In brief: Bear spray closes part of Aspen Elementary; Music Festival and School announces summer lineup
Four classrooms evacuated after bear deterrent sprayed
Four Aspen Elementary School classes were evacuated Tuesday morning due to “a short burst of bear deterrent sprayed in an office in the Sage core,” according to an email from Aspen School District communications.
For the safety of students and staff, a section of the school building, known as a core, was closed. The section included two pre-kindergarten classes, two classrooms, and offices.
The bear deterrent was in the file cabinet of a staff member’s office, said Monica Mendoza, the Aspen School District communications specialist. She added that many staff members keep bear deterrent on hand for when they leave campus late at night or arrive early in the morning.
The majority of the spray got on the individual who found and sprayed it, and the individual is fine, Mendoza said. The district is unable to release any additional information about the individual.
All access to the core where the deterrent was sprayed remained closed for the day. Additionally, vents were closed, and fans and open windows were used to ventilate the core. Surfaces were cleaned, and air quality was monitored throughout the day.
Classrooms were evacuated, but class was not cancelled for any of the evacuated rooms. Mendoza said teachers continued class in other “nooks and crannies” in the building, such as the library, and all students were safe.
— Audrey Ryan, The Aspen Times
The Aspen Music Festival and School lines up schedule
The Aspen Music Festival and School Music Fest announcement on Tuesday announced its summer lineup, beginning with the Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev playing Romantic piano works June 29 and culminating with Haydn’s glorious The Creation Aug. 20.
Tickets go on sale in April, and organizers plan to announce details on passes and new ticketing tiers in March, they said.
Among the highlights of the 74th annual summer season:
- Debut appearances by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Maxim Vengerov, Matthew Polenzani, and Angel Blue, among others.
- Return appearances by Daniil Trifonov, Augustin Hadelich, Inon Barnatan, Nicholas McGegan, and Audra McDonald with Andy Einhorn.
- Performances by longtime Aspen friends, including Alisa Weilerstein, James Conlon, Gil Shaham, Joyce Yang, Yefim Bronfman, Robert McDuffie, Misha and Cipa Dichter, and the Emerson String Quartet in their final “Farewell Aspen” concert.
- In celebration of the season theme,“The Adoration of the Earth,” the summer offers Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde,” Debussy’s “La mer,” and Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, as well as a mini-focus on atmospheric works by John Luther Adams, and works that explore the complex relationship among people, nature, the climate, and the Earth.
- The first opera, Jimmy López Bellido’s “Bel Canto,” is based on the best-selling novel by Ann Patchett, and the second, Mozart’s rarely-performed “Idomeneo,” shows the composer’s operatic genius on a grand scale.
- Special events bring the film music of John Williams, a performance of Terrence McNally’s “Master Class” co-presented with Theatre Aspen, and a night of bass performance with Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer, co-presented with Jazz Aspen Snowmass.
Founded in 1949, the Aspen Music Festival and School is regarded as one of the top classical-music festivals in the United States, noted for concert programming and musical training of mostly young-adult music students. The typical eight-week summer season includes more than 400 classical music events — including concerts by five orchestras, solo and chamber music performances, fully-staged opera productions, master classes, lectures, and children’s programming — and brings in 100,000 audience members. In the winter, the organization presents a small series of recitals and music education programs for local youth and families.
