Aspen Music Festival announces in-person February concerts

The Aspen Music Festival and School on Monday announced its first live events since the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The festival, which canceled its marquee in-person summer season, will host four nights of recitals in February at Harris Concert Hall with “rigorous safety protocols and limited, distanced seating,” according to the announcement.

The evening concerts showcase artists with deep Aspen roots in curated programs of repertoire comprising works by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, as well as masterpieces by Villas Lobos and John Corigliano.

The series starts on Feb. 11 with two nights performed by great friends and musical partners, violinist Robert McDuffie and Aspen Music Festival music director Robert Spano on piano.

It continues Feb. 18 with the rising pianist and Music Fest alumnus Tengku Irfan, and concludes on Feb. 25 with the Calder Quartet, also featuring Aspen alumni.

Tickets go on sale on Jan. 13.

Safety protocols for the events include shortened recital presented without intermission. All patrons, artists and staff will wear masks at all times. Arrivals and departures will be timed and patrons will be separated for distance. Ticketing procedures will be modified for the safety of staff and patrons.

The ventilation system in the below-ground, 450-capacity Harris Hall is configured to bring fresh air into the hall and not to recirculate interior air, according to COVID-19 safety page on the Music Fest website.

The page also notes that “sanitization has been increased” in all Music Fest facilities and that hand sanitizer stations will be conveniently placed throughout the environs.