FESTIVALFOCUS YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ASPEN TIMES
MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2026
VOL. 36, NO. 8
A Fairy Tale Reimagined: Mozart’s The Magic Flute That reimagining is the vision of director Paula Suozzi—executive stage director for the Metropolitan Opera—who has built A must-see for opera fans young and this production such that the spotlight is old, this summer, the Aspen Music Festival rightfully on the orchestra and singers. and School invites audiences into one of “It is an opportunity for both young and Mozart's most beloved worlds with a speadult audiences to see the connection becial production of The Magic Flute, staged tween orchestra and singers,” for the Klein Music Tent on says Suozzi. “Mozart hides a lot August 21 and featuring the risof little gems within the piece. ing stars of Aspen's opera proWe will highlight the orchestra gram. Rather than the set-laden, in those moments, and the audragons-and-temples specdience will get to visually see tacle audiences typically see, what they should be paying atAMFS is presenting something tention to.” different—and, in many ways, Suozzi's production for the more powerful and revealing. Klein Music Tent purposefully The Magic Flute follows emphasizes narration, storyPrince Tamino on a quest to telling, and two-dimensional rescue the mysterious Pamina, props—highlighting a fairy-tale guided along the way by the sensibility that was designed bumbling but lovable birdwith younger audience memcatcher Papageno and tested ELLE LOGAN bers in mind. “We want them to by trials of courage, wisdom, Conducting luminary Patrick Summers led the Festival’s 2021 production of be able to follow the story and The Magic Flute. He revisits Mozart's opera again this season, conducting a and love. It’s a story that works full orchestra for the August 21 performance in the Klein Music Tent. to lean into the fairy tale with a as pure fantasy for a child in the Queen, and bad guys, and good guys, and audience and as profound allegory for the teaching work, with so many avenues by people we think are good guys and bad adult sitting beside them—part of what has which to help young artists,” he says. He guys,” she says. She also encourages audikept the opera beloved for more than 230 points to Mozart’s rare gift for holding onto ences to explore the relationships in the years. The score swings from the Queen childlike wonder while giving the music piece fully—not just the love interests—but of the Night’s dazzling, high-flying col- real emotional depth. “Part of the genius the power of friendship and what it means oratura to Papageno’s simple, folk-tinged of Mozart is to let one work carry both at in the world. tunes about wanting nothing more than a once,” he says. “Staging the orchestra as The production also gives a well-earned wife and a happy home, proof that Mozart part of the storytelling lets us illuminate spotlight to Kantorei, the Denver-based choral ensemble in residence with AMFS never let the philosophy outweigh the fun. Mozart in a very different way.” BY SAMANTHA JOHNSTON
Festival Focus Writer
For Patrick Summers, (Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Co-Artistic Director of the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS program), this is exactly the type of performance that belongs in a summer built around training the next generation of opera singers. “The Magic Flute is an extraordinary
A Recital by
Edgar Meyer bass and Amy Yang piano Tuesday, August 18 | 6 PM Harris Concert Hall
. . . a virtuoso duo! Hailed by The New Yorker as “ . . . the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument,” AMFS artist-faculty member Edgar Meyer’s unparalleled technique and musicianship earned him a MacArthur Award in 2002. Meyer is joined by pianist Amy Yang, who balances an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. The duo will perform works by Haydn, Bottesini, and original compositions by Meyer himself.
See ‘Kantorei,’ Festival Focus page 3
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony: A Collection of Memories BY EMMA KIRBY
their favorite memories of Beethoven's Ninth.
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EARLY MEMORIES CREATE LIFE-LONG ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE MUSIC:
Few pieces are as admired in classical music history as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, revered as one of the most unifying, life-affirming, and influential works ever composed. Leonard Bernstein led a performance by musicians of both east and west Germany on occasion of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; its 'Ode to Joy' theme is recognizable in the European Union anthem; and it has served as a ceremonial offering in countless events over the last century. “There’s nothing like it in the whole world of music,” says AMFS Munroe President and CEO Alan Fletcher. If you ask a classical musician, they can likely recall their first time not only hearing the work but also performing it. So, in anticipation of the Festival’s season-finale performance of Beethoven’s Ninth this Sunday, August 23, in the Klein Music Tent, we asked artist-faculty members of the Festival Orchestra and AMFS leadership and staff to share
Alan Fletcher’s connection to the work is deeply personal, as his mother sang in the Westminster Choir for conductor Arturo Toscanini’s famed recording of the work. He recalls the stories she would share about those rehearsals:
ALEX IRVIN
AMFS Wall Family Music Director Robert Spano conducts the Festival Orchestra and Denver’s Kantorei in Beethoven’s Ninth on Final Sunday, August 23. The Festival last presented Beethoven’s famous “Choral” Symphony in 2021 and 2014 (shown above).
