Aspen Music Festival & School announces 2025 season: “Concerning the Spiritual in Art” (July 2–Aug 24)

(February 2025, Aspen, CO) — The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) celebrates 76 years of performance and mentorship this summer, when more than 450 young artistsfrom around the world come together, with artist-faculty and guests from the foremost orchestras and music schools nationwide, for almost 200 public events. Titled “Concerning the Spiritual in Art,” the 2025 festival explores this theme through works including Siddhartha, She – an AMFS co-commission from Christopher Theofanidis and Melissa Studdard; this immersive new music drama receives its world premiere under the baton of Music Director Robert Spano. Other festival highlights include a fully staged production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, marking Co-Artistic Director Renée Fleming’s directorial debut; an Opera Benefit headlined by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard; the U.S. premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Origin of the Harp, another AMFS co-commission; world premieres of new AMFS co-commissions from Samuel Adams, Christopher Stark, and Max Vinetz; performances of recent AMFS co-commissions from Jasmine Barnes, Anna Clyne, Avner Dorman, Edgar Meyer, and Tyshawn Sorey; and a celebration of this year’s Boulez centennial with conductor David Robertson, a leading exponent of the composer’s work. In festival debuts, Davóne Tines performs a wide-ranging solo recital program, Pierre-Laurent Aimard plays site-specific Messiaen, Patricia Kopatchinskajaduets with Sol Gabetta, Enrique Mazzola leads La bohème in concert, and Stéphane Denève conducts Richard Strauss. Lang Lang and Patti LuPone both give mainstage solo recitals; other returning favorites include conductors Vasily Petrenko and Xian Zhang, recitalists Conrad Tao and Alexander Malofeev, and orchestral soloists Yefim Bronfman, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Gil Shaham, and Alisa Weilerstein. As in previous seasons, these events will all be presented over eight weeks in Aspen’s spectacular mountain setting (July 2–Aug 24).

“Concerning the Spiritual in Art” draws inspiration from Kandinsky’s book of that name. AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher explains:

“Kandinsky is not interested in organized religion so much as what is called, in a beautiful word, the ‘numinous’ – experiences and artworks that engage one’s sense of something greater than one’s self, beyond the everyday and expected. This inspired us in programming a summer of music embodying wonder, mystery, contemplation, inwardness, and ecstasy. We include works with explicit spirituality, like Handel’s Messiah and Theofanidis and Studdard’s Siddhartha, She, but we also invite listeners to find, in works as different as Holst’s The Planets and Mozart’s ‘Paris’ symphony, something that pulls them from the moment into a transcendent world.”

Currently celebrating his 20th anniversary at the helm of the AMFS, Fletcher is the honoree of this season’s benefit, “A Feast of Music” (Aug 11).

World premiere production of Siddhartha, She

Aspen boasts a long history of fostering new music through commissions, premieres, and performances. A centerpiece of this summer’s programming is the world premiere of Siddhartha, She, a ritual music drama in seven tableaux by composer-in-residence Christopher Theofanidis and his longtime collaborator, librettist Melissa Studdard. An AMFS co-commission, their work offers an original, gender-swapping take on Hermann Hesse’s allegorical 1922 novel about the search for enlightenment. Theofanidis’s “lyrical, exotic soul-searching” music (The New York Times) has twice been nominated for Grammy Awards. He explains:

“The creative team has felt this work in a deeply personal and transformative way. The character of Siddhartha represents each of our own personal journeys in art and spirit over a lifetime. The origin of this piece goes back 20 years for me and involves my closest friends and lifetime collaborators.”

These key associates include Robert Spano, a prime mover behind the project, who conducts its first performance. Anchored by the Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Denver-based Kantorei chorus with its artistic director Joel Rinsema, this will star sopranos Caitlin Lynch and Maya Kherani, mezzo-sopranos Kelley O’Connor and Tamara Mumford, countertenor Key’mon Murrah, and baritone Nmon Ford in an immersive production by multidisciplinary artist Anne Patterson, featuring video projections by Adam Larsen, sound design by Patrick Harlin, and scenic installations by the director herself (Aug 2).

Renée Fleming’s directorial debut & other operatic highlights

Now in her fifth season as Co-Artistic Director of the Aspen Opera Theater & VocalARTS (AOTVA) program, superstar soprano Renée Fleming steps into a new role this summer, when she makes her directorial debut with a fully staged new production of Così fan tutte. Featuring AOTVA students under the baton of Co-Artistic Director Patrick Summers at the Wheeler Opera House, this reimagines Mozart’s comedy in a 1980s high school setting (July 21, 23, & 26). Fleming says:

“Così fan tutte poses dramaturgical challenges today, beginning with the title, ‘All Women Are Like That.’ However, universal truths remain, and Mozart’s glorious music guides the way. I’ll be presenting his opera as a coming-of-age scenario in Yarmouth, MA, at the beginning of the wrestling craze.”

