
Enriching Your Listening Experience
In addition to first-rate concert performances, the Aspen Music Festival and School offers free or inexpensive events that provide other venues for better understanding and enjoying music.
Preludes | Harris Concert Hall | Sundays, 3 pm | Free: Guest speakers provide insight (historical context, themes, and musical styles) into the day’s concert repertoire. Prelude presenters for 2025 include Jonathan Bellman, Graeme Boone, Katie Brill, Paul-Boris Kertsman, Joseph Pfender, Erin Pratt, and Harlow Robinson.
Open Rehearsals | Klein Music Tent | Aspen Chamber Symphony | Fridays, 9 am | Aspen Festival Orchestra | Sundays, 9:30 am | $23: Observe the interplay between conductor and instrumentalists as they refine the performance for that day’s concert.
High Notes | Bad Harriet, The Hotel Jerome | Wednesdays, 12 pm | Free: Participate in informal lunch-hour discussions on various music-related topics with Alan Fletcher and an elite selection of the Festival’s top musical guests, including Stéphane Denève, Jeremy Denk, Ana María Martínez, Enrique Mazzola, Steven Osborne, Matthias Pintscher, Melissa Studdard, and Christopher Theofanidis.
The Art of Listening | Crossroads Church | Fridays, July 11–August 15, 12:30 pm | Free: A series of talks in which humanities and music instructor Tom Buesch and guest presenters guide you through the major classical music periods, making the concert listening experience more palpable. These talks, enriched with live and recorded performances, will provide key listening strategies and enhance the experience for new and seasoned concertgoers alike. The residencies of Jonathan Bellman, Graeme Boone, and Harlow Robinson are generously supported by the Richard and Deborah Felder Fund for Guest Lecturers.
Center for Orchestral Leadership Student Mentoring Program
In 2001 the Aspen Music Festival and School launched a unique mentoring program designed to expand the School’s guidance of its students, specifically focusing upon the encouragement and support not only of their performance talents but also of career options beyond the concert environment.
Ten advanced fellowship students were selected by our artist-faculty to play assistant principal alongside them in our Aspen Festival Orchestra and Aspen Chamber Symphony ensembles. The fellowship students receive mentorship from orchestral leaders of major U.S. orchestras in the form of on-the-job training and intimate seminar classes. Funding for the Mentoring Program was established through a $1.5 million challenge grant under the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative, a collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Surdna Foundation that supports performing arts programs and endowments of leading national arts training institutions.
The Maestro's Circle
Created in 2004, the Maestro’s Circle raised more than $1 million to be used exclusively to enhance the Aspen Music Festival and School’s scholarship fund. The Festival and School thanks all Maestro’s Circle members for their foresight in making this fund possible.
Executive Committee
Elaine LeBuhn, chair
William Broeder*
Matthew Bucksbaum*
Edward A. Hansen*
Lowell H. Lebermann*
Founding Members
Mary and James Berglund
Giancarla and Luciano Berti*
Sandie and Archer Bishop
Barbara and William* Broeder
Jackie and John Bucksbaum
Kay and Matthew Bucksbaum*
Melva Bucksbaum* and Raymond J. Learsy
Carolyn Walton Cole
Brenda and J. Lester Crain, Jr.
Lorraine* and Alexander Dell
Marcia and John Donnell
Holly and David Dreman
Robert Echele* and Robert Gease
Marcy and Leo Edelstein
Nanette and Jerry Finger*
Merrill Ford*, honorary founder
Barbara and John* Gold
Julia and Edward A.* Hansen
Phyllis S. Hojel
Jaquish & Kenninger Foundation
Ellen and Irv Hockaday
Gerri Karetsky
Mollie and Garland M. Lasater, Jr.
Evelyn* and Leonard Lauder
Lowell H. Lebermann*
Elaine and Rob* LeBuhn
Toby Devan Lewis*
Robert H. Malott*
Nancy and Peter* Meinig
Becky and Mike Murray
Janet and Tom O’Connor
Fonda and Charles* Paterson
Kathryn and Richard Rabinow
Mary and Patrick Scanlan
Caryn and Rudi Scheidt, Jr.
Betty* and Lloyd Schermer
June and Paul Schorr
Barbara Shook*
Shirley and Albert H.* Small
Judith Z. Steinberg and Paul J. Hoenmans*
Margaret and Philip Verleger
Dorothy Wildman and Albert Sanford
Dee and Charles* Wyly
Martha and David* M. Yocum
* denotes deceased

Aspen Music Festival 2025
Concerning the Spiritual in Art
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Alexandra Munroe
Chair of the Board of Trustees
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Robert Spano
Music Director
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Alan Fletcher
Munroe President and CEO
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About the Cover Artist
Wassily Kandinsky
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Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers
Co-Artistic Directors, Aspen Opera Theatre and VocalARTS
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Robert J. Hurst and Carrie Wells
National Council Co-Presidents
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Mensaje Del Editor
Joseph Pfender
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Leadership and Governance
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In Memoriam KAY BUCKSBAUM
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Catharsis and Active Listening: Concerning the Spiritual in Music
Markus Rathey
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Kandinsky, Painting, and the Spiritual in Modern Music
Julian Johnson
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"An Interview with Composer Christopher Theofandis"
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The Book of the World
Dr. Phil Ford
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2025 Aspen Music Festival Students
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Alumni Association and Alumni News
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Artist-Faculty and Guest Artists
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Festival Programs, Prizes, and Community Engagement
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A Brief History of the Aspen Music Festival and School
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A Special Thanks to our Annual Supporters
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Designated Annual Fund Gifts
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Contributing Authors
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Endowment Gifts
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Scholarships, Giving Programs, and Memorial Gifts, and Volunteer Thanks
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Where Dreams Begins Campaign Supporters
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Special Credits
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Administration and Summer Staff
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Aspen Promises
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