SummerFest live finale: Beethoven’s 9th from Aspen Music Festival

This Weekend at the Aspen Music FestivalCPR Classical's SummerFest season finale this Saturday features a live broadcast from the Aspen Music Festival, with music director Robert Spano conducting music by Beethoven, Mussorgsky and Arvo Part. The program starts at 4 p.m.:

  • Arvo Part: Fratres
  • Mussorgsky: Monologue and Coronation Scene from “Boris Godunov”
  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

Sunday’s concert features a performance by the Colorado Symphony Chorus. The group, under the direction of Duain Wolfe, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

This is the group’s second performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for 2014. The choir performed the piece at Bravo! Vail with the Dallas Symphony earlier this summer and will perform it again in September with the Colorado Symphony.

Listen to a recent interview of Wolfe by Chloe Veltman of CPR News:

Audio: Colorado Symphony Chorus director Duain Wolfe speaks with Chloe Veltman

While Beethoven’s Ninth is guaranteed to end the program (and the festival's season) with a thrilling climax, Sunday’s program opens with a quieter moment: "Fratres" by Arvo Part. Watch the Arpege Duo perform an alternate arrangement of “Fratres” for cello and harp.