An AMFS student in the 1980s, Fleming remembers the decade fondly; it was in Aspen’s 1984 production of Le nozze di Figaro that she gave her first performance as Countess Almaviva, the vehicle for her subsequent Metropolitan Opera debut.

Other operatic highlights include a festive Opera Benefit featuring three-time Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (July 8), who then returns for a solo recital (July 12). Bass-baritone Davóne Tines, whom The New Yorker’s Alex Ross credits with “changing what it means to be a classical singer,” also appears in recital, making his AMFS debut with a thoughtfully curated solo program featuring composers from J.S. Bach to Tyshawn Sorey and Caroline Shaw (Aug 9).

In addition to weekly masterclasses, spotlight recitals, and other performance opportunities, this summer’s AOTVA students will participate in Siddhartha, She; Così fan tutte; the festival’s first complete concert performance of Handel’s Messiah, given by Chicago’s Music of the Baroque chorus, the Aspen Festival Ensemble, and Jane Gloverin the acoustically perfect Harris Concert Hall (Aug 6); and a semi-staged production of Puccini’s La bohème in the Klein Music Tent, with tenor Matthew Polenzani as Rodolfo under the leadership of conductor Enrique Mazzola in his festival debut (Aug 19).

Boulez at 100 with David Robertson; Messiaen with Pierre-Laurent Aimard

This year marks the centennial of Pierre Boulez, and David Robertson returns to conduct the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble in an evening devoted to the great French avant-gardist, who until his death was a close friend and mentor of Robertson’s. Indeed, it was the American conductor who originally led the world premieres of two of the evening’s featured works: Boulez’s sur Incises and …explosante-fixe… (July 9).

Another great interpreter of the modernist canon is Grammy-winning French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who makes his AMFS debut with a recital of Boulez, Schoenberg, Messiaen, and Debussy (July 30). Aimard then joins the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble for a performance of Couleurs de la Cité Céleste by Messiaen(Aug 2), one of several 20th-century masters with whom the pianist enjoyed especially close personal and professional ties. As a former student of Yvonne Loriod, the late French composer’s wife, Aimard is “a peerless interpreter of Messiaen’s music” (Boston Globe). He completes his Aspen residency with one of his signature, site-specific open-air performances of Messiaen’s birdsong-inspired magnum opus, Catalogue d’oiseaux(Aug 4).

Co-commissions from Adès, Clyne, Barnes, Dorman, Sorey, & more

The Aspen Chamber Symphony performs three major AMFS co-commissions, when conductor Marie Jacquot makes her Aspen debut with the U.S. premiere of The Origin of the Harp, a tone poem by contemporary music titan Thomas Adès (July 5); Jeremy Denk performs ATLAS, a piano concerto by Grammy nominee Anna Clyne, under the baton of Jane Glover (Aug 8); and AMFS assistant conductor Paul-Boris Kertsman leads KINSFOLKNEM by Emmy-winner Jasmine Barnes, whose concertante work showcases the talents of four of the nation’s leading Black woodwind principals: Anthony McGill and AMSF artist-faculty members Andrew Brady, Demarre McGill, and Titus Underwood(July 11).

Six more AMFS co-commissions will be heard at Aspen this summer. Gil Shaham and Adele Anthony are the soloists in a new double concerto for violins and strings by International Opera Award finalist Avner Dorman (July 29); the American Brass Quintetperforms a new piece by Pulitzer Prize laureate Tyshawn Sorey (July 23); and AMFS artist-faculty bassist Edgar Meyer performs his own new string trio with violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Joshua Roman (July 7). The remaining three co-commissions will all receive world premieres: the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble premieres new compositions by Guggenheim Fellows Samuel Adams (Aug 16) and Christopher Stark(Aug 23), and the Aspen Conducting Academy premieres a new piece by Max Vinetz, winner of Aspen’s 2024 Druckman Prize (Aug 13).

Other new music highlights include performances of Matthias Pintscher’s Assonanza by the Aspen Chamber Symphony, with Blake Pouliot as violin soloist under the composer’s leadership (July 25); of Adès’s Inferno Suite by Robert Spano and the Aspen Festival Orchestra (July 6; see below); of “Motherboxx Connection” from Carlos Simon’s Tales: A Folklore Symphony by the Aspen Conducting Academy (July 9); of Stephen Hartke’s Ship of State by Timothy Weiss and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, with Xak Bjerken on piano (Aug 9); and of Grammy winner Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone by Xian Zhang and the Aspen Festival Orchestra (July 27).

