Aspen Music Festival & School’s 2026 season opens July 1
Aspen Music Festival and School (photo: Diego Redel)
Highlights include opening concert with Renée Fleming & Thomas Hampson; world premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s First Symphony; Colorado premieres of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Hildegard, David Lang’s the wealth of nations, & Jake Heggie’s Earth 2.0; focus on composer-in-residence Caroline Shaw; fully staged A Midsummer Night’s Dream starring Anthony Roth Costanzo; & guest appearances by Lawrence Brownlee, Joyce DiDonato, Cristian Măcelaru, Yuja Wang, Alisa Weilerstein, & many more
(June 2026) — July 1 marks the start of the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS)’s 2026 summer season. Titled “For All,” in a nod to the closing words of the Pledge of Allegiance, the eight-week festival commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence (July 1–Aug 23). Highpoints of the opening weekend include the Colorado premiere of Earth 2.0, the celebrated environmental-themed monodrama co-commissioned by AMFS from Jake Heggie, Musical America’s Composer of the Year 2025 (July 3), and an all-American program from Robert Spano and the Aspen Festival Orchestra, featuring selections from John Adams’s opera Nixon in China, with star vocalists Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson (July 5).
Two Colorado premieres, five top pianists, & more over key eight-day period (July 25–Aug 1)
A comparably intensive eight-day period follows three weeks later. Vocal highlights include an “Opera Encounters” showcase, hosted by leading composer Nico Muhly and Grammy-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (July 25), and the Colorado premieres of two important AMFS co-commissions: AMFS alumna Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “gorgeously mesmerizing” (The New York Times) first opera, Hildegard (July 31), and the wealth of nations, a new Adam Smith-inspired oratorio by Pulitzer Prize laureate David Lang, featuring Fleur Barron and Davóne Tines with Choral Ensemble-in-Residence Kantorei (Aug 1). Pulitzer Prize-winning Principal Guest Composer Caroline Shaw presides over an open-air performance of her site-specific experiential installation piece, Brush, led by Grammy-winning conductor and AMFS alumnus Teddy Abrams (July 30).
Five of today’s preeminent pianists also feature prominently during this period. Avery Fisher Prize winner Emanuel Ax graces an all-Mozart program with Robert Spano and the Aspen Festival Ensemble (July 25); Grammy winner Daniil Trifonov joins Finnish maestro Dima Slobodeniouk and the Aspen Festival Orchestra for Glazunov’s Second Piano Concerto (July 26); Diapason d’Or winner Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs Debussy’s complete Preludes (July 27); Rachmaninoff Competition gold medalist Angel Stanislav Wang makes his AMFS debut with a solo program of Granados, Liszt, Debussy, and Stravinsky (July 28); and global sensation and AMFS alumna Yuja Wang undertakes a one-night-only program of Latin-Caribbean jazz with the People of Earth collective (July 29) before reuniting with Abrams, with whom she won a 2024 Grammy Award, for Barber’s Piano Concerto with the Aspen Chamber Symphony (Aug 1).
New music highlights
The 2026 season shines a light on new American orchestral music with the launch of the First Symphonies Project. Championed by AMFS Music Director Robert Spano, this multi-year initiative commissions first symphonies from both emerging and established U.S. composers, starting with MacArthur fellow Matthew Aucoin. An AMFS co-commission, Aucoin’s First Symphony receives its world premiere performance from the Aspen Festival Orchestra and three-time Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato under the leadership of AMFS alumnus Cristian Măcelaru, music director of both the Orchestre National de France and the Cincinnati Symphony (July 19).
Aspen presents the Colorado premieres of two more AMFS co-commissions: Grammy winner Jessie Montgomery’s Cello Concerto, These Righteous Paths, with its dedicatee, South African cellist Abel Selaocoe, as soloist (Aug 9) and the Concerto for Violin and Piano by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, performed by the brother-and-sister team of Gil and Orli Shaham (Aug 14). There will also be a performance of Joan Tower’s saxophone concerto, Love Returns, another AMFS co-commission, featuring Steven Banks, “the saxophone’s best friend” (The Washington Post), under Leonard Slatkin’s leadership (Aug 7).
