As Sergio Mims has told us in recent months, the fast-emerging conductor Rafael Payare was appointed Chief Conductor of The Ulster Orchestra, effective in September of 2014. He replaced Jo Ann Falletta at the expiration of her contract. In January, 2015, he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna and Paris. Now the Aspen Music Festival and School announces Rafael Payare will be a Debut Conductor in the 2015 Season
Aspen Music Festival and School:
Music Director Robert Spano leads a season themed "Dreams of Travel," exploring musical works enriched by other cultures
Season offers music lovers elegant mix of the familiar-and-favorite with the off-beat, rarely heard, and brand-new
Pianist
Vladimir Feltsman presents - exclusively in Aspen - two recitals of
Russian composers almost unknown in the West. (8/12, 8/13)
Operas include the first staged performance of Steven Stucky's and Jeremy Denk's The Classical Style (7/30, 8/1), in a double bill with Christopher Theofanidis' The Cows of Apollo or The Invention of Music.
Robert Spano conducts.
Robert Spano conducts.
Other staged operas include Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (7/16, 7/18, 7/20) conducted by George Manahan and directed by Edward Berkeley, and Mozart's Così fan tutte conducted by Jane Glover and directed by James Robinson (8/18, 8/20, 8/22)
Robert Spano will also conduct Verdi's mega-masterwork Aida
in a semi-staged version in the Benedict Music Tent with professionals
singing alongside the bright talents of the Aspen Opera Theater Center
and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra Chorus (8/7)
The AMFS will present a Central City Opera production of Lera Auerbach's experimental The Blind, an a cappella opera written while Ms. Auerbach was a student in Aspen (8/6)
Joshua Bell plays with -- and conducts -- the Aspen Chamber Symphony (8/14)
Classical
guitarist Sharon Isbin celebrates 25 years of summers in Aspen and
joins two other superstar guitarists, Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo,
in a program of Latin, Brazilian, classical and jazz music, titled Guitar Passions (8/6)
International super-star pianist Yundi makes his Aspen debut (7/7)
Violinist
Jennifer Koh and pianist Shai Wosner explore the cross-cultural
influence of Beethoven in a creative program titled "Bridge to
Beethoven" (7/15)
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra return to Aspen (7/6)
National radio shows Performance Today (7/26) and From the Top (7/12) tape live shows featuring AMFS students
Composition
students have rare opportunity to study intensively with six highly
distinguished composers: Sydney Hodkinson, Shulamit Ran, Christopher
Rouse, Steven Stucky, Christopher Theofanidis and George Tsontakis
Conductors include AMFS Music Director Robert Spano, Joshua Bell, Johannes Debus,Jane
Glover, Jeffrey Kahane, Kirill Karabits, Hannu Lintu, George Manahan,
Jun Märkl, Nicholas McGegan, Ludovic Morlot, Stephen Mulligan, Rafael
Payare, Larry Rachleff, David Robertson, Michael Stern, Patrick Summers,
Osmo Vänskä, Joshua Weilerstein and Hugh Wolff
Soloists
and ensembles include: pianists Inon Barnatan, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet,
Lise de la Salle, Jeremy Denk, Vladimir Feltsman, Marc-André Hamelin,
Steven Hough, Vijay Iyer, Jeffrey Kahane, Vadym Kholodenko, Jan
Lisiecki, Nikolai Lugansky, Anton Nel, John O'Conor, Steven Osborne,
Orli Shaham, Conrad Tao, Shai Wosner, Wu Han, Joyce Yang and Yundi;
violinists Adele Anthony, Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Augustin Hadelich,
Daniel Hope, Stefan Jackiw, Fabiola Kim, Jennifer Koh, Robert McDuffie,
Simone Porter, Gil Shaham and Joseph Swensen; violist Roberto Díaz;
guitarists Sharon Isbin, Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo; cellists
David Finckel and Alisa Weilerstein; double-bassist Edgar Meyer;
vocalists Sasha Cooke, Cecilia Hall, Isabel Leonard, Luis Alejandro
Orozco, Susanna Phillips, Issachah Savage and Tamara
Wilson; and ensembles the American Brass Quintet, the American String
Quartet, the Emerson String Quartet, the Jupiter Quartet, the Pacifica
String Quartet and the Takács Quartet
ASPEN, Colo. -
The Aspen Music Festival and School today announced its 67th season,
running from July 2 to August 23 with more than 300 events and featuring
its signature wide variety of musical works, periods, and performers.