As in previous seasons, fresh music is interwoven throughout the Aspen summer. Led by Timothy Weiss, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble performs works by prominent living composers and classics of the 20th century every Saturday, and new works are programmed on virtually every orchestral and recital program. Composition students study at Aspen’s Schumann Center for Composition Studies with Theofanidis, now in his twelfth season as its Co-Director, and with Fletcher, Spano, and visiting composers. Those in attendance this summer include Nico Muhly, as well as Adams, Barnes, Clyne, Dorman, Hartke, Meyer, Montgomery, Sorey, Stark, and Vinetz.

Aspen Festival Orchestra & Aspen Chamber Symphony concerts

The Aspen Festival Orchestra performs eight programs this summer. AMFS Music Director Robert Spano leads its opening and closing concerts. After leaning into the season’s spiritual theme, with a program featuring both the “Inferno Suite” from Thomas Adès’s Dante and the “Good Friday Spell” from Wagner’s Parsifal (July 6), Spano draws the summer to a close with an uplifting pairing of Holst’s The Planets and Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, for which he and the orchestra will be joined by powerhouse pianist Yefim Bronfman (Aug 24).

Two French conductors make AMFS debuts with the orchestra this season. Distinguished maestro Stéphane Denève, music director of the St. Louis Symphony and artistic director of the New World Symphony, couples works by Jennifer Higdon and Tchaikovskywith Richard Strauss’s tone poem An Alpine Symphony (Aug 10). Denève’s compatriot Fabien Gabel, the newly appointed music director designate of Austria’s Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, conducts a program featuring Ana María Martínez as the soprano soloist in Ravel’s orchestral song cycle Shéhérazade (July 20). Other guest conducting highlights include a collaboration on Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto by two-time Grammy winner Ludovic Morlot and MacArthur Fellow Alisa Weilerstein (Aug 17); Los Angeles Opera music director James Conlon leading his own arrangement of the Suite from Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (July 13); and Grammy-winner Xian Zhang’s interpretation of Prokofiev’s Sixth (and perhaps most profound) Symphony (July 27).

With seven concert programs, the Aspen Chamber Symphony is similarly active this summer. Ryan Bancroft, who holds positions as chief conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, makes his AMFS debut with Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony, “The Inextinguishable,” and Ravel’s G-major Piano Concerto, featuring French pianist Lise de la Salle (Aug 1). Vasily Petrenko, music director of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, leads works by Debussy, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Saint-Saëns, with former BBC Young Musician of the Year Sheku Kanneh-Mason as the concerto soloist (Aug 15). Nicholas McGegan conducts Mozart and Beethoven symphonies (July 11); guest conductors Marie Jacquot, Jane Glover, and Matthias Pintscher lead programs showcasing AMFS co-commissions and other recent works, as detailed above; and Spano conducts an all-English evening of Purcell, Elgar, and Vaughan Williams (July 18).

Solo & chamber recitals: Lang Lang, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, & more

As ever, the AMFS summer features a wealth of solo and chamber recitals. In addition to Aimard’s appearances, detailed above, this summer’s piano offerings include Schubert, Kabalevsky, and Shostakovich from Tchaikovsky Competition winner Alexander Malofeev(Aug 16); Chopin, Schumann, and Fauré from Chinese superstar Lang Lang (Aug 5); Ravel’s complete piano works from Chopin Competition winner Seong-Jin Cho (July 22); original compositions and arrangements from pathbreaking pianist Conrad Tao (July 2); transcriptions of classic film scores from Hollywood expert Scott Dunn (Aug 18); a festival debut from Tom Borrow (July 16); and the returns of Steven Osborne (July 10), AMFS artist-faculty member Mikhail Voskresensky (July 28), and Yefim Bronfman (Aug 14). Continuing a long-standing tradition, the AMFS will also be among the first to present the winner of this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in recital (Aug 7).

Three world-class violinists take part in duo recitals. Patricia Kopatchinskaja – “a ‘quirky maverick’ … in a class of her own” (The Times of London) – makes her festival debut alongside Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta, with more than three centuries of music (July 14); Grammy winner Augustin Hadelich performs an all-American program with regular piano partner Orion Weiss (Aug 12); and Finnish polymath Pekka Kuusisto joins forces with renowned pianist-composer Nico Muhly for Muhly’s own music and more (July 26). Other recital highlights include two-time Grammy winner Sharon Isbin on classical guitar (Aug 13) and a special program celebrating “A Life in Notes” with Tony-winning Broadway sensation Patti LuPone (Aug 22). The summer’s chamber lineup includes Schubert, Webern, and Brahms from the Brentano String Quartet (July 19); Haydn, Schulhoff, and Dvořák from the Isidore String Quartet (Aug 23); Beethoven, Haydn, and Janáček from the Takács Quartet (July 31); and performances by Edgar Meyer, Tessa Lark, Joshua Roman, and the American Brass Quintet, as detailed above.