In addition to Brush (see above), Principal Guest Composer Caroline Shaw will be on hand for performances of her kaleidoscopic orchestral work The Observatory by Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra (July 22) and of her Entr’acte for strings, led by Assistant Conductor Ken Yanagisawa, winner of the 2025 Aspen Conducting Prize (July 25). Other new music highlights include world premieres of new works by Guggenheim Fellow Donald Crockett (July 11), Rome Prize winner Jesse Benjamin Jones (Aug 22), and Celka Ojakangas, winner of the 2025 AMFS Jacob Druckman Prize (July 15).
Orchestral highlights
The Aspen Festival Orchestra (AFO) performs eight programs this summer. After launching the orchestral season with an all-American opening night (July 5; see above), Robert Spano joins Jean-Yves Thibaudet for Gershwin’s F-major Piano Concerto (Aug 2), before drawing the summer to a close with a season finale juxtaposing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with a homegrown choral masterpiece: Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (Aug 23).
Other AFO highlights include Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, led by Rafael Payare, music director of Canada’s Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and California’s San Diego Symphony (July 12); Mahler’s First Symphony, conducted by Stéphane Denève, music director of the St. Louis Symphony and artistic director of the New World Symphony (Aug 9); and Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, led by Delyana Lazarova, principal guest conductor of both the Utah Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, in her AMFS debut (Aug 16). There will also be multiple performances by the Aspen Chamber Symphony, led by Nicholas McGegan (July 10), Robert Spano (July 17), James Conlon (July 24), and David Robertson (Aug 14).
Opera & musical theater
Under the co-artistic direction of Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers, the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS (AOTVA) program presents two operas besides Hildegard (see above) this summer. Dame Jane Glover conducts two performances of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Aspen’s historic Wheeler Opera House, where countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo – “a bona-fide star” (The New Yorker) – makes his AMFS debut as Oberon in a fully staged production by Simon Godwin, artistic director of Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company and former associate director of London’s National Theatre (July 20 & 22).
To conclude the opera season, Patrick Summers conducts Mozart’s The Magic Flute in the Klein Music Tent, where Kantorei will anchor a semi-staged production directed by Paula Suozzi, executive stage director of the Metropolitan Opera (Aug 21). This summer’s AOTVA students will participate in both A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Magic Flute, as well as in weekly opera scene classes and song recitals, events in private homes, and composer-artist collaborations.
In a salute to America’s homegrown musical-dramatic art form, AMFS also presents two concert performances of Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls. Led by eminent Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn, the presentation marks the festival’s seventh annual musical theater co-production with Theatre Aspen (July 13 & 14).
Vocal highlights
Other vocal highlights include a festive Opera Benefit featuring Grammy winner Anthony Roth Costanzo (July 7), and recitals by four more of the nation’s foremost singers. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is “a transformative presence in the arts” (Gramophone), returns for a special evening of Haydn, Rossini, Mahler, Debussy, and Lieberson with Patrick Summers at the keyboard (July 15). Before his concert appearance with Spano and the AFO, baritone Thomas Hampson – “without question one of the world’s greatest opera singers” (Good Morning America) – makes his AMFS debut with a program of American song in collaboration with AOTVA’s Head of Music, pianist Myra Huang (July 2). Finally, also in collaboration with Huang, soprano Erin Morley makes her AMFS debut alongside tenor Lawrence Brownlee, singing some of the favorite duets and arias heard on Golden Age, their collaborative Pentatone release, which was named among the “Best Classical Albums of 2025” by The New York Times (Aug 4).
Recital highlights
As ever, the AMFS summer features an abundance of solo and chamber recitals. In addition to those detailed above, this year’s piano offerings include a curated “journey through time and space” from Inon Barnatan, “one of the most admired pianists of his generation” (The New York Times) (July 11); Taneyev, Prokofiev, Myaskovsky, and Robert Schumann from Daniil Trifonov (July 22); Bach and Philip Glass from Simone Dinnerstein, “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity” (The Washington Post) (Aug 15); Gershwin arrangements and more from Canadian virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin (Aug 20); and Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and more from Anton Nel, who is “truly a musician’s musician” (New York Concert Review) (Aug 22).