The 2015 season theme, "Dreams of Travel," explores music informed by cultures other than the composer's own. The theme is reflected in performances of Ligeti's Romanian Concerto (8/12), inspired by the composer's childhood
memories of folk musicians in his native Transylvania (now Romania);
Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite, Scheherazade (7/5), echoing the
kaleidoscope of tales which Scheherazade invented to stay alive; AMFS
President and CEO Alan Fletcher's world premiere work, Se una notte
d'inverno un viaggiatore ("If on a Winter's Night a Traveler") which
will be accompanied by a film by Bill Morrison (who also did the film
portion of The Great Flood) (7/10) and which was inspired
by Italo Calvino's brilliant novel of the same name, a labyrinth of 10
different of premonition, spies, and mystery-each interrupted at a
moment of suspense; Spaniard Manuel de Falla's melancholy memories his homeland in Nights in the Gardens of Spain (7/29) and Verdi's conjured imaginings of the splendors of ancient Egypt, in Aida (8/7).
"The
Aspen Music Festival and School experience is a powerful and
unforgettable one." says President and CEO Alan Fletcher. "Across all
constituents-our extraordinary faculty, students, guest artists and
devoted audience members-there is an unspoken commitment to giving their
all, and then some. 'Once-in-a-lifetime' performances can be an
everyday occurrence here in Aspen."
Music Director
Robert Spano will again lead the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen
and also conduct orchestral programs featuring Tchaikovsky's Piano
Concerto No. 1 with Inon Barnatan and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
(7/5) and Mahler's Sixth Symphony (8/23). He will also lead the Aspen
Opera Theater Center's The Cows of Apollo or The Invention of Music and
The Classical Style, (7/20, 8/1) by Christopher Theofanidis and the AMFS
semi-staged production of Verdi's Aida featuring major professional
opera stars (8/7).
2015 world premieres commissions include:
- Alan Fletcher and Bill Morrison's Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatoreAMFS commission/world premiere, (7/10)
- Nina Young's new work, AMFS commission/world premiere, Druckman Prize, (7/15)
- Sebastian Currier's "Glow" written for pianist Inon Barnatan, AMFS commission/world premiere, (date TBA)
- Sydney Hodkinson's String Quartet No. 7 written for the Jupiter String Quartet, AMFS commission/world premiere, (7/25)
- Steven Stucky's and Jeremy Denk's comic operetta "The Classical Style," AMFS co-commission/staged version premiere, (7/30, 8/1)
- Jennifer Higdon's Viola Concerto, AMFS co-commission, (8/12)
Many of the
singers in Aspen Opera Theater Center (AOTC) productions are just
embarking on their professional careers. The program's influence is
reflected in Aspen's notable alumni, including Renée Fleming, Dawn
Upshaw, Jamie Barton, Bryan Hymel, Isabel Leonard, Brian Mulligan and
Ryan McKinney. This summer the AOTC, directed by Edward Berkeley, will
present fully-staged productions of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, (7/16,
7/18, 7/20), conducted by George Manahan; a double-bill featuring
Christopher Theofanidis and William Hoffman's The Cows of Apollo or The
Invention of Music along with Steven Stucky's and Jeremy Denk's The
Classical Style, (7/20, 8/1), conducted by Robert Spano, and Mozart's
Così fan tutte, (8/18, 8/20, 8/22), conducted by Jane Glover.
Robert Spano will
conduct Verdi's Aida in a semi-staged version in the Benedict Music
Tent. The cast will include Michelle DeYoung mezzo-soprano, Brian
Mulligan baritone, Morris Robinson bass, Tamara Wilson soprano, Issachah
Savage tenor, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra Chorus.
The students of the Susan and Ford Schumann Center for Composition
Studies will again advance their skills under the expert hand of the
world's foremost composers and performers of contemporary music in 2015.
The eight-week intensive program is highlighted by individual study
with some of today's most highly regarded and frequently performed
living composers including Sydney Hodkinson, Steven Stucky, George
Tsontakis, as well as Aspen's Alan Fletcher and Robert Spano. Visiting
composers include Shulamit Ran, Christopher Rouse and Christopher
Theofanidis.
The Festival
continues its commitment to community collaborations with a wide variety
of lectures and enrichment events with local organizations such as the
Aspen Public Radio, the Aspen Institute, Jazz Aspen Snowmass, the Aspen
Art Museum, the Basalt Public Library, Aspen Film and the Anderson Ranch
Arts Center. New this year will be a recital series at the Aspen Art
Museum.
