Aspen Music Festival Announces New Media Partnerships

The Aspen Music Festival and School has announced two new media partnerships in celebration of its 75th anniversary season (June 26–Aug 18, 2024). medici.tv returns to the festival for the first time since 2008 to webcast concerts featuring Steven Isserlis, AMFS alums Jeremy Denk, Joyce Yang, and Joshua Bell, and more (July 10–14); Apple Music Classical brings the AMFS to its global classical app, which also partners with the Salzburg and Verbier Festivals and Korea's Tongyeong Festival; and Carnegie Hall+ begins a partnership with the festival, starting with two showings of the classic Leonard Bernstein Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic, to be screened for live audiences (July 2 & 9). AMFS will also livestream its own list of ten events throughout the summer on its Virtual Stage platform (see details below).

For 75 years, AMFS has presented grand, intimate, experimental, and deeply personal performances, and for 74 of those years it has also provided deep mentorship of young artists. This season's theme is “Becoming Who You Are,” exploring Aspen's impact on the musical and personal development of thousands of important musicians, while also honoring AMFS's strengths in the present and future. The 75th anniversary festival opens on June 26 with events including Teddy Abrams conducting the Aspen Festival Ensemble, joined by mandolinist Chris Thile (June 27); soprano Renée Fleming singing a world premiere by composer and AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher, conducted by Music Director Robert Spano (June 30); Daniil Trifonov playing Mozart's “Jeunehomme” Concerto led by James Gaffigan (June 28), and later in the summer giving his first public performance with violinist Leonidas Kavakos (Aug 17); Alisa Weilerstein performing the first two parts of FRAGMENTS, her acclaimed multisensory solo cello project (July 2 & 3); and a concert production of Music for New Bodies, a new vocal cycle created by Matthew Aucoin and Peter Sellars and co-commissioned by AMFS (July 1). A complete schedule of events at Aspen this summer is available here.

medici.tv

medici.tv will webcast five events live on July 10–14: a recital by Jeremy Denk comprising piano sonatas by Beethoven and Charles Ives juxtaposed with jazz-inspired works by American composers; an evening of Baroque music conducted by Nicholas McGegan, featuring cellist Steven Isserlis in Haydn's Cello Concerto in C; a chamber concert conducted by festival Music Director Robert Spano that features pianist Joyce Yang in Falla's quasi-concerto Noches en los jardines de España and mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor singing Peter Lieberson's Neruda Songs; an all-Fauré recital with Denk, Isserlis, and violinist Joshua Bell; and a Festival Orchestra program conducted by Jane Glover that features the same three soloists in Beethoven's “Triple” Concerto. Following the live webcast, the performances will be available at medici.tv for a year. The final performance on Sunday, July 14 will also be livestreamed to the Sharp Auditorium at the Denver Art Museum, where it can be viewed by Denver audiences on a large screen. 

Apple Music Classical

Apple Music Classical will join with the AMFS to curate playlists of its artists and legendary pedagogues, with content recorded at the festival, and will add select content from the 75th anniversary season next fall. Apple launched Apple Music Classical, a standalone streaming app available to all Apple Music subscribers, in March 2023. Apple Music Classical has a vast library of more than five million tracks, and stands as the world's largest classical music catalogue. This extensive collection provides a treasure trove for both seasoned connoisseurs and newcomers to the world of classical music. Thousands of recordings are available in immersive spatial audio featuring Dolby Atmos, ensuring that listeners have access to a rich and dynamic listening experience.

Carnegie Hall+

Carnegie Hall+ will begin its partnership with the AMFS by providing content for two theatrical screenings of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. In his most important role as music educator, Bernstein began his pioneering series of nationally televised broadcasts in 1958, live from Carnegie Hall, making the renowned concert venue an accessible classroom that introduced a new generation to classical music. Taking place in the Wheeler Opera House, open to all audiences and free for AMFS students and children under 18, the theatrical screenings are “The Anatomy of a Symphony Orchestra” (July 2) and “Who is Gustav Mahler?” (July 9).

About the Aspen Music Festival and School

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. The organization draws top classical musicians from around the world for a rich combination of orchestral performances, opera, chamber music, recitals, contemporary music, works by new or previously unrecognized voices, popular genres, family events, talks, competitions, and classes.

More than 450 music students from 40 U.S. states and 40 countries come each summer to play in four orchestras, sing, conduct, compose, and study. The more than 100 artist-faculty members come from the orchestras of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as 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 in-school and after-school music programs at most schools in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley. 