On violin, ECHO Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year Leonidas Kavakos joins pianist Enrico Pace for sonatas by Beethoven, Mozart, and Franck (July 8); Grammy winner Augustin Hadelich performs a solo program of Telemann, Tchaikovsky, Ysaÿe, Paganini, and Perkinson (July 16); Menuhin Competition winner María Dueñas makes her AMFS debut alongside pianist Eric Lu in sonatas by Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms (July 23); Italy’s National Arts Award laureate Giovanni Andrea Zanon duets with pianist Tony Siqi Yun (Aug 13); and festival favorite Gil Shaham performs Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas in three recitals with pianist Akira Eguchi (Aug 6, 8, & 11).
Other recital highlights include a duo program of Brahms and Shostakovich from Alisa Weilerstein and Inon Barnatan (July 9); original compositions and arrangements from Opus Klassiek Award-winning cellist and composer Abel Selaocoe (Aug 5); music for double bass and piano from AMFS artist-faculty and seven-time Grammy winner Edgar Meyer and pianist Amy Yang (Aug 18); recent music for classical guitar from two-time Grammy winner Sharon Isbin (Aug 19); and chamber programs from both the Danish String Quartet (Aug 3) and Pacifica Quartet (Aug 12).
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. As was announced on June 10, Meghan Martineau Umber has been named as the organization’s Munroe President and CEO, effective from October 1, 2026. Marking the seventh executive leader in AMFS’s 77-year history and the first woman in that role to date, she will succeed President and CEO Alan Fletcher, who will transition to the position of President Emeritus after 21 years of transformational leadership.
AMFS 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 Condoleezza Rice.
Aspen Music Festival and School 2026
July 1
“A Mariachi Celebration: Fiesta”
Mariachi ensemble with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Folklórico!
July 1
Recital: Joyce Yang, piano
BRAHMS: Two Songs
R. SCHUMANN: Kreisleriana
BRAHMS: Piano Trio No. 1
July 2
Recital: Thomas Hampson, baritone; Myra Huang, piano
HOPKINSON: My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free
FOSTER: Ah, May the red rose live alway
COPLAND: “The Dodger” from Old American Songs, Set 1
IVES: “The Circus Band” from Five Street Songs
IVES: “Tom Sails Away” from Three Songs of the War
NAGINSKI: Look Down, Fair Moon
FARWELL: “Song of the Deathless Voice” from Three Indian Songs
Michael DAUGHERTY: “Letter to Mrs. Bixby” from Letters from Lincoln
Jennifer HIGDON: “The Death of Lincoln” from Civil Words
BARBER: Three Songs
BOWLES: Blue Mountain Ballads
BURLEIGH: Ethiopia Saluting the Colors
BONDS: The Negro Speaks of Rivers
BERGER: “Lonely People” from Four Songs
BERNSTEIN: “To what you said” from Songfest
July 3
Aspen Chamber Symphony / James Gaffigan, conductor
Jake HEGGIE: Earth 2.0 (AMFS co-commission; with Key’mon W. Murrah, countertenor; dancers from Urban Bush Women)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7
July 4
Fourth of July concert
Aspen Festival Ensemble / Lawrence Isaacson, conductor; Jessica Lucas, conductor
J. S. SMITH / DAMROSCH: The Star-Spangled Banner
John WILLIAMS: Liberty Fanfare
Adrienne ALBERT: Courage
GOULD: American Salute
COPLAND: Lincoln Portrait
SOUSA: Semper Fidelis March
GOULD: “Pavane” from Symphonette No. 2
LOWDEN: Armed Forces Salute
WARD / DRAGON: America the Beautiful
WILLSON / Ted RICKETTS: “76 Trombones” from The Music Man
July 5
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Robert Spano, conductor
IVES (arr. SCHUMAN): Variations on “America”
John ADAMS: Selections from Nixon in China (with Renée Fleming, soprano; Thomas Hampson, baritone; Kantorei / Joel Rinsema, chorus director)
COPLAND: Symphony No. 3
July 7
2026 Opera Benefit