NOTABLE EVENTS
A "Russian Experiment" with Vladimir Feltsman, (8/12, 8/13)
Vladimir Feltsman's two Aspen programs could be called "Russian
experiment," or "The roads less travelled." His first recital, "From
Mystical to Avant-Garde," presents three great composers that are
practically unknown in the West-Roslavets, Mosolov and Protopopov. All
three had been influenced by Scriabin and his mystical approach to music
and none immigrated to the West but remained in Russia. The second
program, "Russian Expressionism: from Shostakovich to Schnittke"
includes two lesser-known, but no less important composers-Weinberg and
Ustvolskaya, alongside their mentor Shostakovich.
Joshua Bell Conducts and Performs, (8/14)
Now Music Director
of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Joshua Bell, an Aspen
alumnus, has branched out to conducting but has focused those efforts on
engagements in Europe. Now he brings his conducting talent to lead the
orchestras he played in when he was a student musician in Aspen. Bell
will make his Aspen conducting debut, as well as perform as soloist,
with the Aspen Chamber Symphony in a program including Bach's Violin
Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 and Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. Bell's
recent release of the Seventh Symphony debuted at number one on the
Billboard charts.
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, (7/6)
Acclaimed
trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, one of America's most passionate advocates of
jazz, leads an orchestra composed of the finest soloists, ensemble
players, and arrangers in jazz music today. The evening concert offers a
special preconcert dinner on-site. Presented in association with Jazz
Aspen Snowmass.
Internationally acclaimed pianist Yundi, (7/7)
One of the "rock
stars" of the classical world, especially well-known in Europe, Yundi
was propelled onto the international stage when he won first prize at
the XIV Chopin International Piano Competition at the age of 18,
becoming the youngest and first Chinese winner in the history of the
prestigious competition. Since then, he has been regarded as a leading
exponent of Chopin's music. In 2013, Yundi performed at China's Spring Festival Gala, which was witnessed by an audience of over one billion.
Bridge to Beethoven with Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner, (7/15)
Bridge to Beethoven explores
Beethoven's impact and significance on a diverse group of composers and
musicians. By pairing the master's ten sonatas for violin and piano
with new works, this evening seeks to ignite creative conversations
around his music not only as a cornerstone of classical music but as a
universal, culture-crossing source of inspiration. The program will
feature a new commission from jazz composer Vijay Iyer to be paired with
Beethoven's "Kreutzer" Sonata.
Vijay Iyer Trio, (7/27)
2013 MacArthur
"Genius Grant" recipient and cutting edge pianist Vijay Iyer brings what
The New York Times calls "the great new jazz piano trio" to Aspen. The
Grammy-nominated composer-pianist has been described by the Los Angeles Weekly as
"a boundless and deeply important young star" and by Minnesota Public
Radio as "an American treasure." Iyer will also join Jennifer Koh and
Shai Wosner in their Bridge to Beethoven program, (7/15).
Celebrate Sharon
Isbin's twenty-five summers in Aspen with Guitar Passions: A Special
Event with Sharon Isbin, Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo, guitars,
(8/6)
Renowned classical
guitarist Isbin follows up her Grammy-winning album, Journey to the New
World, with another extraordinary musical exploration, Sharon Isbin
& Friends: Guitar Passions. The journey is focused on Isbin's guitar
heroes, with a Latin American flavor on many tracks. Joining Isbin in
Aspen are her collaborators on the album, innovative jazz guitarist
Stanley Jordan and Brazilian jazz guitarist extraordinaire Romero
Lubambo.
ASPEN ALUMNI
Alumni of the Aspen Music School performing on the 2015 season schedule include: Adele Anthony,
violin; Joshua Bell, violin; Sarah Chang, violin; Sasha Cooke,
mezzo-soprano; Jeremy Denk, piano; David Finckel, cello; Sharon Isbin,
guitar; Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano; Robert McDuffie, violin; Edgar
Meyer, bass; Simone Porter, violin; Gil Shaham, violin; Orli Shaham
piano; Conrad Tao, piano; Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Joshua Weilerstein
conductor; Wu Han, piano; Joyce Yang, piano and ensembles the American
Brass Quintet, the American String Quartet, the Emerson String Quartet,
the Jupiter Quartet, and the Takács Quartet.
DEBUT ARTISTS
Performers making
their AMFS summer guest-artist debuts are Cecilia Hall, mezzo-soprano*;
Vijay Iyer, piano; Stanley Jordan, guitar, piano; Jan Lisiecki, piano;
Romero Lubambo, guitar; Stephen Mulligan, conductor*, Luis Alejandro
Orozco, baritone; Rafael Payare, conductor; Issachah Savage, tenor;
Tamara Wilson, soprano*, Yundi, piano and Shai Wosner, piano.
(*) indicates AMFS alumni.
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