Aspen Music Festival 2014: Big classical names, present and future

Posted: 06/22/2014 12:01:00 AM MDT

Alan Fletcher describes scheduling the Aspen Music Festival as something akin to playing 'a five-level chess game.' A lot of pieces have to be maneuvered into their squares to make 300-plus public events work in just 51 days.

Planning starts years in advance, and everyone wants a say, starting with the festival's leadership: Music Director Robert Spano, Artistic Advisor Asadour Santourian and CEO Fletcher. Their combined want list can include 400 or 500 works for single instruments, chamber groups, orchestras and opera singers.

That has to be whittled and balanced against the wishes of the festival's important guest soloists, and the bigger the name, the wishier they can be.

Genre stars like Sarah Chang and Joshua Bell usually know a couple of years out what pieces they'll be touring with, so they tend to get first dibs.

Conductors, too, have their personal choices and accommodations to be made. That's how Leonard Slatkin ended up playing a program of Shostokovich during 2012's season-long focus on American music. The fest, and audiences, were glad to have him.

'Not every artist gets that level of discretion,' said Fletcher, 'But people like Slatkin do.'

Since Aspen is a highly regarded school foremost, and the students and faculty do much of the playing, their needs have to be considered as well. The season requires a certain number of pieces with four horn parts to give everybody serious playing time.

Then there are the ticket buyers to please. The festival does rely on its box office, so that means rotating in the big master works that draw crowds and making sure bedrock composers get their due.

It's not by accident that the 2014 season starts with Beethoven (Violin Sonata No. 5 on June 26) and ends with Beethoven (the exalted 'Choral' Symphony No 9 on August 17).

Somehow it all balances out into a tradition that defines the fine arts in Colorado during the summer, and gives us some star power. This season has a particularly bright list of names.

Midori, an Aspen School alum, has a major concert July 20 with Tchaikovsky Violin concerto in D major. Stephen Hough plays Schumann's 'Carnaval' July 2.

Other names: Pianists Yefim Bronfman, Jeremy Denk, Conrad Tao; bass player Edgar Meyer, cellists Lynn Harrell and Alisa Weilerstein; sopranos Monica Groop and Deborah Voigt, bass-baritone Eric Owens; conductors James Feddeck, Jeffrey Kahane and Jane Glover.

The festival manages to keep the spotlight on its students through it all. Aspen is a world center for new music and new talent and it's common to spot managers from the major orchestras shopping for potential employees.

Since the Aspen academic period is so concentrated, it draws summer students from most of the major music schools, and that draws scouts from the major orchestras for, as Fletcher puts it, 'one-stop shopping' for new talent. 'That's why we are an incubator for so many careers,' he said.

For tickets and information: 970-925-9042 or aspenmusicfestival.com Ray Mark Rinaldi: 303-954-1540, rrinaldi@denverpost.com or http://ift.tt/Ogd1DZ Entities 0 Name: Fletcher Count: 3 1 Name: Aspen Count: 2 2 Name: Beethoven Count: 2 3 Name: Yefim Bronfman Count: 1 4 Name: Monica Groop Count: 1 5 Name: Tchaikovsky Violin Count: 1 6 Name: Deborah Voigt Count: 1 7 Name: Lynn Harrell Count: 1 8 Name: Leonard Slatkin Count: 1 9 Name: Stephen Hough Count: 1 10 Name: Eric Owens Count: 1 11 Name: Joshua Bell Count: 1 12 Name: Conrad Tao Count: 1 13 Name: Alisa Weilerstein Count: 1 14 Name: Robert Spano Count: 1 15 Name: Schumann Count: 1 16 Name: Aspen School Count: 1 17 Name: Slatkin Count: 1 18 Name: Jeremy Denk Count: 1 19 Name: American Count: 1 20 Name: Ray Mark Rinaldi Count: 1 21 Name: Midori Count: 1 22 Name: James Feddeck Count: 1 23 Name: Shostokovich Count: 1 24 Name: Jeffrey Kahane Count: 1 25 Name: Jane Glover Count: 1 26 Name: Colorado Count: 1 27 Name: Edgar Meyer Count: 1 28 Name: Alan Fletcher Count: 1 29 Name: Asadour Santourian Count: 1 30 Name: Sarah Chang Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1rl62Yh Title: Win an all-expense paid trip to ARISE Music Festival in Colorado this August Description: Leave Your Stash At Home! Win an all-expense paid trip to ARISE Music Festival in Colorado this August.** ARISE Music Festival is proud to partner with Relix Magazine for the "Leave Your Stash at Home" all-expense paid journey to the ARISE Music Festival.