“In Beethoven’s Ninth, the soprano part has many, many high A [note]s, which are hard. But the hardest part is the high G sharps. They go on forever and they’re pianissimo. In the first rehearsal with Toscanini, he did [that passage] and he got to the end and said, ‘ancora,’ do it again. And they did it again, and he said ‘ancora di più,’ even another time. The third time, the choral conductor said quietly: ‘Maestro, if you continue, there will be bleeding in their throats.’ Toscanini replied, ‘That is the sound I’m looking for.’ Curiously, he’s right: it’s full
See ‘Beethoven’s Ninth’ Festival Focus page 3
FINAL WEEK OF THE FESTIVAL! HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE TENT YET?
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MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2026
FESTIVALFOCUS | YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
Supplement to The Aspen Times
Beloved Pianist Anton Nel in Rare Solo Outing BY EMMA KIRBY
pianist, since I love collaborating with instrumentalists and
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singers as well as playing with orchestras big and small,”
In the nearly 30 years that pianist Anton Nel has been
says Nel. This time around, “I’m looking forward to sharing
an artist-faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and
my take on some of my very favorite solo pieces with the
School, he has become well known for his friendly de-
AMFS audience.”
meanor, joyful energy, and positive attitude. He’s also one heck of a pianist. On Saturday, August 22, watch his joy radiate through his playing as he shines in a rare solo recital on the Harris Concert Hall stage. He brings to life works by Chopin,
For this recital, Nel selected pieces that are not tied together by any particular theme, except for one very important similarity: “These are all works I love very much,” he says.
Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Haydn, and more in the final recital of the Aspen Music Festival and School’s 77th summer season. It’s not often that Aspen audiences get the treat of hearing Nel solo, even though his is one of the busiest performance schedules of the summer. In any given summer season, one can find him performing in the Saturday Chamber Music concerts, regularly enlisting his friends to join him for recitals (most recently for a recital celebrating his 25th anniversary as an artist-faculty member back in 2024), and often appearing as a soloist with the various orchestras.
ALEX IRVIN
“I was—like most people—groomed to be a solo pianist, but very early on realized that I wanted to be an ‘everything’
AMFS artist-faculty member Anton Nel appears in a solo outing playing works by Haydn, Schubert, Chopin, and others on August 22 in Harris Concert Hall.
The evening opens with one of Haydn’s “great last Sonatas” in C major, then moves into Schubert’s wellknown and loved Drei Klavierstücke, which Nel describes as one of the composer’s “late masterpieces.” Next is French composer Cécile Chaminade’s Thème varié, which is one of Nel’s “longtime favorite works.” “What I’ve especially enjoyed on this program is the Russian set,” says Nel, describing the subsequent collection of preludes by Skryabin, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Rachmaninoff. “I usually play concerti and chamber music by these composers, so it’s very nice to show off some of their beautiful miniatures.” Whether programmed intentionally or not, it is certainly noteworthy that all the composers represented on the program were themselves pianists. “It is especially interesting to see how each composer treats his or her ‘first’ instrument!” says Nel. He concludes the recital with a work by perhaps the best-known pianist and composer for the piano, Chopin, tackling his Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante in a showcase of lyricism and musicality. All the love that the AMFS community has shown Nel for nearly three decades, he reciprocates. “I often say that a summer without Aspen is not a summer at all, and I’ll stick to it! I love my students and colleagues, and our beautiful working environment—so inspiring!”
MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE 2027 SEASON: JUNE 30–AUGUST 22
Continued from Festival Focus page 1
FESTIVALFOCUS | YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
Supplement to The Aspen Times
MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2026 3
A Tribute to Alan Fletcher A MESSAGE FROM THE AMFS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
With joy and regard, the Aspen Music Festival and School has dedicated this 2026 season to our great friend, composer, teacher, esteemed leader, and president and CEO for 21 years—Alan Fletcher. The AMFS stands as a beloved beacon of artistic excellence in the Aspen community and the world, as a leading incubator for the contemporary field of classical music, and as an artistic home to the finest soloists, faculty, students, and tens of thousands of alumni around the world. Every single day of this season we have celebrated the enactment of that vision under Alan’s stellar LYNN GOLDSMITH As of October 1, Munroe President leadership and salute the and CEO Alan Fletcher becomes flourishing hub for artistic president of the Advisory Board excellence, education, for the Arts and president emeri- and innovation he has tus of the AMFS. built here since 2006. And we literally mean “built.” During his tenure, he led the transformation of the Matthew and Carolyn Bucksbaum
Campus into an extraordinary center for learning and teaching and reimagined the concert experience at the Klein Music Tent and Harris Concert Hall. Under his baton, the Aspen Promises campaign is dramatically increasing fellowships for young artists of all backgrounds, building financial sustainability to support the institution’s growth and ambitions for the next generations, expanding the AMFS’s community outreach and musical education to young people across the Valley, and addressing the housing needs of our students, staff, and faculty. With the devoted support and philanthropy of the Aspen community, Alan and the AMFS team have made the Festival and School one of greatest centers of musical excellence in the world. We are all the beneficiaries of this miraculous feat. Alan’s phenomenal musical mind is matched by his erudition. Each year, he delivers a convocation speech to the new class of young artists in the Klein Music Tent. These texts are a testament to the passion of a great artist to impart a world of knowledge to keen young students. We pledge to honor these words as we launch a new era for the AMFS: “Above all, music is an endeavor that encourages openness, listening, sensitivity, responsiveness, communication, and honesty. Let us work together to make the best music we can. Let us stand for truth, in a world that truly needs it.” One of Alan’s favorite words is devotion. “Devotion
signifies commitment,” he spoke elsewhere, “and there are very few endeavors that humans have created that require as much commitment as music.” The AMFS and the world will be forever better for Alan’s devotion to the art, practice, and performance of music. We look forward to the great things he will accomplish in his next endeavor as president of the Advisory Board for the Arts, and look forward to his many more years with us in his new role, starting October 1, as president emeritus.