Special events: My Fair Lady and “A Feast of Music”

Two special events help round out the summer season. Marking its sixth annual musical theater co-production with Theatre Aspen, AMFS presents a one-night-only concert performance of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, led by eminent Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn (July 15).

Now celebrating his 20th anniversary at the AMFS, Alan Fletcher is the honoree of this season’s benefit event, “A Feast of Music” (Aug 11). Over the past two decades, Fletcher has overseen the full redevelopment of Aspen’s 38-acre, $80 million campus; created the new opera training program under Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers; stewarded the institution through the COVID pandemic; and helped the AMFS reach new educational and artistic heights, all while continuing his own work as a prolific composer.

The Aspen spirit

Artists return to the AMFS in a spirit of deep affection, eager to give back. Former students like Conrad Tao, Jeremy Denk, and Alisa Weilerstein return both as headlining artists and to visit with their former teachers. They return to play unusual repertoire, experiment with their own new works, or, like alumna Renée Fleming, to join the faculty or to design and lead their own programs. They join other visiting artists who enjoy connecting with young musicians on the cusp of their careers, or who enjoyed an early career break at Aspen and now never miss a summer. Those showcased by AMFS before their careers took off include Inon Barnatan and Augustin Hadelich, both of whom continue to return more than a decade later, now with their families and pets. Aspen represents ideas and musicianship at their best, and in uniquely personal and authentic ways. There are no metaphorical barriers at the festival. After performing, artists often slip into the audience for their concert’s second half; they walk the streets casually, dropping bills in the instrument cases of busking students.

AMFS alumni returning to perform, direct, and teach this summer are James Conlon (July 13), Jeremy Denk (Aug 8), Renée Fleming, Zlatomir Fung (July 18), Sharon Isbin (Aug 13), Marie Jacquot (July 5; see debuts below), Robert McDuffie (Aug 20), Edgar Meyer (July 7), Gil Shaham (July 29 & Aug 3), Conrad Tao (July 2), Alisa Weilerstein (Aug 17), Joyce Yang (July 6), Isabel Leonard (July 8 & 12), Blake Pouliot (July 25), and the American Brass Quintet (July 23).

This year’s returning artists include Inon Barnatan (July 13), Yefim Bronfman (Aug 14 & 24), Jane Glover (Aug 6 & 8), Augustin Hadelich (Aug 10 & 12), Alexander Malofeev(Aug 16), Nicholas McGegan (July 11 & 17), and David Robertson (July 9).

As detailed above, those making AMSF debuts this summer are Stéphane Denève (Aug 10), Marie Jacquot (July 5), Patricia Kopatchinskaja (July 14), Tom Borrow (July 16), Fabien Gabel (July 20), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (July 30; Aug 2 & 4), Ryan Bancroft (Aug 1), Enrique Mazzola (Aug 19), and Davóne Tines (Aug 9).

About the Aspen Music Festival and School

Founded in 1949, the AMFS is the United States’ premier classical music center for performance and education, presenting more than 200 musical events during its eight-week summer season in Aspen. Under the leadership of President and CEO Alan Fletcher and Music Director Robert Spano, the organization draws top classical musicians from around the world for a rich combination of performances of orchestral works, opera, chamber music, recitals, contemporary music, works by new or previously unrecognized voices, popular genres, family events, and talks, competitions, and classes.

More than 450 music students from 40 U.S. states and 40 countries come to Aspen each summer to play in four orchestras, sing, conduct, compose, and study with more than 100 artist-faculty members who come from the orchestras of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and leading conservatories and music schools like The Juilliard School, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and The Colburn School. Students represent the field’s best talent; many have already begun their professional careers, and others are on the cusp.

The AMFS is deeply committed to community, and many events are free. Seating outside the Music Tent on the David Karetsky Music Lawn and in the Kaye Music Garden is always free. Regular livestreams are free anywhere in the world. The AMFS also runs popular music programs in-school and after-school at most schools in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley.

Renowned alumni include violinists Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Midori, Gil Shaham, and Robert McDuffie; pianists Joyce Yang, Orli Shaham, Conrad Tao, Yuja Wang, and Wu Han; conductors Marin Alsop, James Conlon, Leonard Slatkin, and Joshua Weilerstein; composers William Bolcom, Philip Glass, David Lang, Augusta Read Thomas, Bright Sheng, and Joan Tower; singers Isabel Leonard, Jamie Barton, Sasha Cooke, Danielle de Niese, Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, and Tamara Wilson; cellist Alisa Weilerstein; guitarist Sharon Isbin; bassist Edgar Meyer; and former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

Aspen Music Festival and School 2025

July 2
“A Mariachi Celebration”
Mariachi Sol de Mi Tierra / Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Folklórico

