family’s home, the Oliver Green House, built in 1804 at the foot of Landing Hill Road. He’s also the music director at the Congregational Church of Marlborough, a recording engineer and a professor teaching composition, music production and music theory at Colorado Christian University remotely.

Denler’s not sure where his musical talent comes from, but his carpentry skills evolved from working with his father, also Charles, a professional carpenter who built more than 100 homes in Marlborough and other towns in the area.

“Dad loved this area. I love this area. I’m always building things,” he said. “I’ve rebuilt every single house I’ve ever lived in.”

He wrote his first composition for trumpet when he was in fourth grade, later taught himself to play piano and eventually, how to conduct and write music for an orchestra.

Then, in 1998, he built a purple piano.

“I saw a piano in a dream and wanted to build it,” he said.

After having a dream about building a piano, Charles Denler did just that - a digital piano he painted purple.

He created a piano using an electronic keyboard and a (sort of) piano-shaped hand-built casing, pretty much inventing the digital piano that is in wide use today. Then he painted it purple, because why not? News traveled quickly; he heard from a local television station, Keyboard Magazine and people from China.

He wrote music with it for years, including a piece called “Purple Piano” that attracted the interest of people at National Geographic.

“They asked me if I would write music for their TV shows,” he said, adding that his reply was a resounding “Yes.”

Since then, Denler has written symphonies, music for more than 200 films and television scores and a host of other compositions.

“It all came from a purple piano,” he said. “It started with a dream.”

Denler’s first Emmy came in 2004 for his music for “Bentley Creek,” a PBS documentary chronicling the multi-year restoration of an urban salt marsh environment. His second Emmy came a year later for his score to “Beyond the Medal of Honor,” a documentary produced by PBS and featuring Tom Brokaw. The movie tells the stories of four Medal of Honor winners starting with World War Two.

His third Emmy came in 2019 for his “Wild Mustang Suite,” an album inspired by the spirit of wild horses, and his suite, “Portraits in Season” won a fourth Emmy. “Vivet I, excerpts from An American Symphony No. 1.” earned him a fifth Emmy earlier this year.

Other awards include several gold medals, including one for the score of “Teenage Witness: The Fanya Heller Story,” a documentary produced by Richard Gere. “One Drop Became an Ocean,” an orchestral suite, was in the ten 10 radio hit worldwide for 12 weeks.

Denler’s music has even been played in two major league baseball parks - Coors Field and Yankee Stadium. His theme for the Colorado Rockies, recorded by the Colorado Symphony, premiered live at Coors Field with Denler conducting.

His wife, Joan Franzino, is a voice actor based in New York.

“You’ve heard her a million times,” Denler said.

She’s also an avid sewer who makes many of her own clothes and was featured earlier this year on a local television station for her ritual of entering ice-covered Lake Terramugus to enjoy the health benefits of meditation and very cold water.

For more information about Denler’s music go to charlesdenler.com.