(with Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor; hosts: Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers)
July 8
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
WAGNER: Prelude and Liebestod, from Tristan und Isolde
RESPIGHI: Fountains of Rome
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4
July 8
Recital: Leonidas Kavakos, violin; Enrico Pace, piano
BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No. 4
STRAVINSKY: Divertimento
MOZART: Violin Sonata No. 21
FRANCK: Violin Sonata in A
July 9
Recital: Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Inon Barnatan, piano
SHOSTAKOVICH (arr. L. AUERBACH): selections from 24 Preludes
BRAHMS (arr. A. WEILERSTEIN & I. BARNATAN): Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1, “Regensonate”
BRAHMS: Selected songs
SHOSTAKOVICH (arr. D. SHAFRAN): Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147
July 10
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Nicholas McGegan, conductor
BEETHOVEN: Overture to King Stephen
MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 4 (with Leonidas Kavakos, violin)
ELGAR: Introduction and Allegro
HANDEL: Music for the Royal Fireworks
July 11
Opera Encounters
(Hosts: Patrick Summers and Myra Huang)
July 11
Recital: Inon Barnatan, piano
“The Time Traveler’s Suite”
J. S. BACH: Allegro from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
HANDEL: Larghetto from Trio Sonata in G
RAMEAU: “La poule” from 6 concerts transcrits en sextuor
RAMEAU: “Entrée de Polymnie” from Les Boréades
COUPERIN / Thomas ADÈS: “Les baricades mistérieuses” from Second livre de pièces de clavecin 6e ordre
RAVEL: “Rigaudon” from Le tombeau de Couperin
STRAVINSKY: “Serenata” from Suite Italienne
Charles WUORINEN: from Bearbeitungen Uber Das Glogauer Liederbuch
Guillaume CONNESSON: Techno-Parade
J. S. BACH: Allegro assai from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
J. S. BACH: Italian Concerto
Olli MUSTONEN: Concerto for 3 Violins
July 11
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Donald CROCKETT: Chamber Concerto (world premiere of AMFS commission)
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio No. 2
RESPIGHI, arr. M. Sparks: Violin Sonata in B minor
July 12
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Rafael Payare, conductor
STILL: Darker America
DVOŘÁK: Cello Concerto (with Alisa Weilerstein, cello)
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 5
July 13 & 14
Aspen Festival Ensemble / Andy Einhorn, conductor
LOESSER: Guys and Dolls
July 15
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
Celka OJAKANGAS: new work (world premiere of AMFS commission)
PROKOFIEV: Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Violin Concerto Competition winner TBA)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5
July 15
Recital: Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano; Patrick Summers, piano
DEBUSSY: Chansons de Bilitis
HAYDN: from Arianna a Naxos
ROSSINI: “Di tanti palpiti” from Tancredi
LIEBERSON: from Neruda Songs
MAHLER: Urlicht from Symphony No. 2, movement IV
ROSSINI: “Cruda sorte!” from L’italiana in Algeri
July 16
Recital: Augustin Hadelich, violin
TELEMANN: Fantasie No. 8 for Violin
PERKINSON: Louisiana Blues Strut: A Cakewalk
PERKINSON: Blue/s Forms
YSAŸE: Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin in G
PAGANINI: selections from 24 Caprices
TCHAIKOVSKY: Souvenir de Florence
July 16
Wind Orchestra / Elaine Douvas, conductor
BRAHMS, arr. POPKIN: Variations on a Theme by Haydn
IBERT: Concerto for Cello and Winds (with Darrett Adkins, cello)
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Scherzo alla Marcia, from Symphony No. 8
TCHEREPNIN: Sonatine in C
July 17
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Robert Spano, conductor
BERNSTEIN: Three Meditations from MASS (with Darrett Adkins, cello)
BERNSTEIN: Symphony No. 1, “Jeremiah” (with Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano)