ELLE LOGAN
Over his 21-year tenure, Fletcher has been a constant presence during concerts from Seat O-601 (known to many as “Alan’s seat”) in the Klein Music Tent. In this photo from 2018, he and guest artist/pianist Jonathan Biss enjoy a Sunday concert by the Aspen Festival Orchestra.
ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL AND SCHOOL BOX OFFICE: 970 925 9042 or ASPENMUSICFESTIVAL.COM Now–August 23: Daily, 12–4 PM MDT, or concert time, or intermission, if applicable.
Beethoven’s Ninth: Memory Lane
Continued from Festival Focus page 1
of anticipation, tension, it’s not a triumphant sound.” Alan Fletcher, AMFS Munroe President and CEO “Robert Shaw was the music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for decades. He wasn’t my immediate predecessor, but he was legendary and he was a great choral conductor for Toscanini and George Szell. I heard him conduct Beethoven’s Ninth at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, long before I knew I would be going to Atlanta. There’s something very special for me: he always loomed large in my mind as an icon of what I would aspire to be as a music director for Atlanta. I was lucky to get to hear him perform it before he died.”
Robert Spano, Wall Family Music Director MEMORABLE FIRST PERFORMANCES: “The first time I played the piece was with the National Symphony with our music director, Christoph Eschenbach. The soloists were right behind the trumpet section on the stage. I distinctly remember the first entrance of the bass soloist, Solomon Howard, and how his huge voice seemed to shake the room around us. It was really special to sit in that wash of sound for the first time!!” Billy Gerlach, principal trumpet “My very first memory of performing Beethoven’s Ninth was as a high schooler at my arts boarding school. I will never forget the feeling of the first forte choral entrance in the final movement of the concert. Absolutely nothing prepares you for the joy and power of this entrance—it still gives me chills to this day!” Stefani Matsuo, concertmaster “My favorite memory of Beethoven’s Ninth was my first time performing the piece at the BBC Proms with the
Chineke! Orchestra and Maestro Kevin John Edusei. It was an exhilarating performance, and I will never forget the feeling of playing the piece to a sold-out crowd; the energy was incredible.” Joshua Elmore, principal bassoon
SOME ARE MORE PRAGMATIC: “It’s profound music, immensely challenging for a timpanist. I’ve never once felt as though I’ve done it the service it deserves. It’s one of those pieces that takes everything out of me yet never allows me the satisfaction of the feeling of success.” Ed Stephan, principal timpani
TWO MEMORIES, BOTH FAVORITES: “As a New York freelance musician, I’ve played Beethoven’s Ninth many times. Two of my favorites were extremely different from each other and both extraordinary. First was for the great maestro Roger Norrington about 20 years ago. When we arrived in the fourth movement at the big moment for bass trombone, he asked for a stentorian approach, asking me to play louder and louder, to my surprise. The entire performance was dazzling and electric. This past season, the maestro was Raphael Pichon, a Frenchman with unique ideas about music. At that same entrance in the fourth movement, this time my instruction was to play as if Beethoven wrote a Gregorian chant. The result was beautiful and quite moving. Two versions, equally stunning—maybe a tribute to Beethoven’s genius!” John Rojak, bass trombone
This Sunday, create a “Best Beethoven’s Ninth” memory of your own as we close out the 77th season of the Aspen Music Festival and School. [Quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity.]
Kantorei
Continued from Festival Focus page 1 this summer. Founded in 1997 by six friends and built on volunteer singers, Kantorei normally focuses on unaccompanied choral works and commissions from contemporary composers. Chorus Director Joel Rinsema says stepping into a Mozart masterwork is a natural stretch for the group. “This performance adds a newness to something 200-plus years old,” Rinsema points out, noting how rare it is to hear orchestra, opera, and choir sharing a stage at once. “This summer residency is such a wonderful opportunity for our singers to be under the baton of many different great conductors,” he says. [Kantorei not only performs in The Magic CARLIN MA Flute, but also The Magic Flute features the Denverwith the Aspen based Kantorei, in residence this summer. Festival Orchestra The group will bring the season to a close on Final Sunday in in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Aug. 23. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.] “It is an opportunity for the chorus to hear someone else’s take and language and how they approach the music. We all learn and we all come out the other side better for it.” Staged especially for the Tent, family-friendly, and built to put Mozart’s craftsmanship in full view, this Magic Flute offers a rare chance to see—and hear—exactly how the magic gets made.