July 2
Recital: Conrad Tao, piano
DEBUSSY: Études, Book I
Conrad TAO: Improvisation for Lumatone
ARLEN, arr. TATUM, transc. Conrad TAO: “Over the Rainbow,” from The Wizard of Oz
Conrad TAO: Keyed In
R. SCHUMANN, arr. Conrad TAO: “Auf einer Burg” from Liederkreis
DEBUSSY: Études, Book II

July 3
Special Event: “The Music of John Williams and More”
Paul-Boris Kertsman, conductor
With Bing Wang, violin

July 4
Fourth of July concert
AMFS Band / Lawrence Isaacson, conductor; Jessica Lucas, conductor
J.S. SMITH, arr. SOUSA: “The Star-Spangled Banner”
SOUSA: “The Liberty Bell”
GERSHWIN, arr. BARKER: “Strike up the Band”
BERNSTEIN, arr. GRUNDMAN: Overture to Candide
DIEMER: Declamation for brass and percussion
Hayato HIROSE: Norman Rockwell Suite
COPLAND: Variations on a Shaker Melody from Appalachian Spring
ANDERSON: Bugler’s Holiday
LOWDEN: Armed Forces Salute
BERLIN, arr. James KESSLER: “God Bless America”
BERNSTEIN: Selections from West Side Story

July 5
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Marie Jacquot, conductor (debut)
Thomas ADÈS: The Origin of the Harp (U.S. premiere of AMFS co-commission)
BRUCH: Scottish Fantasy (with Stefan Jackiw, violin)
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 5, “Reformation”

July 6
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Robert Spano, conductor
WAGNER: Prelude to Act I from Parsifal
WAGNER: “Good Friday Spell” from Parsifal
Thomas ADÈS: Inferno Suite from Dante
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Joyce Yang, piano)

July 7
Chamber Music: Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Donald Crockett, conductor
Donald CROCKETT: to airy thinness beat
TELEMANN: Concerto No. 3 for 4 Violins
TELEMANN: Concerto No. 1 for 4 Violins
Reena ESMAIL: Saans
Viet CUONG: Wax and Wire
MOZART: Sonata for Two Pianos in D

July 7
Special Event: Edgar Meyer, double bass; Tessa Lark, violin; Joshua Roman, cello
J.S. BACH, arr. Edgar MEYER: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G, BWV 1027
Edgar MEYER: String Trio No. 1
Edgar MEYER: String Trio No. 4 (AMFS co-commission)
Edgar MEYER: Trio No. 3 for Violin, Cello, and Bass

July 8
Opera Benefit
with Renée Fleming & Patrick Summers, co-artistic directors; Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano

July 9
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
Carlos SIMON: “Motherboxx Connection,” from Tales: A Folklore Symphony
MOZART: Symphony No. 35, “Haffner”
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1

July 9
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / David Robertson, conductor
Recital: “An Evening of Pierre Boulez”
BOULEZ: …explosante-fixe…
BOULEZ: sur Incises

July 10
Recital: Steven Osborne, piano
R. SCHUMANN: Arabeske in C
DEBUSSY: “Deux Arabesques” from Children’s Corner
R. SCHUMANN: Kinderszenen
BAUER: From the New Hampshire Woods, Op.12, No.1, “White Birches”
Meredith MONK: Railroad (Travel Song)
RZEWSKI: “Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues” from North American Ballads
Steven OSBORNE: Improvisation
Keith JARRETT, arr. Steven OSBORNE: My Song
EVANS, arr. Steven OSBORNE: “I Loves You Porgy” from Porgy and Bess
PETERSON, arr. Steven OSBORNE: Indiana

July 11
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Nicholas McGegan, conductor; Paul-Boris Kertsman, conductor*
MOZART: Symphony No. 31, “Paris”
Jasmine BARNES: KINSFOLKNEM* (AMFS co-commission; with Demarre McGill, flute; Titus Underwood, oboe; Anthony McGill, clarinet; Andrew Brady, bassoon)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5

July 12
Chamber Music: Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Donald Crockett, conductor
Sarah GIBSON: Soak Stain
MARTINŮ: Duo No. 1, “Three Madrigals”
DVOŘÁK: Piano Trio in F minor

July 12
Recital: Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano

July 13
Aspen Festival Orchestra / James Conlon, conductor
BERNSTEIN: Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety” (with Inon Barnatan, piano)
SHOSTAKOVICH, arr. J. CONLON: Suite from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

July 14
Recital: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin (debut), and Sol Gabetta, cello
LECLAIR: Tambourin in C
Jörg WIDMANN: Selections from 24 Duos for Violin and Cello, Vol. 2
J.S. BACH: Prelude and Fugue in G
Francisco COLL: Rizoma
RAVEL: Sonata for Violin and Cello
J. S. BACH: 15 Inventions
Patricia KOPATCHINSKAJA: Ghiribizzi
LIGETI: Hommage à Hilding Rosenberg
XENAKIS: Dhipli Zyia for Violin and Cello
C.P.E. BACH: Presto for Keyboard in C minor, No. 3
KODÁLY: Duo for Violin and Cello

