Throughout history musicians have sought to express the noumenal—that higher truth only perceptible to humans through spiritual experience—and composers have sought to give voice to the intangible. This summer we can view Beethoven’s transcendent Fifth Symphony through the lens of the spirit; we find reverent meditation on Creation in Strauss’s Alpine Symphony and music from Wagner’s Parsifal, and celebrations of humanity in Jessie Montgomery’s Hymn for Everyone and Jasmine Barnes’s KINSFOLKNEM.
A centerpiece of the season will be Siddhartha, She, the newly commissioned operatic adaptation of Hermann Hesse’s 1922 novel Siddhartha with music by Christopher Theofanidis and libretto by Melissa Studdard. Siddhartha, She is a story of spiritual self-discovery set in the time of the Buddha and receives its world premiere at Aspen. Davóne Tines’s eclectic vocal program—Recital No. 1: MASS—invites deep contemplation through works by Caroline Shaw, J. S. Bach, Julius Eastman, and others. Another joyous celebration of religious faith will shine in Handel’s famous Messiah. By traversing the history of religious experience in music, we can meditate together on its rich spiritual heritage and its endless possibilities.
Robert Spano, conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher, is known worldwide for the intensity of his artistry and distinctive communicative abilities, which create a sense of inclusion and warmth among musicians and audiences that is unique among American orchestras. Spano has been music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since August 2022 and will continue there through July 2031; this follows his tenure as principal guest conductor with FWSO, which began in 2019. He is the tenth music director in the history of the orchestra, which was founded in 1912. In February 2024 Spano was appointed music director of the Washington National Opera for a three-year term beginning in the 2025–26 season; he is currently the WNO’s music director designate. An avid mentor to rising artists, he is responsible for nurturing the careers of numerous celebrated composers, conductors, and performers. As music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2011 he oversees the programming of more than 300 events and educational programs for 630 students and young performers; he also directs the Aspen Conducting Academy, which offers participants unparalleled training and valuable podium experience. After twenty seasons as music director with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he now serves as music director laureate. He was appointed principal conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School in 2024 and will transition to principal guest conductor in 2025–26 following the appointment of their new music director.
During the 2024–25 season (Spano’s third as music director of the Fort Worth Symphony) he led six weeks of symphonic programming, conducting works including Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman in concert, and a world premiere by Jake Heggie in addition to shaping the artistic direction of the orchestra and driving its continued growth. In the fall of 2024 Spano led his first performances as WNO’s music director designate, including a new production of Beethoven’s Fidelio. Additional highlights of the 2024–25 season included a two-week residency with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, his first appearances as principal conductor with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and engagements with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Symphony.
Spano made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2019 leading the U.S. premiere of Marnie by American composer Nico Muhly. Recent concert highlights have included several world-premiere performances, including The Sacrifice of Isaac by Jonathan Leshnoff with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Steven Mackey’s Aluminum Flowers and James Ra’s Te Deum with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra; Of Earth and Sky: Tales From the Motherland by Brian Raphael Nabors with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Rhode Island Philharmonic; and Voy a Dormir by Bryce Dessner at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor.
With a discography of critically acclaimed recordings for Telarc, Deutsche Grammophon, and ASO Media, Robert Spano has garnered four Grammy Awards and eight nominations with the Atlanta Symphony. Spano is a faculty member at Oberlin Conservatory and has received honorary doctorates from Bowling Green State University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Emory University, and Oberlin. Maestro Spano is a recipient of the Georgia Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities and is one of only two classical musicians to be inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
