Aspen Music Festival Announced Its 2018 Season. Here Are Just A Few Highlights

(Photo: Elle Logan)

The Aspen Music Festival & School shared its lineup for the 2018 season today.

As usual, the eight-week festival will present some of the biggest names in classical music in concert. Those professionals will also mentor hundreds of promising young musicians, and even perform alongside them.

The festival’s season features numerous pieces inspired by the cultural scene in Paris, or by composers who spent time there. The lineup is heavy on music by French composers like Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Faure and Olivier Messiaen.

The Aspen Opera Center also presents two fully staged productions: Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” and Jacques Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffman.”

The season runs June 28-Aug. 19. Here are a few highlights from the hundreds of scheduled performances:

• June 28: The season opens with the Jupiter String Quartet playing a concert featuring music by Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann.
• July 10 and 15: Pianist Daniil Trifonov performs a recital on July 10, and as a soloist on his own piano concerto with the Aspen Chamber Symphony on July 15.
• July 28: Violinist Robert McDuffie performs a recital featuring music by Dvorak and Philip Glass.
• Aug. 10 and 15: Violinist Sarah Chang plays Igor Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto with the Aspen Chamber Symphony on Aug. 10, and gives a recital featuring music by J.S. Bach and Tchaikovsky on Aug. 15.
• Aug. 17: Vocal group Seraphic Fire performs Mozart’s Requiem with the Aspen Chamber Symphony. The group will also help launch a new program in Aspen this summer to train ensemble singers.
• Aug. 19: The season closes with Music Director Robert Spano conducting a concert featuring Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” and music from Richard Wagner’s “Die Walkure.”

View more season details from Aspen Music Festival & School. CPR Classical will feature music from Aspen and other festivals around Colorado as part of its annual SummerFest programming.