July 15
Theatre Aspen collaboration / Andy Einhorn, conductor
LERNER & LOEWE: My Fair Lady in concert

July 16
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra / Robert Spano, music director
DEBUSSY: “Nuages” and “Fetes” from Nocturnes
TBA: Low Strings Competition Winner
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade

July 16
Recital: Tom Borrow, piano (debut)
J.S. BACH, arr. RACHMANINOFF: from Partita No. 3 for Solo Violin in E, BWV 1006
J.S. BACH, arr. FEINBERG: Largo from Trio Sonata No. 5 in C, BWV 529
SCHUBERT, arr. LISZT: “Ständchen”
SCHUBERT, arr. LISZT: “Auf dem Wasser zu singen”
R. SCHUMANN, arr. LISZT: Frühlingsnacht
R. SCHUMANN, arr. LISZT: Widmung
J.S. BACH, arr. BUSONI: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin in D minor, BWV 1004
R. SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C, Op. 17

July 17
“A Baroque Evening”
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
RAMEAU: Selections from Castor et Pollux
J.S. BACH: Violin Concerto TBD
HANDEL: Water Music, Suite No. 1 in F (with Yvette Kraft, violin)

July 18
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Robert Spano, conductor
PURCELL, arr. S. STUCKY: Funeral Music for Queen Mary
ELGAR: Cello Concerto (with Zlatomir Fung, cello)
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Symphony No. 5

July 19
Family Concert
Paul-Boris Kertsman, conductor
SAINT-SAËNS: The Carnival of the Animals

July 19
Chamber Music: Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Lotta WENNÄKOSKI: Hele
BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata in A
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor

July 19
Recital: Brentano String Quartet
SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 13, “Rosamunde”
WEBERN: Five Pieces for Orchestra
BRAHMS: String Quartet No. 3

July 20
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Fabien Gabel, conductor (debut)
R. STRAUSS: Death and Transfiguration
RAVEL: Shéhérazade (with Ana María Martínez, soprano)
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Seong-Jin Cho, piano)
RAVEL: Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé

July 21, 23, & 26
Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS / Patrick Summers, conductor
Director: Renée Fleming (directorial debut)
MOZART: Così fan tutte (fully staged)

July 22
Recital: Seong-Jin Cho, piano
RAVEL: complete works for piano

July 23
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
TBA: Violin Competition Winner
BARTÓK: Concerto for Orchestra

July 23
Recital: American Brass Quintet
MARENZIO, arr. Raymond MASE: Scendi dal paradiso
MAZZI, arr. Raymond MASE: Canzon Prima a 5
G. GABRIELI, arr. Raymond MASE: Sacro tempio d’honor
CANGIASI, arr. Raymond MASE: Canzon “La Girometta”
GASTOLDI, arr. Raymond MASE: Balletti
David SNOW: Dance Movements
Tyshawn SOREY: new work (AMFS co-commission)
Philip LASSER: Common Heroes, Uncommon Land
Joan TOWER: Copperwave

July 24
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Tyshawn SOREY: For George Lewis

July 24
Recital: Wind Orchestra / Joaquín Valdenpeñas, conductor
FRANÇAIX: 9 pièces caractéristiques
STRAVINSKY: Octet
DVOŘÁK: Serenade for Wind Instruments in D minor

July 25
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Matthias Pintscher, conductor
RAVEL: Suite from Mother Goose
Matthias PINTSCHER: Assonanza for Violin and Orchestra (with Blake Pouliot, violin)
RAVEL: Tzigane
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 3

July 26
Chamber Music: Blake Pouliot violin; Choong-Jin Chang, Victoria Chiang, Masao Kawasaki, & Zhenwei Shi, viola; Anton Nel & Cameron Stowe, piano; Jonathan Haas, percussion / Paul-Boris Kertsman, conductor
HARRISON: Concerto for Violin and Percussion
BOWEN: Fantasia for four violas
Michael KIMBER: Violas on Fire!
SCHUBERT: Fantasie in F minor

July 26
Recital: Pekka Kuusisto, violin; Nico Muhly, piano
J.S. BACH: Largo from Sonata in C, BWV 1005
TIPPETT: “A Lament. Andante espressivo” from Divertimento on “Sellinger’s Round”
Ellen REID: Desiderium for solo violin
Nico MUHLY: Drones & Violin
Iro HAARLA, arr. Pekka KUUSISTO: Barcarole for solo violin
Caroline SHAW: Entr’acte’
Philip GLASS: Mad Rush
Nico MUHLY: Shrink

July 27
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Xian Zhang, conductor
Jessie MONTGOMERY: Hymn for Everyone
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 6
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Tony Siqi Yun, piano)

