Aspen Music Festival

The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a premier classical music festival and educational institution located in Aspen, Colorado. Founded in 1949 by Chicago businessman Walter Paepcke and his wife Elizabeth, the festival began as a two-week bicentennial celebration of the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which included intellectual forums and musical performances. The success of the event led to the establishment of both the Aspen Institute and the AMFS. The festival has since evolved into an eight-week summer season that features over 400 classical music events and attracts around 100,000 audience members each year. The AMFS is renowned for its concert programming and the musical training it provides to young-adult music students. Its mission, adopted in March 2015 by the Board of Trustees, is to be a leading institution for classical music education, performances, and presentations, aiming to be transformational and inspirational for all involved, to be innovative and a catalyst for change in the world of music, while also respecting its great traditions. The school is unique in its teaching practice and philosophy, serving as a magnet for high-quality students, artist-faculty, and guest artists. It is a center for exceptional musical performances and a force for positive change in the world of music. The AMFS also values the Aspen Idea, celebrating the union of mind, body, and spirit through the art of music. Throughout its history, the AMFS has seen many notable moments, such as Igor Stravinsky conducting his own works at the festival in 1951 and the enrollment of the first official class of music students. Noteworthy events include James Levine conducting the opera "Albert Herring" in 1964, Duke Ellington performing in 1965, and Aaron Copland serving as a composer-in-residence in 1975. The festival has also been a recording venue for artists such as the Emerson String Quartet. The AMFS offers a variety of programs of study, including Orchestra, Solo Piano, Collaborative Piano, Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS, the Aspen Conducting Academy, and more. Its facilities include the Benedict Music Tent, the Joan and Irving Harris Concert Hall, and the Wheeler Opera House. In 2016, the AMFS completed the 75 million, 105,000-square-foot Matthew and Carolyn Bucksbaum Campus, which serves as the center for its teaching activities. The festival has a distinguished list of alumni, including violinists Joshua Bell and Gil Shaham, pianists Yuja Wang and Wu Han, conductors Marin Alsop and Leonard Slatkin, composers Philip Glass and Joan Tower, vocalists Renée Fleming and Dawn Upshaw, and many others. The AMFS is led by Music Director Robert Spano and President and CEO Alan Fletcher. It continues to uphold its commitment to excellence in classical music education and performance, fostering the next generation of musicians and delighting audiences with its rich and diverse offerings.