Alan FLETCHER: An American Song
BERNSTEIN: Serenade after Plato’s “Symposium” (with Robert McDuffie, violin)
July 18
Opera Encounters
(Host: by Joyce DiDonato)
July 18
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Gity RAZAZ: Metamorphosis of Narcissus
BARTÓK: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
DVOŘÁK: String Quintet in E-flat
July 18
Aspen Festival Ensemble / Ken Yanagisawa, conductor
Favorite Film Scores (with William Yeh, violin)
DUKAS: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Michael GIACCHINO: “Married Life” from Up
Joe HISAISHI: “My Neighbor Totoro” from My Neighbor Totoro
Randy NEWMAN: Toy Story Suite
Michael GIACCHINO: “The Incredits” from The Incredibles
E. BERNSTEIN: The Magnificent Seven Main Title
John WILLIAMS: “Adventures on Earth” from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Howard SHORE: “Concerning Hobbits” from Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
WAXMAN: Carmen Fantasie
KORNGOLD: King’s Row Suite
John WILLIAMS: Main Title from Star Wars Suite
July 19
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
DVOŘÁK: Carnival Overture
Matthew AUCOIN: Symphony No. 1 (world premiere of AMFS co-commission; with Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano)
BARBER: Violin Concerto (with Augustin Hadelich, violin)
ENESCU: Romanian Rhapsody in A
July 20 & 22
Aspen Festival Ensemble; Aspen Opera Theater, & VocalARTS / Jane Glover, conductor
BRITTEN: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (with Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor; Colorado Children’s Chorale / Emily Crile, chorus director)
Simon Godwin, director
July 22
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra / Conducting Competition Winner TBA
Caroline SHAW: The Observatory (with Low Strings Competition Winner TBA)
Nico MUHLY: Mixed Messages
R. SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 2
July 22
Recital: Daniil Trifonov, piano
TANEYEV: Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp minor
PROKOFIEV: Mimoletnosti (Visions fugitives)
MYASKOVSKY: Sonata No. 2 in F-sharp minor
R. SCHUMANN: Piano Sonata No. 1
July 23
Recital: María Dueñas, violin; Eric Lu, piano
SCHUBERT: Duo Sonata in A
MOZART: Violin Sonata No. 21
BRAHMS: Violin Sonata No. 3
July 24
Aspen Chamber Symphony / James Conlon, conductor
MOZART: Clarinet Concerto (with Michael Rusinek, clarinet)
MOZART: Symphony No. 29
MOZART: Adagio in E (with William Yeh, violin)
MOZART: Symphony No. 38, “Prague”
July 25
Opera Encounters
(Hosts: Nico Muhly and Anthony Roth Costanzo)
July 25
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Steven MACKEY: Deal (chamber version)
George MEYER: New work (world premiere of AMFS commission)
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio No. 1
July 25
Aspen Festival Ensemble / Robert Spano, conductor; Ken Yanagisawa, conductor
MOZART: Overture to La clemenza di Tito
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 17 (with Emanuel Ax, piano)
Caroline SHAW: Entr’acte
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 25 (with Emanuel Ax, piano)
July 26
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
COPLAND: Quiet City
GLAZUNOV: Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Daniil Trifonov, piano)
VARÈSE: Amériques
RAVEL: La valse
July 27
Recital: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
DEBUSSY: Preludes, Books I & 2
July 28
Recital: Angel Stanislav Wang, piano
GRANADOS: “Quejas o la Maja y el Ruiseñor” (The Maiden and the Nightingale), from Goyescas
LISZT: Piano Sonata in B minor
DEBUSSY: Estampes
STRAVINSKY: Three Movements from Petrushka
July 29
Yuja Wang, piano; People of Earth
Latin jazz
July 30
Aspen Festival Ensemble / Teddy Abrams, conductor
Caroline SHAW: Brush
July 30
Wind Orchestra / Joaquín Valdepeñas, conductor
VARÈSE: Octandre