July 28
Recital: Mikhail Voskresensky, piano
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G
MOZART: Fantasia in C minor
GRIEG: Piano Sonata in E minor
TCHAIKOVSKY: Excerpts from Les saisons
CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor

July 29
Gil Shaham & Adele Anthony, violins
Arvo PÄRT: Fratres for violin, string orchestra, and percussion
J.S. BACH: Concerto for Two Violins in D minor
Avner DORMAN: Concerto for Two Violins and Strings (AMFS co-commission)
KREISLER: Violin Concerto in C “In the Style of Vivaldi”
Julian MILONE: En Coulisses for 12 violins
VIVALDI: Concerto for Four Violins in B minor

July 30
Recital: Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano (debut)
BOULEZ: 12 Notations
DEBUSSY: 4 Études
BOULEZ: Piano Sonata No. 1
SCHOENBERG: Fünf Klavierstücke
BOULEZ: Incises
MESSIAEN: Quatre études de rythme

July 31
Recital: Takács Quartet
HAYDN: String Quartet No. 3 in G minor, “The Rider”
JANÁČEK: String Quartet No. 1, “The Kreutzer Sonata”
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in C, “Razumovsky”

Aug 1
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Ryan Bancroft, conductor (debut)
Gabriella SMITH: Tumblebird Contrails
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G (with Lise de la Salle piano)
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 4 “The Inextinguishable”

Aug 2
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
With Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
MESSIAEN: Couleurs de la Cité céleste
Jeremiah SIOCHI: Pelagic Poem for harp and vibraphone
RAVEL: Sonata for Violin and Cello
SHOSTAKOVICH: Viola Sonata

Aug 2
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Robert Spano, conductor
Christopher THEOFANIDIS: Siddhartha, She (world premiere of AMFS co-commission; staged)
Libretto by Melissa Studdard
(With Siddhartha: Caitlin Lynch, soprano; Govinda: Maya Kherani, soprano; Kamala: Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Dharuna: Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano; Gotama: Key’Mon Murrah, countertenor; Abinaswar: Nmon Ford, baritone; Kantorei choir / Joel Rinsema, chorus director)

Aug 3
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra / Robert Spano, music director
Missy MAZZOLI: These Worlds in Us
BRUCH: Violin Concerto No. 1 (with Gil Shaham, violin)
BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique

Aug 4
Recital: Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
MESSIAEN: Catalogue d’oiseaux

Aug 4
Percussion Ensemble / Jonathan Haas, director
Philip GLASS, arr. Jonathan HAAS: “Train to São Paulo” from Powaqqatsi
Javier DIAZ: Alchemy
Stewart COPELAND: “The Bells”
Tan DUN: Elegy: Snow in June
Phil COLLINS, arr. Javier DIAZ: “In the Air Tonight”

Aug 5
Tent recital: Lang Lang, piano
FAURÉ: Pavane in F-sharp minor
R. SCHUMANN: Kreisleriana
CHOPIN: Mazurka in F minor, Op. 7, No. 3
CHOPIN: from Mazurkas, Op. 17
CHOPIN: Mazurka in C, Op. 24, No. 2
CHOPIN: Mazurka in B-flat minor, Op. 24, No. 4
CHOPIN: from Mazurkas, Op. 30
CHOPIN: from Mazurkas, Op. 33
CHOPIN: Mazurka in F-sharp minor, Op. 59, No. 3
CHOPIN: Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44

Aug 6
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
Magnus LINDBERG: Arena
TBA: Woodwind Competition Winner
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7

Aug 6
Aspen Festival Ensemble; Music of the Baroque chorus / Jane Glover, conductor
With AOTVA soloists
HANDEL: Messiah

Aug 7
Recital: winner of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

Aug 8
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Jane Glover, conductor
Anna CLYNE: ATLAS, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (AMFS co-commission; with Jeremy Denk, piano)
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 9, “The Great”

Aug 9
Chamber Music: Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Stephen HARTKE: Ship of State (with Xak Bjerken, piano)
FAURÉ: Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor
R. SCHUMANN: Piano Quartet in E-flat

Aug 9
Recital: Davóne Tines, bass-baritone (debut); John Bitoy, piano
Caroline SHAW: Kyrie
J.S. BACH: “Wie jammern mich doch die verkehrten Herzen,” from Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust
Caroline SHAW: Agnus Dei
Tyshawn SOREY: “Were You There” from Songs for Death
BONDS: “To a Brown Girl, Dead”
Tyshawn SOREY: “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” from Songs for Death
Caroline SHAW: Credo
J.S. BACH: “Mache dich, mein Herze, rein” from St. Matthew Passion
Caroline SHAW: Gloria
TRAD., arr. HOGAN: “Give Me Jesus”
Caroline SHAW: Sanctus
EASTMAN: Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc
Igee DIEUDONNÉ, arr. Davóne TINES: VIGIL