Carnegie Hall+ presentations

Tues, July 2 at 4 pm
Wheeler Opera House
Leonard Bernstein Young People's Concert screening
“The Anatomy of a Symphony Orchestra” 

Tues, July 9 at 4 pm
Wheeler Opera House
Leonard Bernstein Young People's Concert screening
“Who is Gustav Mahler?”

medici.tv live webcasts

Wed, July 10 at 7:30 pm
Harris Concert Hall
Jeremy Denk, piano
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90
JOPLIN: Bethena, ragtime waltz
GOTTSCHALK: The Banjo, Op. 15
SIMONE: Just in Time (transcribed)
William Bolcom: “The Poltergeist” from Three Ghost Rags
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat, Op. 110
IVES: Piano Sonata No. 2, “Concord, Mass., 1840–60” 

Thu, July 11 at 6 pm
Harris Concert Hall
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Steven Isserlis, cello
HAYDN: Overture to Orlando paladino, Hob. 28/11
HANDEL: Selections from Orlando
J. S. BACH: Cantata No. 51, “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen,” BWV 51
HAYDN: Cello Concerto in C, Hob. VIIb:1 

Fri, July 12 at 5:30 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Chamber Symphony
Robert Spano, conductor
Kelley O'Connor, mezzo-soprano
Joyce Yang, piano
Gabriela Lena FRANK: Haillí-Serenata
LIEBERSON: Neruda Songs
FALLA: Noches en los jardines de España (Nights in the Gardens of Spain)
FALLA: El amor brujo (Love Bewitched)

Sat, July 13 at 7:30 pm
Harris Concert Hall
Special Event
Joshua Bell, violin
Steven Isserlis, cello
Jeremy Denk, piano
AMFS Artist-Faculty
FAURÉ:
Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op. 115
Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120
Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45

Sun, July 14 at 4 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Festival Orchestra
Jane Glover, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin
Steven Isserlis, cello
Jeremy Denk, piano
BARTÓK: Concerto for Orchestra, BB 123
BEETHOVEN: Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C, Op. 56, “Triple”

Livestreams on AMFS Virtual Stage

Wed, June 26 at 7:30 pm
Harris Concert Hall
Opening Night
Harmony Zhu, piano
SCHUBERT: Four Impromptus, D. 899, Op. 90
R. SCHUMANN: Fantasiestücke, Op. 12
RAVEL: Gaspard de la nuit

Sun, June 30 at 4 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Festival Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor
Renée Fleming, soprano
R. STRAUSS: Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
Alan FLETCHER: Three American Songs (world premiere, AMFS co-commission)
R. STRAUSS: “Muttertändelei,” Op. 43, No. 2
R. STRAUSS: “Die Zeit, die ist ein Sonderbar Ding” from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59
R. STRAUSS: “Cäcilie,” Op. 27, No. 2
RESPIGHI: Pines of Rome

Fri, July 5 at 5:30 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Chamber Symphony
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Michael Rusinek, clarinet
Nancy Goeres, bassoon
Stuart Stephenson, trumpet
Inon Barnatan, piano
HAYDN: Symphony No. 31 in D, Hob I/31 “Hornsignal”
SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 35
R. STRAUSS: Duet-Concertino
HAYDN: Symphony No. 100 in G, Hob. I/100, “Military” 

Mon, July 15 at 6 pm
Harris Concert Hall
Conrad Tao, piano
GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue (original jazz band setting)
Conrad TAO: Original work inspired by Rhapsody in Blue

Fri, July 19 at 7:45 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS
Patrick Summers, conductor
Colorado Children's Chorale
Emily Crile, chorus director
HUMPERDINCK: Hansel and Gretel

Sun, July 21 at 4 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Festival Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Bruce Liu, piano (AMFS debut)
COPLAND: El salón México
PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C, Op. 26
ROUSE: “The Infernal Machine” from Phantasmata
BARBER: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
GERSHWIN: An American in Paris

Fri, July 26 at 5:30 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Chamber Symphony
Dalia Stasevska, conductor
Jennifer Koh, violin
Outi TARKIAINEN: The Ring of Fire and Love
Missy MAZZOLI: Violin Concerto (Procession)
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 43 

Wed, Aug 7 at 5 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra
Nico Muhly: Bright Idea
TBA: Brass Competition Winner
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

Wed, Aug 14 at 7:30 pm
Harris Concert Hall
Robert McDuffie, violin
Derek Wang, piano
VIVALDI: “Summer” from The Four Seasons, RV 315
Mike Mills: “Stardancers' Waltz” from Concerto for Violin, Rock Band, and String Orchestra
PROKOFIEV: Andante Cantabile and Allegro from Sonata in C for Two Violins, Op. 56
CHAUSSON: Sicilienne from Concert in D, Op. 21
STRAVINSKY: Tarantella from Suite italienne
BERNSTEIN: “Agathon” from Serenade, after Plato's Symposium
Philip Glass: Movement IV from Violin Concerto No. 2, “The American Four Seasons”

Sun, Aug 18 at 4 pm
Klein Music Tent
Aspen Festival Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor
Christine Goerke, Tamara Wilson, Alexis Seminario, Lauren Carroll, Maria Vasilevskaya, sopranos
Margaret Macaira Shannon, Julianna Smith, Camille Robles, Lucy Baker, mezzo-sopranos
Lauren Decker, contralto
Greer Grimsley, bass-baritone
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
BERLIOZ: “Royal Hunt and Storm” from Les Troyens
LISZT: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A, LW H6
WAGNER: Act III from Die Walküre 

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