MOZART: Wind Serenade in B-flat, “Gran Partita”
July 31
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Sarah Kirkland SNIDER: Hildegard (AMFS co-commission)
Aug 1
Opera Encounters
Host: Jane Glover
Aug 1
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Teddy Abrams, conductor
BARBER: Piano Concerto (with Yuja Wang, piano)
David LANG: the wealth of nations (AMFS co-commission; with Fleur Barron, mezzo-soprano; Davóne Tines, bass-baritone; Kantorei / Joel Rinsema, Artistic Director)
Aug 2
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
BARBER: Souvenirs
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Five Negro Melodies for Piano Trio
DVOŘÁK: Piano Trio, B. 166, “Dumky”
Aug 2
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Robert Spano, conductor
SCHOENBERG: Variations for Orchestra
STRAVINSKY: Symphony in Three Movements
GERSHWIN: Piano Concerto in F (with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano)
Aug 3
Recital: Danish String Quartet
STRAVINSKY (arr. DANISH STRING QUARTET): Suite Italienne
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in F, Op. 135
DANISH STRING QUARTET: original compositions and arrangements
Aug 4
Recital: Erin Morley, soprano; Lawrence Brownlee, tenor; Myra Huang, piano
ROSSINI: “Ah, quel respect … Ce téméraire qui croit nous plaire,” from Le Comte Ory
VERDI: “Gualtier Maldè! … Caro nome,” from Rigoletto
BIZET: “À cette voix quel trouble … Je crois entendre encore,” from Les pêcheurs de perles
DELIBES: “D’où viens-tu? … C’est le dieu de la jeunesse,” from Lakmé
BIZET: “Ils verront si je mens!” from La jolie fille de Perth
BELLINI: “Nel furor delle tempeste … Per te di vane lagrime,”from Il pirata
DELIBES: “Où va la jeune Indoue,” from Lakmé
DONIZETTI: “Quoi? Vous m’aimez? … De cet aveu si tendre,” from La fille du régiment
DONIZETTI: “Tornami a dir che m’ami” from Don Pasquale
Aug 5
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
DEBUSSY: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (with Woodwind Competition Winner TBA)
STRAVINSKY, arr. J. MCPHEE: The Rite of Spring
Aug 5
Recital: Abel Selaocoe, cello
TRADITIONAL / Abel SELAOCOE: Tsohle Tsohle
Giovanni SOLLIMA / Abel SELAOCOE: Lamentatio
Abel SELAOCOE: Nagula
Ben NOBUTO: Living
Abel SELAOCOE: Hlokomela
DALL’ABACO: from 11 Caprices for Solo Cello
Abel SELAOCOE: Tshepo
Abel SELAOCOE: Ka bohaleng
Aug 6
Recital: Gil Shaham, violin; Akira Eguchi, piano
BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonatas (complete, part I)
Aug 7
Aspen Chamber Symphony / Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Leonard SLATKIN: Schubertiade: An Orchestral Fantasy
Joan TOWER: Love Returns (AMFS co-commission; with Steven Banks, saxophone)
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”
Aug 8
Opera Encounters
(Host: Patrick Summers)
Aug 8
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
STRAVINSKY, arr. A. ARAKELYAN / S. WYRCZYNSKI: The Rite of Spring
CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO: Sonata for Violin and Cello
Aug 8
Recital: Gil Shaham, violin; Akira Eguchi, piano
BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonatas (complete, part II)
Aug 9
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Stéphane Denève, conductor
Carlos SIMON: Fate Now Conquers
Jessie MONTGOMERY: These Righteous Paths (AMFS co-commission; with Abel Selaocoe, cello)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 1, “Titan”
Aug 10
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
John ADAMS: Shaker Loops (1978 version)
Samuel ADAMS: Lighthouse
John ADAMS: Chamber Symphony
Aug 11
Recital: Gil Shaham, violin; Akira Eguchi, piano
BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonatas (complete, part III)
Aug 12
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
COPLAND: Suite from Appalachian Spring (with Brass/Percussion Competition Winner TBA)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5