Aug 10
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Stéphane Denève, conductor (debut)
Jennifer HIGDON: blue cathedral
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto (with Augustin Hadelich, violin)
R. STRAUSS: An Alpine Symphony

Aug 11
Season Benefit: “A Feast of Music”
Honoree: President and CEO Alan Fletcher

Aug 12
Recital: Augustin Hadelich, violin; Orion Weiss, piano
IVES: Violin Sonata No. 4, Op. 63, (“Children’s Day at the Camp Meeting”)
Stephen HARTKE: Netsuke
Daniel Bernard ROUMAIN: Filter
BARBER: Excursion in G-flat
John ADAMS: Road Movies
COPLAND: Nocturne
COPLAND: Ukulele Serenade
COPLAND: “Hoe Down” from Rodeo
BEACH: Romance, Op. 23

Aug 12
Wind Orchestra / Joaquín Valdepeñas, conductor
GOUNOD: Petite symphonie
R. STRAUSS: Sonatina No. 1 in F, “Aus der Werkstatt eines Invaliden”

Aug 13
Aspen Conducting Academy / Robert Spano, music director
Max VINETZ (2024 Druckman Prize winner): world premiere of AMFS co-commission
TBA: Brass Concerto Competition Winner
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4

Aug 13
Recital: Sharon Isbin, guitar
Karen LEFRAK: Habanera Nights
Karen LEFRAK: Urban Tango
Karen LEFRAK: Miami Concerto for Guitar & Chamber Orchestra (with chamber ensemble TBA / Elizabeth Schulze, conductor)

Aug 14
Recital: Yefim Bronfman, piano

Aug 15
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Vasily Petrenko, conductor
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1
SAINT-SAENS: Cello Concerto No. 1 (with Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello)
DEBUSSY: Danse sacrée et danse profane (with winner of Harp Competition, TBA)
STRAVINSKY: Symphony in C

Aug 16
Chamber Music: Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Samuel ADAMS: First Work (world premiere of AMFS co-commission)
MOZART: Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor
BRAHMS: Cello Sonata No. 2 in F

Aug 16
Recital: Alexander Malofeev, piano
SCHUBERT: Drei Klavierstücke, D. 946
KABALEVSKY: Piano Sonata No. 3
SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Quintet, Op. 57 (with string quartet TBA)

Aug 17
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Ludovic Morlot, conductor
RAVEL: Une barque sur l’océan
LUTOSŁAWSKI: Cello Concerto (with Alisa Weilerstein, cello)
DEBUSSY: Jeux
RAVEL: Boléro (with student soloists)

Aug 18
Recital: Scott Dunn, piano
Piano transcriptions of film scores from Hollywood’s “Golden Age”

Aug 19
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Enrique Mazzola, conductor (debut)
PUCCINI: La bohème (semi-staged)
With Matthew Polenzani, tenor; Katherine Carter, director

Aug 20
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
TBA: Piano Competition Winner
MAHLER: Symphony No. 4 (with soprano soloist from AOTVA)

Aug 20
Recital: Robert McDuffie, violin; Derek Wang, piano; Mike Mills, bass guitar
TARTINI, ed. KREISLER: Violin Sonata in G minor, “Devil’s Trill”
TARTINI: Violin Sonata in G minor, “Devil’s Trill” In the Baroque style
Mike MILLS: Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra (Written by R.E.M.’s Mike Mills for Robert McDuffie)

Aug 21
Recital: Aubree Oliverson, violin; Yanfeng (Tony) Bai, piano
HANDEL: Violin Sonata in D
STRAVINSKY: Divertimento
GARDEL, arr. John WILLIAMS: Tango (Por una cabeza)
J.S. BACH, arr. BUSONI: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin in D minor, BWV 1004
KREISLER: Praeludium and Allegro
MESSIAEN: Thème et variations
VIARDOT: “Berceuse” from Six Morceaux
SAINT-SAËNS: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28

Aug 22
Tent recital:
Patti LuPone in Concert: “A Life in Notes”

Aug 23
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Christopher STARK: new work (world premiere of AMSF co-commission)
MORLOCK: Vespertine
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Five Negro Melodies for Piano Trio, Op. 59, No. 1
BRAHMS: Piano Trio No. 2 in C

Aug 23
Recital: Isidore String Quartet
HAYDN: String Quartet in B-flat, “Sunrise”
SCHULHOFF: Five Pieces for String Quartet
DVOŘÁK: String Quartet No. 13

Aug 24
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Robert Spano, conductor; Paul-Boris Kertsman, conductor*
WAGNER: Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg*
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” (with Yefim Bronfman, piano)
HOLST: The Planets

[Updated Feb 19, 2025. All programs subject to change.]