Aug 12
Recital: Pacifica Quartet
MENDELSSOHN: String Quartet No. 2
LIGETI: String Quartet No. 1, “Métamorphoses nocturnes”
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 13
BEETHOVEN: Grosse Fuge in B-flat
Aug 13
Recital: Giovanni Andrea Zanon, violin; Tony Siqi Yun, piano
TARTINI / KREISLER: Violin Sonata in G minor, “Devil’s Trill”
SCHUBERT: Sonatina for Violin and Piano in D
SCHUBERT: “Ständchen” from Schwanengesang
BRAHMS: Violin Sonata No. 3
WIENIAWSKI: Polonaise brillante No. 1
Aug 13
Wind Orchestra / Joaquín Valdepeñas, conductor
BEETHOVEN: Rondino for Wind Octet in E-flat
KROMMER: Octet-Partita in F
WEILL: Violin Concerto (with Adele Anthony, violin)
Aug 14
Aspen Chamber Symphony / David Robertson, conductor
R. STRAUSS: Serenade for Winds
Reena ESMAIL: Concerto for Violin and Piano (AMFS co-commission; with Gil Shaham, violin; Orli Shaham, piano)
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2
Aug 15
Opera Encounters
(Host: Christopher Theofanidis)
Aug 15
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Melinda WAGNER: Unsung Chordata
FAURÉ: Piano Quartet No. 2
Avner DORMAN: Sextet
Aug 15
Recital: Simone Dinnerstein, piano
Philip GLASS (arr. M. RIESMAN): Suite from The Hours
J. S. BACH: Keyboard Concerto No. 2
Philip GLASS: Piano Concerto No. 1, “Tirol Concerto”
Aug 16
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Delyana Lazarova, conductor
BARBER: Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 4 (with Alexander Malofeev, piano)
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 5
Aug 17
Aspen Percussion Ensemble / Jonathan Haas, conductor
Stewart COPELAND / Jonathan HAAS & Sean STATSER: Gamelan D’Drum (world premiere)
Aug 18
Recital: Edgar Meyer, double bass; Amy Yang, piano
Program to include:
HAYDN / PIATIGORSKY & Edgar MEYER: Divertimento in D (after Baryton Trios, Hob. XI/113 and 95)
BOTTESINI: Romanza Patética
BOTTESINI: Fantasia Cerrito
Edgar MEYER: original works
Aug 19
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Piano Competition winner TBA)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5
Aug 19
Recital: Sharon Isbin, classical guitar
Howard SHORE: The Departed: Three Pieces for Two Guitars
MACCOMBIE: Nightshade Rounds
TAN DUN: Seven Desires for Guitar
Andrew YORK: Andy
Joan TOWER: Snow Dreams
DUARTE: Joan Baez Suite
Aug 20
Recital: Marc-André Hamelin, piano
WEINBERG: Piano Sonata No. 5
CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 2
ENESCU: “Carillon Nocturne,” from Pièces impromptues
DEBUSSY: Images, series 2
GERSHWIN (arr. E. WILD): Seven Virtuoso Etudes on Gershwin Songs
Aug 21
Aspen Chamber Symphony, Aspen Opera Theater, & VocalARTS / Patrick Summers, conductor
Paula Suozzi, director
MOZART: The Magic Flute (with Kantorei / Joel Rinsema, chorus director)
Aug 22
Opera Encounters
(Host: Ana María Martínez & Darrell Babidge)
Aug 22
Recital: Anton Nel, piano
HAYDN: Piano Sonata in C, Hob. XVI/50
SCHUBERT: Drei Klavierstücke
CHAMINADE: Thème varié
SCRIABIN: Prelude in G-flat
SHOSTAKOVICH: Prelude in C-sharp minor
PROKOFIEV: Prelude in C, Op. 12, No. 7
RACHMANINOFF: Prelude in G, Op. 32, No. 5
CHOPIN: Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante, Op. 22
Aug 22
Aspen Contemporary Ensemble / Timothy Weiss, conductor
Jesse Benjamin JONES: ENNEAD (world premiere)
GROFÉ: Table d’Hôte for Flute, Violin, and Viola
Gabriela ORTIZ: Río de las Mariposas
Aug 23
Aspen Festival Orchestra / Robert Spano, conductor; Ken Yanagisawa, conductor
VERDI: Overture to La forza del destino
BERNSTEIN: Chichester Psalms
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9, “Choral” (with Key’mon W. Murrah, countertenor; Ana María Martínez, soprano; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Issachah Savage, tenor; Ryan McKinny, baritone; Kantorei / Joel Rinsema, Chorus Director)